Liberals could weaponize Conservative infighting to weaken Poilievre, Preston Manning warns

An elder statesman of Canada's conservative movement is offering a vivid warning about how Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the Liberals might attack Pierre Poilievre if he wins the Conservative leadership.

In an email sent to Conservative leadership campaigns and senior Conservatives earlier this month, former Reform Party leader Preston Manning engages in a thought experiment envisioning the sort of speech Trudeau could deliver in the House of Commons to welcome Poilievre — widely expected to become the next leader of the Conservative Party of Canada in September.

In an apparent effort to demonstrate the dire effects on the party of fierce infighting between rival leadership camps, Manning's imaginary speech includes passages he describes as "the most damning and negative descriptions of Mr. Poilievre" coming from "the mouths of members of his own party who presumably know him best."

CBC News has obtained the text of the email — one of several Manning has shared with party members during the leadership race — and has verified its authenticity.

In it, Manning takes the unusual step of writing from the point of view of an imaginary Liberal staffer — "l. B. Grit" — who is offering the prime minister political advice and pitching a speech.

In a short preamble before slipping into his Liberal alter ego, Manning writes that his "intention is to give the reader food for thought as to strategies which might well be employed by the Liberal Party of Canada as the next federal election approaches, and how to react to such strategies."

He notes that while the speech focuses on Poilievre, the same tactics could be used against the next leader of the party regardless of who wins on Sept 10.

The imaginary speech starts in a somewhat patronizing tone, with Trudeau congratulating Poilievre on winning the leadership and wishing him "modest success — the same degree of success as was achieved by his two predecessors."

Manning then envisions Trudeau offering to share with the House and the public "relevant facts and opinions concerning this new leader provided by members of his own party."

The imaginary speech begins with Trudeau quoting MP Ed Fast, who supports Jean Charest's leadership bid and had a public falling-out with Poilievre's supporters.

"I'm very worried about the serious damage his highly questionable ideas are doing to the economic credibility of our Party," Fast wrote of Poilievre in a May 20 email intended to drum up support for the Charest campaign.

Fast also wrote that Poilievre's commitment to freedom "only extends to people who agree with him 100 per cent of the time."

The speech zeroes in on criticisms of Poilievre's controversial embrace of cryptocurrency. It quotes an email Patrick Brown's campaign sent in July before the Brampton, Ont. mayor was disqualified from the Conservative leadership race.

"The Crypto Crash has exposed Pierre Poilievre's complete and total financial and monetary incompetence," the Brown email says, pointing to a multi-billion-dollar crash in the cryptocurrency market over the span of just a few days.