Conservative MPs Back Poilievre in Speeches at Party Convention as Leadership Vote Looms

CALGARY—Conservative MPs sent a consistent message on the opening day of the party’s convention as delegates prepare to vote on the party’s leadership: back Pierre Poilievre to remain as leader and guide the party into another election.

“I’m confident that with Pierre as our leader, we will come out this weekend even stronger, even more united, showing Canadians that we’re ready to govern, and we are ready to restore the promise of Canada,” Conservative MP and Deputy Leader Melissa Lantsman told Conservative Party members in Calgary on Jan. 29.

Lantsman told the delegates in the audience—who are set to vote on Jan. 30 on whether Poilievre will remain leader of the party—that they should “vote yes for an affordable Canada, yes for affordable homes, yes for affordable food on the table, and yes to Pierre as our leader.”

Lantsman said Poilievre’s leadership had allowed the Conservative Party to connect with a record number of Canadians, but that there has since been a “concerted and deliberate campaign from the Liberal government, special interest groups, and from the chattering classes to divide us.”

“To everyone trying to divide us, our movement is united. We will never be divided or distracted by a government trying to hide a decade of failure,” she said.

The Conservative Party’s constitution states that if its leader does not resign following a federal election loss, delegates will vote via a secret ballot at the next national convention on whether the leader should continue. If more than 50 percent of delegates vote in favour of a new leader, the parliamentary caucus will appoint an interim leader and a new leadership contest will eventually take place.

The Conservatives have faced pressure in recent months following the departure of two Tory MPs to the Liberal caucus and another MP’s announcement that he intends to resign.

However, polls show Poilievre remains popular among Conservative voters. A poll by Abacus Data released on Jan. 26 said that 76 percent of Conservative voters said they would vote to keep Poilievre as party leader. Back in 2023, an Ipsos poll showed 91 percent of Conservative voters wanted him to lead the party.

Support for Pierre’s Leadership

Conservative MP Aaron Gunn told the audience that, while he had recently considered stepping down as an MP to join provincial politics and run for the leadership of the B.C. Conservative Party, he had made the “most difficult decision” of his life to stay.

“I decided that the best place for me today is standing shoulder to shoulder with the next prime minister of Canada,” Gunn said, referring to Poilievre. The B.C. MP added that building Canada would require building pipelines, mines, and homes, and getting the government “out of the way” to allow that to happen.

Conservative MP Arpan Khanna told the audience that Poilievre has a plan to make life more affordable and make neighbourhoods safe for Canadians, and said the Conservative leader also “believes in a united Canadian identity.”

Conservative MP Carol Anstey said ridings that had been “written off by the experts and pundits just a decade ago” as unlikely to vote Conservative are now represented by Tory MPs.

“The party’s message of hope and optimism under Pierre Poilievre resonated with Canadians who have been taken for granted by the Liberal government for far too long,” she said.

Anstey said Liberals have attempted to “convince Conservatives to turn on each other,” but said Tories “understand the strength of our message and the important message that Pierre represents.”

In addition to voting on Poilievre’s leadership, the Conservative Party will debate dozens of policy proposals during the convention, which runs until Jan. 31, some of which may be voted on by delegates and become official party policy.

The adopted policies serve as a blueprint of the party grassroots’ wishes, but the party leadership isn’t obligated to implement them.

Some of the proposals include regulating abortion, limiting immigration further, speeding up the development of pipelines, promoting meritocracy instead of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), and following the United States in withdrawing from the World Health Organization and its global pandemic pact.

Liberal MP Corey Hogan said in a statement on Jan. 29 that while the Conservative convention should be an opportunity for the party to focus on issues that matter to Canadians, “they’ll instead be spending their time debating a woman’s right to choose, the harmful and discriminatory practice of conversion therapy, and defunding CBC/Radio-Canada.”

“It’s clear Pierre Poilievre’s Conservatives are doubling down on the same divisive, American-style politics Canadians rejected last spring,” the Calgary MP said.