https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2BtZ_6B-f0&ab_channel=CTVNews
CONSERVATIVE CONVENTION | Watch Peter MacKay's full keynote speech
Poilievre riding high in polls as Conservatives meet for policy convention
Leader is focused on affordability and inflation while delegates want to fight culture wars
Conservative Party members are assembling in Quebec City for a three-day policy convention — a chance to craft a playbook to woo voters who are showing signs of fatigue with the governing Liberals.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has seen his fortunes improve over the summer months and the party is registering higher support in public opinion polls — numbers that suggest Conservatives could form a majority government if the next election were held soon.
Poilievre is laser-focused on affordability, inflation and the government's perceived failings — but some party members have other issues on their mind.
The list of policy proposals before delegates this weekend includes some ideas to address the crippling increase in the cost of living, including providing different mortgage terms so homebuyers can lock in at lower rates for longer, and changes to the RRSP withdrawal rules for seniors.
But the document also shows some members are eager to engage in so-called culture war topics.
There are pitches on upending transgender-related policies, limiting euthanasia, doing away with forced diversity training, scrapping vaccine mandates for good and dismantling the Emergencies Act, the legislation used to dismantle the 2022 COVID-19 convoy protest.
The policies were crafted by the party's grassroots and approved by local electoral district associations (EDAs) before making it to this convention. There will be further debate before a final vote on the new policies on Saturday.
The policies are designed to inform the party's next election platform but Poilievre isn't required to campaign on what delegates endorse.
These conventions have been a headache for previous leaders.
At the 2021 policy convention, Poilievre's predecessor, Erin O'Toole, promised action on the environment in a speech. The very next day, party delegates rejected a motion that declared climate change is real. As a result, O'Toole left the convention weakened by rampant internal discontent.
The challenge for Poilievre, party insiders and observers tell CBC News, is to keep members focused on the main task before them: cobbling together a winning coalition that can take down Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and end eight years of Liberal government.
The party can't be distracted by social issues that could be off-putting to swing voters, the insiders said.
A policy to ban sex-selective abortions — a long-time demand of some anti-abortion activists in the party — was included initially in the list of policy proposals but was ultimately dumped from the final 55 that delegates will debate this week.
It's a sign that the Poilievre-led party doesn't want to be consumed by at least one divisive social issue.
Conservative
Leader Pierre Poilievre holds a press conference on Parliament Hill in
Ottawa on Wednesday, Aug. 23, 2023. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press )Speaking to reporters Wednesday, Poilievre steered clear of the more controversial proposals when asked which ones he's prepared to endorse.
"I'd rather let the members review the motions and propose what policy they want me to consider. And when they do, I'll consider it," Poilievre said.
"Leaders, of course, are never bound by convention resolutions but we do take them into consideration."
In an address to Conservative MPs and senators Thursday before the convention, Poilievre made no mention of the resolutions.
The party's focus, he said, should be on taking the fight directly to the prime minister he blames personally for the country's woes.
The cost of housing has doubled on Trudeau's watch, he said, and stubborn inflation has pushed up the cost of living, leaving the working class with big bills.
Conservative
Leader Pierre Poilievre speaks to a crowded room of supporters at the
Cymbria Lions Club in Rustico, P.E.I., on Wednesday night. (Kerry Campbell/CBC)Poilievre vowed again to "axe the carbon tax," balance the budget through spending cuts and tie federal funding for municipalities to the number of building permits they approve every year.
"The good news is, life was not like this in Canada before Justin Trudeau and it will not be like this after he's gone," Poilievre said to applause from his caucus.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of this Conservative gathering, some MPs said the resolutions are distraction.
"I haven't even read this resolution," Alberta MP Stephanie Kusie said of a proposed transgender policy.
"I haven't seen it," said Ontario MP Karen Vecchio. "We're focused on issues that matter to Canadians. Let's not kid ourselves, we're doing really well."
