Fissure among Conservatives undermining Poilievre's pitch he's a national unifier: experts

Long-simmering tensions within the Conservative movement are bursting out into the federal election, experts say — undercutting Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre's efforts to present himself as a unifier who can take on U.S. President Donald Trump.

Those tensions materialized again after ex-Reform Party leader Preston Manning and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, both Western-populist-styled Conservatives, made a series of controversial statements that raised the ire of former Stephen Harper cabinet ministers James Moore and Jason Kenney. 

And the antagonism between the mainstream and populist factions of the party would have remained in the shadows, experts say, had Poilievre maintained his 25-point lead over the Liberals. But now, blood is in the water, and the sharks are circling. 

Experts say the fissure among the Conservatives has long existed and — while paved over for a while during the Harper years — may be ready to crack wide open. 

"This didn't just pop up this year in response to Trump and the tariffs," Lisa Young, a political science professor at the University of Calgary, told CBC News. "There is a fairly profound divide within the Conservative movement."

The recent discord bubbled over after Smith met with Liberal Leader and Prime Minister Mark Carney on March 20. After their meeting, she issued a public list of demands that she said must be addressed within the first six months of the April 28 election result in order "to avoid an unprecedented national unity crisis."

One of those demands was to rule out the use of Alberta's oil exports to the U.S. as a bargaining chip in a trade war with Canada's southern neighbours. 

Having raised the spectre of a national unity crisis, Smith stoked the fire the following day by writing a letter to Quebec Premier François Legault asking to meet and discuss asserting provincial sovereignty. 

"I see an opportunity before us, as the democratically elected leaders of Alberta and Quebec, to chart a path toward a new era in Canadian federalism," Smith said in her March 21 letter to Legault.

When Trump exempted Canada from additional tariffs on April 2, Smith issued a public statement calling the U.S. president's move "an important win for Canada and Alberta," despite 10 per cent tariffs remaining on energy exports like Alberta oil. 

Smith's exuberance over the tariff announcement did not sit well with two members of former prime minister Harper's cabinet, who pointed out that Quebec and Ontario are still facing 25 per cent tariffs on steel and aluminum, and automotive exports to the U.S. 

"With respect, Premier, this is not a good day for Canada or the world," James Moore said in a social media post. "When Alberta is economically attacked, it is bad for Canada. 

"Thousands of Canadians in the auto, steel, aluminum and other industries may be losing their jobs. This is not a 'BIG WIN.' Canadians stand together."

Describing the tariffs on auto imports as a "devastating blow to hundreds of thousands of good, honest, hard-working Canadians," Jason Kenney, also a former Alberta premier, told Ontarians in a social media post that "the vast majority of Albertans stand proudly with you, and have your back."