Vaughn Palmer: Poilievre-Elliott tiff has right-wing in a tizzy

Caroline Elliott ran for leader of the B.C. Conservative party. Photo by Caroline Elliott /Facebook

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VICTORIA — Federal Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre provoked a backlash this week with an ill-advised comment on the outcome of the race for the leadership of the B.C. party of the same name.

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At a party event in Calgary, Poilievre took note of the presence of the new leader of the B.C. Conservatives, Kerry-Lynne Findlay, hailing her as the “future premier of B.C.”

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So far so good and right on message. However, Poilievre couldn’t resist adding that Findlay was “fresh off a big win against Liberal lobbyists from out east.”

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The federal leader named no names. But his prime target was surely Kory Teneycke, an Ontario-based political organizer and critic of Poilievre.

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Teneycke was the campaign manager for Caroline Elliott, who finished a close second to Findlay in the B.C. leadership.

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Elliott pushed back later in the week with a video on her X account on social media.

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“Hi, Pierre. Caroline Elliott here,” she began. “I voted Conservative my entire life. I voted for you in your own Conservative Party of Canada leadership race.

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“My family and friends donate to you at my encouragement. I’ve atten­ded events and knocked on doors for you, spoken up for you on social media and in my columns that you’ve actu­ally pos­ted.

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“I was the only candidate to publicly endorse you ahead of your leadership review vote earlier this year.

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“So your MPs and now you personally celebrating my defeat in the B.C. Con­servat­ive lead­er­ship race is dis­ap­point­ing.”

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Elliott went on to note how her provincial campaign broke fundraising records, signed up thousands of new members, and took the lead on policy stands that Poilievre himself was “starting to notice.”

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One example: how Indigenous reconciliation and Aboriginal title are encroaching on private property rights in B.C. and across Canada.

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She emphasized her “very close loss in that race.” Findlay finished ahead of Elliott by 60 votes out of more than 20,000 cast in the final count.

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Nevertheless, said Elliott, “I’m doing everything I can to continue to fight our disastrous NDP government here in B.C., because I know that politics is about addition, not subtraction, putting the public interest ahead of personal disputes, welcoming people in, not shutting them out.”

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Bottom line on the provincial leadership: “The race is over, and it’s time to unite, not divide.”

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Elliott mentioned in passing that her campaign team included current and former staffers to Poilievre himself.

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One of those was Katy Merrifield, who left her job as Poilievre’s director of communications earlier this year and joined the Elliott campaign.