Another Alberta MP, Michelle Rempel Garner, said she respects the "rights and dignity" of all Canadians, including those in the LGBTQ community.
"My first concern is with Canadians who are struggling in my community. The government and Parliament has a lot of work to do to address the affordability crisis," Rempel Garner said.
"I mean, at every convention in every party you have different resolutions that you look and say, 'Really?'" Saskatchewan MP Kevin Waugh said when asked about the policy proposals.
"As MPs we say, 'Hmm. That's interesting. How would you put that into a policy?"
A Conservative source close to Poilievre who spoke to CBC News on background said the party brass isn't as concerned about the inevitable Liberal attacks on Conservative social policy — attacks that tripped up past leaders like Andrew Scheer and O'Toole.
In 2019, for example, Liberals raised Scheer's past opposition to same-sex marriage. In 2021, Trudeau hammered O'Toole for his more permissive stance on firearms while also suggesting the abortion debate could be reopened with the Tories in power.
Poilievre insisted during his leadership campaign that a government led by him would not introduce any new abortion legislation, the source said, and some more moderate voters are also uneasy about the pace of change with trans and gender issues.
"Pierre is adept at swatting away Liberal fearmongering," the source said.
"Plus, some voters are tired of all the 'woke' talk that comes from this Liberal government. We're fine having some of these conversations."
Canadians want change, says party president
Rob Batherson, the Conservative Party president, said the party is bracing for the Liberals to rely on the "usual fear and scare tactics" to weaken Poilievre's standing among more moderate voters.
With Trudeau on the defensive, the Tories are expecting their opponent to go negative, he said.
"I think Canadians will see through those tactics and they'll focus on the fact that everything has gotten appreciably worse over the last eight years," Batherson told CBC's Power & Politics.
"We're increasingly confident that Canadians are looking for a change in government, and they're certainly tired of Justin Trudeau."
Canadians
are looking for a change in government after eight years of Justin
Trudeau's Liberal government, says Rob Batherson, the Conservative party
president. (Darren Calabrese/The Canadian Press)Among the socially conservative policies that delegates will consider in Quebec is a proposed ban on gender-affirming care for minors.
The proposal, backed by delegates from the B.C. riding of North Okanagan-Shuswap, is designed to "protect children" by "prohibiting life altering medicinal or surgical interventions on minors under 18 to treat gender confusion or dysphoria." The policy mimics similar policies enacted by conservative Republican governments in the U.S.
For many social conservatives, trans issues have supplanted abortion as the top issue.
In that vein, there's also a proposal from the Alberta riding of Edmonton Strathcona that would make it party policy to demand "women-only spaces," to ensure that women have "safety, dignity and privacy" in places like prisons, shelters, locker rooms and washrooms.
They also want "women-only" categories in sports and for scholarships — a proposal that's designed to exclude transgender women. Under the policy, a woman would be defined as a "female person" in the Conservative constitution.
Proposal aims to promote 'bodily autonomy'
This push follows the lead of some U.S. states that have enacted similar policies after transgender swimmer Lia Thomas won a women's NCAA national championship. That victory ignited a political debate about the acceptability of trans athletes in elite sport.
Delegates from Edmonton Strathcona also want to do away with "forced political, cultural or ideological training of any kind" that is a "precondition of employment or practice," an apparent reference to diversity training in some workplaces.
While some delegates are eager to restrict the rights of trans people, others say they want to promote "bodily autonomy."
Delegates from the Quebec riding of Repentigny say people should have more say on what goes into their bodies — a policy born of opposition to Ottawa's past policy of requiring certain public servants to get a COVID-19 shot or face the prospect of losing their jobs.
"Health professionals must disclose an uncensored risk benefit analysis for any treatment (including vaccines) while protecting patient privacy. No constitutional right shall be restricted for refusing medical treatments," the policy proposal reads.
