‘I don’t believe in magic:’ Pierre Poilievre on upcoming leadership review

Vassy Kapelos sits down with Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre to discuss his upcoming leadership review and his criticism of Prime Minister Mark Carney.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says there is not a specific level of support he is looking to secure in his upcoming leadership review next year.

“No, I don’t believe in magic,” Poilievre said when asked by CTV Question Period Host Vassy Kapelos if he has a “magic number” in mind.

Poilievre is set to face a mandatory leadership review after the party lost the federal election in April.

According to the party’s constitution, if a leader does not resign after an election loss, Conservative Party members are required to vote on the leader’s future.

When pressed again by Kapelos whether there is a number needed to remain as leader, Poilievre explicitly said “I don’t.”

“I’ll be working to win over the people of the Conservative Party who will be there. Our message will be that I’m the leader that will bring forward the Canada that will restore the promise of the country,” Poilievre said in the interview airing on Sunday.

For more than a year leading up to April’s federal election, the Conservatives held a double-digit lead over the Liberals. But that trend shifted amid U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff threats and new Liberal Leader Mark Carney.

Despite securing the party’s highest results since Brian Mulroney’s Progressive Conservatives majority win in 1988, the Conservatives still lost to the Liberals, with the parties receiving 41.3 per cent and 43.7 per cent of the vote respectively.

Poilievre also lost in the Ottawa-area riding of Carleton – a seat he’s held for 20 years – by more than 4,300 votes to Liberal candidate Bruce Fanjoy.

In August, Poilievre handily won a byelection in the Alberta rural riding of Battle River-Crowfoot, allowing him to return to the House of Commons as Official Leader of the Opposition.

When asked whether not providing a support number indicates a lack of confidence in his leadership, Poilievre simply said “no.”

“The people will decide, and then you’ll see the number,” he added.

The Conservative Party’s policy convention is set for January in Calgary.

You can catch the full interview with Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre this Sunday at 11ET/8PT on Question Period.