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But the next morning there were more tweets, which prompted Scheer to reiterate his statement to reporters in person. A week later, Bernier quit the party. At an Ottawa press conference on Thursday, the Beauce, Que., MP said it was after the phone call with Scheer that he decided to quit.

More than a year of tensions between the two men had boiled over.

It all started during the Conservative party’s marathon of a leadership race. Nearing its conclusion, armed with good polling results and enthusiasm for his ideas among young Conservative members, Bernier’s odds looked good.

But his rival, Scheer, was bolstered by down-ballot support for his pitch to keep the party united. His organizers readily admitted that votes from advocates of dairy supply management, which Bernier opposed, and of socially conservative policies, which Bernier had little to say about, also factored in.

Scheer ultimately won on the last ballot, with 51 per cent of the vote to Bernier’s 49 per cent.

He faced a challenge in keeping his opponent, a former cabinet minister with popular ideas, in the fold without threatening his own leadership. “He’s a senior figure in the party,” a senior Conservative source said, “so you want to try to work with somebody like that.”