A man is silhouetted walking past a Conservative Party logo. (Darren Calabrese/Canadian Press)As for medical assistance in dying (MAID), a proposal from delegates from the Ontario riding of Thunder Bay—Superior North, which describes the practice as "euthanasia," aims to roll back what's currently on offer.
They want the practice stopped for people who are not terminally ill. And they want a ban on the service for people who have mental health issues.
J.P. Lewis is a professor of political science at the University of New Brunswick Saint John and the author of The Blueprint: Conservative parties and their impact on Canadian politics.
Lewis said the convention is a delicate balancing act for the leader. Poilievre can't be seen as marginalizing the grassroots by denying talk on hot topics.
He also can't get caught up in fractious debates that don't play well in a general election.
"These conventions are a real test for a leader. But Poilievre has more room to fail. He's had a consistent lead over Trudeau in the polls," he said. "He's got such momentum because there's a tremendous amount of voter fatigue out there.
"Fatigue — that's a powerful force in Canadian politics."
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Mike McRobie
The strengths and limits of Pierre Poilievre's 'common sense'
Tory leader's speech focuses on housing and inflation — but that's not all Canadians have to worry about
Conservative
Leader Pierre Poilievre speaks to delegates at the Conservative Party
convention on Friday in Quebec City, where he emphasized the need for
'common-sense' policies. (Jacques Boissinot/The Canadian Press)"Or a reckless coalition — of Trudeau and the NDP — that punishes your work, taxes your money, taxes your food, doubles your housing bill and unleashes crime and chaos in your neighbourhood."
The explanation for why Poilievre and the Conservatives have recently come to lead the Liberals in public surveys by substantial margins is probably at least as simple.
For one thing, Poilievre is not Trudeau. If Canadians are unhappy with the current state of things or merely tired of Trudeau's government, Poilievre is offering not just an alternative but something very different.
More importantly, Poilievre is promising that all of the things that currently seem to cost too much — your mortgage, your rent, gas, groceries — would cost less if he was in charge.
Poilievre
said Friday the 'reckless coalition' of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's
Liberals and the NDP has raised taxes, crime rates and housing costs
for Canadians. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press)Poilievre does not have as much to say anymore about the things he used to talk about. There was nothing in his speech on Friday night about "wokeism" or "elites" or the "liberal media." He didn't mention the freedom convoy or extol the virtues of cryptocurrency. He didn't repeat his vow to fire the governor of the Bank of Canada. There was only a winking reference to the World Economic Forum.
He didn't even call the prime minister a "Marxist," which he was recently recorded doing while door-knocking in a byelection.
Savvy pundits would call this a "pivot." But Poilievre pre-emptively dismissed such a thing in an interview last year.
"I am who I am," he told the Calgary Sun.
What Poilievre is talking about now are all the things the Trudeau government is struggling to find simple answers for: inflation, housing and what has euphemistically come to be known as the "cost of living."
And what Poilievre is emphasizing now is "common sense."
Poilievre and his wife, Anaida, wave to delegates at the convention. (Jacques Boissinot/The Canadian Press)Wielded by Poilievre, "common sense" is no doubt meant to contrast with the ideas and schemes of Trudeau and the Liberal government. And there was, in Poilievre's remarks, an explicit promise to get back to the way things were before the Liberals came to office in 2015, as if the last eight years had been some kind of historical aberration.
Easier said than done
But what "common sense" would mean in practice — that is, if Poilievre were to form government — is still largely left to the imagination.
"My common-sense plan cuts waste and caps spending to bring down inflationary deficits and interest rates," he said on Friday night. "My common-sense plan is to have a new funding formula that links the number of federal dollars cities get for infrastructure to the number of houses they allow to be completed."
Such things might be altogether easier said than done — and not free of consequences that some Canadians might not enjoy or appreciate. (The Liberals are already linking some federal funding to the construction of new houses.) At the very least, it is not yet possible to know how Poilievre's promises of tax and spending cuts would add up.
