With Poilievre's leadership review behind them, Conservatives say it's time to prepare for the next election

OTTAWA — As Pierre Poilievre departed his party’s convention armed with the backing of delegates to lead the federal Conservatives into the next election, senior party figures say getting ready for that contest will be the next challenge. 

Poilievre secured 87.4 per cent of support from the more than 2,500 delegates who descended on Calgary for the party’s three-day convention, with his leadership review on Friday night as the main focus of the gathering.

Ian Brodie, who served as a chief of staff to former prime minister Stephen Harper and executive director of the party, said candidate recruitment now tops the list of to-dos for Poilievre, whom he said must build a team of “locally credible leaders and possibly national credible leaders.”

He said the situation has changed from two years ago, when Poilievre’s Conservatives held a 20-point lead over the governing Liberals, with his personal approval numbers higher than where they stand today, which led to an election campaign that centred around him as leader.

“This is campaign management 101,” said Brodie, who chaired the party’s 2022 leadership contest, which saw Poilievre elected.

“You’ve got to have the team approach about what the party brings to government, not just what Mr. Poilievre brings to government.”

Prime Minister Mark Carney recently dismissed the notion he was considering triggering an election, with the Liberals elected to a minority government only last April.

Still, with recent public opinion polls showing a boost in support for Carney after his speech in Davos where he urged middle power countries to unite against “hegemons,” speculation has begun to swirl, including among Conservative MPs, that an election could happen as soon as this year.

Not only were Conservative delegates leaving the convention in Calgary on Saturday armed with certainty around Poilievre’s leadership, Brodie pointed out that the party made it clear it has the money to fight another election.

Robert Staley, chair of the Conservative Fund Canada, told delegates that fundraising had more than doubled under Poilievre, who he said remained the party’s best asset.

“The question is,” Brodie says, “can they put together candidate selection for ridings that the party wants to pick up? That’s tough.”

Steve Outhouse, a former campaign manager for Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, whose United Conservative Party was successfully reelected in 2023, and Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Tony Wakeham, whose Progressive Conservatives defeated the provincial Liberals in last year’s election, will steer the federal Conservatives’ next campaign.

In his speech to delegates, Poilievre acknowledged what had been long simmering concerns from before and during last year’s election campaign about the fact that dozens of last-minute candidate appointments were made in ridings, such as those across Ontario, as opposed to holding nomination contests.

Poilievre told the crowd that one of the lessons learned from the campaign was “ the need to hold earlier and open nominations.” 

Those frustrations led delegates on Saturday to pass different changes to that process in the party’s constitution, emphasizing the role local candidate nomination committees must play when it comes to selections.

Delegates voted to amend the rules to force the party’s national council to publish a national nomination schedule, as well as to oversee any future post-campaign reviews and share the findings with party members.

The party’s grassroots also voted on a suite of changes to its policy handbook. While proposals around abortion — often brought forward by the party’s well-organized social conservative wing — did not make it to Saturday’s final round of voting, delegates narrowly defeated a bid that would have stated the party’s opposition to the federal government’s ban on “conversion therapy,” which refers to widely discredited practices that attempt to change someone’s sexual orientation to heterosexual.

While some members spoke in support of endorsing the change, one Conservative MP urged delegates to reject doing so, calling it divisive.

“We are the party that believes that Canadians should be able to have an affordable home on a safe street under a proud flag,” said Tamara Kronis, the party’s MP for Nanaimo-Ladysmith. “We should not be adopting policies that divide us.”

Delegates did, however, change the party’s policy to state it believes that “the control and operations” of CBC and Radio-Canada “should be accomplished through independent non-government funding.”

While Poilievre has long vowed to “defund” CBC, he has suggested he would not do the same for the broadcaster’s French-language programming wing.

Gerard Deltell, one of the party’s Quebec MPs, told the crowd that the change by delegates was counter to its “traditional position from (former) prime minister Stephen Harper to Pierre Poilievre.” As party leader, Poilievre can choose whether or not to adopt party policy.

When it comes to any future election, Fred DeLorey, who ran the Conservatives’ 2021 campaign, said while the date of the next contest remains unknown, the party must be prepared for whenever that happens, including by outlining what issues the Conservatives would champion. 

While Poilievre has kept his messaging focused on the cost-of-living and crime, messaging that DeLorey said has brought the party major success, he believes the Conservative leader must also confront the major issue of the day: U.S. President Donald Trump. 

“I do think there needs to be some messaging around the big issue of the day, which is Trump and tariffs.”

While DeLorey said he does not believe Poilievre needs to change much of his message, which during his convention speech he conveyed by speaking about supporting Canadian sovereignty and national unity, he suggested the Conservative leader ought to put the Canada-U.S. and tariff issue more front and centre.,

“This is a major geopolitical issue that many, many Canadians are obsessed by. We’re following this very closely, so he should be on that battleground,” said DeLorey.

Many delegates after Poilievre’s speech celebrated his address as striking an important tone, where he kept his direct criticisms of Carney, at least by name, to a minimum, while offering Canadians a bit more of glimpse into his personal life, such as the toll the job has taken on him and his family, earning a standing ovation when he mentioned hearing his autistic daughter speak for the first time.

Ontario Conservative MP Adam Chambers said he observed growth in Poilievre as a leader, pointing to how under his leadership the Conservatives had recently adopted an approach of being willing to work with the Liberal government when it comes to issues of national interest.

At the same time, he called Poilievre unapologetic in drawing areas of contrast with Carney on the issue of delivering results — a message that Conservatives have been pushing.  

“That approach has shown a little bit of growth that I am supportive of and been encouraging him along the way,” Chambers says.

“He still has that fire and that fighter mentality that I think will continue to serve him well, in addition to trying to appeal to a broader group of people,” he said.

National Post

Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark nationalpost.com and sign up for our politics newsletter, First Reading, here.