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Speaking to reporters in Halifax, Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston confirmed media reports that his branch of Progressive Conservatives also experienced tensions with Poilievre’s team. Those reports, from CBC and the Globe and Mail, detailed bitterness between the camps after Houston distanced himself from Poilievre’s Conservatives during a provincial election campaign last year.聽

Houston 鈥� who answered “un peu” when asked if he’s taking French lessons, with bilingualism a widely regarded requirement for federal leadership 鈥� stopped short Wednesday of calling for Poilievre to go, but said the national Conservatives need to reflect on how to stop losing at the national level.聽

He also praised how Ford’s Tories campaigned to win their third straight majority government in Ontario on Feb. 27, and criticized the federal Conservatives for failing to attract more voters.

“The Conservative Party of Canada was very good at pushing people away, not so good at pulling people in,” Houston said, adding that it will be up to federal Conservatives and their caucus to decide if Poilievre can stay on as leader.聽

“I think there are many shades of blue, and it can be a big tent, and it can be an effective big tent,”聽Houston said.聽“And I think that, after four consecutive losses to the Liberal party 鈥� it’s time for them to do some soul-searching 鈥� and I hope they do.”

In an interview with CTV on Wednesday evening, former Conservative leader Andrew Scheer defended Poilievre’s leadership and called Houston’s statement about pushing away people “nonsensical,” noting that the Conservatives increased their seat and vote counts in Monday’s election. He also repeatedly stated that the federal Conservatives won a higher share of votes on Monday than Ford’s Progressive Conservatives did in the Feb. 27 provincial election.聽

“More people in Ontario wanted Pierre Poilievre to be prime minister than wanted Doug Ford to be premier,”聽Scheer said.聽“That is just the facts.”聽聽

Scheer is among Conservatives who have publicly expressed support for their leader, with several posting praising Poilievre on social media for a campaign that earned the party 41.3 per cent of the聽, the highest for a conservative party since Brian Mulroney’s Progressive Conservatives in 1988.

At the same time, some Conservatives are raising questions about the direction of their party, after Poilievre failed to win his own seat in the Ottawa-area riding he represented for more than 20 years, and as the party that dominated all public opinion polls for more than a year failed to unseat the Liberal party that has governed since 2015.聽

There are also questions about how Poilievre will continue when he doesn’t have a seat in the House of Commons. To get one, Poilievre would need to convince one of his newly elected MPs to resign so he can run for their seat in a federal byelection.聽

Philippe Lagass茅, a constitutional expert and professor at Carleton University, said that the Conservative caucus will have to appoint someone to serve as Official Opposition leader in the House of Commons until Poilievre gets another seat. That means the Conservative leader won’t get his parliamentary salary, and the pay bump that comes from leading the biggest opposition party. According to the Conservative party’s constitution, however, the party is still able to offer Poilievre the equivalent of a regular MP’s salary.聽

Poilievre’s lack of a seat also raises questions about his residence at Stornoway, the government-owned mansion provided to the leader of the Official Opposition in the House of Commons.聽

According to Lagass茅, the language of the Official Residences Act 鈥� which says houses like Stornoway “shall be maintained” for the person holding the Official Opposition leader title 鈥� is “not that definitive.”聽

Spokespeople for the Privy Council Office, the bureaucratic branch that supports the prime minister, did not respond to questions about Poilievre’s ability to stay at Stornoway this week.聽

In an interview on CBC TV’s “Power and Politics,” Conservative MP Chris d’Entremont said it will be hard to hold the government accountable from outside Parliament. He added that it’s “unfair in a way” for someone who just got elected to give up their seat so Poilievre can run again, but there isn’t another option.聽

During the campaign, some Conservatives openly questioned how Poilievre and his team were running their campaign. Most prominent among them was Kory Teneycke, the veteran strategist who directed Ford’s three majority-winning campaigns.聽

On election night, Conservative MP Jamil Jivani tore into Ford, accusing him in an interview with聽 CBC of “distracting our campaign, trying to make it about him, trying to position himself as some kind of political genius that we needed to be taking cues from.”

Ford shot back on Wednesday, telling reporters that Poilievre’s team told federal Conservatives not to help when the provincial Tories were campaigning for re-election in February.聽