But it is impossible to question the validity of the anxious and frustrated Canadians that Poilievre says he encountered — individuals who are dealing with the very real consequences of inflation and a dysfunctional housing market. In the face of such stories, it is hard, and perhaps even foolish, to argue the finer points of global inflation trends.
And it is not hard to see the appeal of the idyllic, 1950s-tinged portrait of an imagined future that Poilievre painted at the end of his speech — one of shopkeepers sweeping storefronts, kids playing street hockey and young couples sitting on front-porch swings basking in the comfort of cold drinks and financial security.
But in the summer of 2023, that pleasant scene could be interrupted by wildfires or blankets of smoke. That couple might not have been on the porch because it was hard to breathe outside. Or because they were forced to flee their home. Or because their house burned down.
Such problems went unmentioned on Friday night. And Poilievre's climate-related commitments remain scant. He is strident in his desire to "axe" the federal carbon tax, and he would also repeal the clean fuel regulations. Otherwise, he says he would focus on clean energy and technologies — "technology, not taxes" is Poilievre's slogan.
After this summer, the "common sense" of having a plan to meet Canada's greenhouse gas emissions targets is all the more apparent.
But for now, it is enough to not be Trudeau and to promise to make life a little bit easier.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Wielded by Poilievre, "common sense" is no doubt meant to contrast with the ideas and schemes of Trudeau and the Liberal government. And there was, in Poilievre's remarks, an explicit promise to get back to the way things were before the Liberals came to office in 2015, as if the last eight years had been some kind of historical aberration.
Conservatives approve policies to limit transgender health care for minors, end race-based hiring
Other debate focused on female spaces, the energy industry and Canada's passport
Conservative
delegate Patrick Wuori speaks to the crowd prior to party leader Pierre
Poilievre's Friday speech at the Conservative Party Convention in
Quebec City. (Jacques Boissinot/Canadian Press)Despite warnings that these policies could be weaponized by their political opponents to hurt their standing among more moderate voters, a strong majority of the delegates on hand voted for a motion that stated children should be prohibited from gender-related "life-altering medicinal or surgical interventions," and for another that said Canadians should have "bodily autonomy" when it comes to vaccines and other health treatments.
About 69 per cent of the delegates agreed that young people should be barred from gender-affirming care, which sometimes includes hormone-related treatments that delay puberty or promote the development of masculine or feminine sex characteristics.
Michelle Badalich, an Edmonton delegate, said dysphoria is a "mental health disorder" and it should be addressed with treatment not "irreversible procedures."
"Please protect our kids," she said to thunderous applause.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is not bound to adopt any of the policies that were passed at this convention. Poilievre did not take questions from reporters after the votes.
'Protect your wives and daughters'
Liam O'Brien, a Newfoundland and Labrador delegate, noted that "Canada is watching" as Conservatives debate controversial policies like this one.
"Canada is also watching our leader kick Justin Trudeau's ass," O'Brien said as he urged delegates to keep the focus on the high cost of living and "Liberal incompetence."
On another transgender-related policy, delegates voted by an overwhelming 87 per cent to support a plan to demand single-sex spaces that are only open to women, which the party now defines as a "female person" with the adoption of the policy.
The policy is intended is to keep transgender and other gender-diverse people out of women's prisons, shelters, locker rooms and washrooms.
Badalich said it's "not extremist" to demand that what she calls "biological women" have a space to call their own.
"Vote yes to protect your wives and daughters," said another delegate, a 15-year-old from Sherwood Park, Alta.
A dissenting delegate from Quebec who did not give her name said "the Liberals will love nothing more" than to see Conservatives pass policies like this one and use discriminatory rhetoric to describe sexual minorities.
"Please, let's get the Liberals out. Let's get elected," she said.
The convention also adopted a proposal from the Alberta riding of Medicine Hat-Cardston-Warner to impose stiffer penalties on sex offenders and pedophiles.
