Is it time for a look in the mirror ? – Winnipeg Free Press

winnipegfreepress.com · Feb 26, 2026 · Collected from GDELT

Full Article

By: Editorial Posted: 2:01 AM CST Thursday, Feb. 26, 2026 “It’s not you, it’s me.” Read this article for free: To continue reading, please subscribe: Monthly Digital Subscription $1 per week for 24 weeks* Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper Access News Break, our award-winning app Play interactive puzzles *Billed as $4.00 plus GST every four weeks. After 24 weeks, price increases to the regular rate of $19.95 plus GST every four weeks. Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time. Monthly Digital Subscription $4.99/week* Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper Access News Break, our award-winning app Play interactive puzzles *Billed as $19.95 plus GST every four weeks. Cancel any time. “It’s not you, it’s me.” Read unlimited articles for free today: “It’s not you, it’s me.” It’s the time-worn rationale offered up when a relationship dissolves and one partner seeks to blunt the pain of the breakup by assuming responsibility. It’s more strategic than sincere, however, with the real goal being to avoid having to engage in a lengthy conversation about who’s to blame for what. Conservative Party of Canada Leader Pierre Poilievre has endured his share of messy breakups lately; in recent months, three MPs have decided the party’s values no longer align with their own, and the way to best serve their constituents is by crossing the floor and joining the ranks of the governing Liberal Party led by Prime Minister Mark Carney. The Canadian Press files Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre The most recent is Edmonton Riverbend MP Matt Jeneroux, who last November announced he intended to resign his parliamentary seat this spring. Having clearly had a change of heart, he announced on Feb. 18 he would instead join Carney’s Liberals, having been impressed by the PM’s much-lauded speech at the World Economic Forum and concerned by the growing wave of separatist sentiment in Alberta and Quebec. Jeneroux’s departure was preceded late last year by the exits of Acadie-Annapolis MP Chris d’Entremont and Markham-Unionville MP Michael Ma. Now, with byelections looming in three other ridings, a Liberal majority becomes a mathematical possibility. Despite acknowledgment among political observers that his leadership style was a contributing factor in the defectors’ decisions, Poilievre has defiantly maintained (outwardly, at least) he is in no way to blame for his erstwhile colleagues’ exits. In other words, “It’s not me; it’s you.” Poilievre accused Carney of “trying to seize a costly Liberal majority government that Canadians voted against in the last election through dirty backroom deals.” Jeneroux, he said, “betrayed the people of Edmonton Riverbend” who voted Conservative in the last federal election (Jeneroux had represented the riding as a Conservative since 2015). The attempt to portray floor crossings as “dirty” is, of course, laughable. The notion of MPs leaving one party to join another while in office has been part of Canada’s political tradition for as long as anyone can remember and, as Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc rightly pointed out, Conservatives have been quick to applaud whenever a Liberal crossed the floor to join their ranks. When one’s leadership style and political inclination are rooted in grievance, however, complaining of dirty tricks and tossing blame hither and yon when a member makes a personal decision to leave is pretty much on brand. After d’Entremont and Ma crossed the floor (the former in November, the latter in December), speculation arose that Poilievre’s grasp on the party’s leadership might be slipping. That proved not to be true, as evidenced by the 87 per cent endorsement he received from CPC members during last month’s convention and mandated leadership review. But now, with Jeneroux comfortably ensconced on the Liberal side, complete with the title of special adviser on economic and security partnerships, Poilievre has some thinking to do. Among the CPC’s broader membership, he may remain overwhelmingly popular; within the parliamentary caucus, however, something is clearly amiss. And in terms of polling numbers reflecting Canadians’ view of the CPC and its leader, the current reality is grim and becoming more so as Carney’s popularity and global profile continue to grow. A different approach is needed for the Conservatives to regain the support lost since Justin Trudeau exited politics and U.S. President Donald Trump — whom Poilievre had worked so tirelessly to emulate — became the biggest thorn in Canadians’ collective side. It might start with a look in the mirror and a simple admission about floor-crossing Conservative MPs: “It’s not them; it’s me.” Print Email Read Later