Pressure mounting on Poilievre to fire Jenni Byrne: sources

Christian Noel · CBC News

· Posted: May 22, 2025 4:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 9 minutes ago

Pressure is mounting connected Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre to occurrence Jenni Byrne, his nationalist run manager, whom critics clasp liable for the party's predetermination decision past month, sources told Radio-Canada.

"After a loss, heads person to roll," said 1 Conservative. 

"If Jenni Byrne stays, we won't beryllium capable to enactment Pierre," a 2nd added. 

"If there's nary alteration betwixt present and January, the caucus volition suffer patience," said a third.

Discontent wrong the Conservative ranks continues to turn 3 weeks aft the Liberals won a 4th word successful government, sources said. Many Conservatives are straight blaming Byrne, the run designer and Poilievre's confidante, for the loss.

"There's lone 1 caput that needs to roll, and that's Jenni's. You don't recognize however she treats everyone similar garbage," 1 Conservative root said.

Radio-Canada spoke with 12 Conservative sources for this story. They were granted confidentiality to sermon interior enactment matters.

Some kick of Byrne's "toxic and angry" behaviour astatine run headquarters. Others deplore her deficiency of connection with teams successful the field. Still others consciousness it's her responsibility that Poilievre's run connection did not set capable successful the look of U.S. President Donald Trump's tariff threats.

Her detractors constituent retired that she ran the Conservative run when Stephen Harper mislaid to Justin Trudeau successful 2015. In their view, it's due to the fact that of her that relations are strained betwixt Poilievre and Ontario Premier Doug Ford.

"When she spent excessively overmuch clip with Stephen Harper, she brought retired his atrocious side,"  a Conservative root said. "She has the aforesaid effect connected Pierre Poilievre. She is liable for his antagonistic tone. Everything is simply a warfare for her."

Byrne and the Conservative Party did not respond to requests for comment. The Leader of the Opposition's bureau declined to comment.

In Byrne's defence

Some Conservatives, however, are keen to support Byrne and recognition her for the gains the enactment made successful the election.

The Conservative enactment won 143 seats, its highest fig since Stephen Harper's bulk triumph successful 2011. And the enactment won much than 41 per cent of the fashionable vote, its highest percent since Brian Mulroney successful 1988.

A run strategy aimed astatine winning the national and blue-collar ballot successful working-class areas, and the taste and taste ballot successful Toronto's suburbs, helped bounds the Liberals to a minority, these Conservatives loyal to Byrne say.

At the commencement of the archetypal Conservative caucus gathering connected May 5, the party's archetypal since the predetermination loss, Poilievre seemed to cull the thought of firing Byrne erstwhile asked astir her.

"Excluding radical is ne'er the mode to grow a team," the Conservative person told reporters earlier the meeting.

But wrong that aforesaid post-election caucus meeting, which lasted for 8 hours, MPs raised the question of Byrne's departure.

"It was done respectfully and without aggression," different Conservative root said. The treatment "didn't past excessively agelong either. The brag knows precise good that it's an irritant," the root added.

But the Conservative troops inactive don't cognize what destiny Poilievre has successful store for his run manager. 

A normal up of schedule?

Recent quality that the Conservative convention, scheduled for adjacent outpouring successful Ottawa, could alternatively instrumentality spot arsenic aboriginal arsenic this autumn successful Alberta is rekindling the pressure. 

Earlier this month, Conservative MPs voted successful favour of the Reform Act, which gives them the powerfulness to clasp a ballot of nary assurance successful the person astatine immoderate time. Holding the party's normal this fall, with a ballot of assurance enactment to the full Conservative base, is seen by immoderate arsenic an effort to bypass immoderate specified caucus efforts.

WATCH | Poilievre speaks to reporters for the archetypal clip since predetermination loss

"Pierre Poilievre wants to settee the question of his enactment by a ballot of the members arsenic soon arsenic imaginable to get escaped of this distraction and not springiness his detractors clip to organize," a Conservative root said.

"If members determine to springiness Pierre their ballot of assurance astatine the convention, it becomes overmuch much hard for MPs to warrant a ballot of nary assurance afterwards," different root said. "How could MPs past spell against the wishes of the fertile and file?"

The Conservative enactment enforcement is owed to conscionable connected June 14 to sermon the day and determination of the nationalist conference.

Fatigue among the troops

The caucus, said a Conservative source, is exhausted aft 3 acrimonious enactment races and 4 wide elections successful 10 years.

"Fatigue has taken over," said the source.  "Everyone's conscionable bushed of fighting."

The much conciliatory code Poilievre adopted since predetermination night, and the information that the person mislaid his spot and volition person to triumph a by-election successful Alberta to instrumentality to the Commons successful a fewer months' time, has seemed to assistance chill down the dissatisfaction.

"No 1 seems acceptable to marque this their elevation to dice on. If Jenni tin admit to cardinal radical successful the caucus that she has learned from her mistakes, it could assistance her survive," a Conservative root said.

"We'll spot wherever things go," confided a Conservative recently. "We'll springiness Pierre the summertime to get elected and deliberation things over. We'll spot successful the fall."

Despite the fatigue and the interior debates, the tendency to spot Byrne spell remains among a bully portion of the Conservative movement, according to respective sources.

"Jenni is simply a bully who operates connected threats. Many MPs are either acrophobic of her oregon hatred her," 1 Conservative said.

"If Jenni stays, it means they don't get it," said a antithetic source. 

"Pierre needs to alteration his antagonistic property and footwear Jenni out," different Conservative said. "Otherwise, it's the caucus that's going to footwear the person out."