"Children are little angels of the world," a delegate from that riding named Logan said during the debate. He said there are nefarious actors who are trying to "assault, sexualize and traffic our children," and a Poilievre-led government needs to crackdown on the practice.
About 86 per cent of the delegates agreed there should be "stronger legislation" from a Poilievre-led government to try and curb these activities.
On the issue of vaccines, an Ontario delegate and medical doctor pleaded with Conservatives to reject mandates so to avoid repeat of what transpired during the COVID-19 health crisis.
"Justin Trudeau's coercive, divisive and ineffective vaccine mandate is a violation of the human right to bodily autonomy. Stand up for freedom, stand up for common sense," said Dr. Matt Strauss, the former acting medical officer of health for Haldimand-Norfolk.
Delegates agreed with about 68 per cent voting to "affirm Canadians have the freedom and right to refuse vaccines."
The delegates were in lockstep on most policy matters.
Hiring policies
On the issue of preferential hiring for minorities by research institutions, delegates passed a policy that said federally funded jobs should go to a person who's best qualified, "irrespective of the personal immutable characteristics," stated the motion.
Adrian Dylianou, a Saskatchewan delegate who backed the policy, said "woke ideology" should be rooted out of Canada's universities.
The "woke ideology whims of whoever is in power" is not the way to structure a workplace, he said.
Justin Vuong, an Edmonton delegate who identified as a visible minority, said all job choices should be decided on merit, not the colour of a person's skin.
WATCH | Pierre Poilievre's first leadership convention speech
About 95 per cent of members on hand for the vote agreed.
On a similar matter, 81 per cent of delegates supported a policy to end "forced political, cultural or ideological training of any kind" at a workplace, such as mandatory diversity training and other such programs.
Discussion about the motion focused on Jordan Peterson, a professor with a large following in right-wing circles who was ordered by the College of Psychologists of Ontario to take social media training in the wake of complaints about his controversial online posts and statements.
"Two words: Jordan Peterson," one Alberta delegate said during the debate.
"Forced cultural or ideological training — none of us that support that," he said.
Oil and gas
Virtually all those assembled agreed that Canada should have more "robust measures to counter foreign interference" amid alleged Chinese meddling, improve services for Canada's veterans, eliminate the deficit, reduce the national debt to reduce "inter-generational inequity," and streamline the natural resources regulatory approvals process.
In another vote, 84 per cent of delegates agreed there should be a "purposeful, gradual transition to a lower carbon-use future," but the country should continue to use oil and gas.
A majority of voters also supported a renewed push to get more pipelines built to move those fuels to market.
During a spirited debate on high-speed rail, an urban-rural divide became obvious as competing speakers weighed in on whether the Tories should back a new rail network.
A Nova Scotia delegate said that rural dwellers shouldn't be forced to pay for proposed projects that would primarily benefit the country's cities.
Trudeau blasted for passport redesign
Earlier Saturday, Daniel Hannon, a member of the British House of Lords and a prominent Brexit campaigner, delivered a speech to the convention blasting Trudeau for allegedly unpatriotic acts taken by his government.
A reoccurring theme of the Conservative convention is Tory disgust with the government's redesign of the passport.
On Trudeau's watch, the document was stripped of references to notable events in Canada's history, including the country's First World War victory at the battle of Vimy Ridge.
The government also dumped images of Terry Fox, who became a national hero with his Marathon of Hope, Quebec City's historic old quarter and the Famous Five trailblazing Canadian women who helped advance women's rights.
These changes have been interpreted by many Conservatives delegates as an attempt to erase Canada's history.
"Who would want to efface the images of your history from the passports? Who would want to replace the pictures that tell your story with generic shapes and patterns that could come from anywhere?" Hannon said.
"Canadians are not a random set of individuals who happen to qualify for the same passport," he said. "Canadians are a nation and not just any nation — they're bound together by shared stories and shared dreams."
Poilievre shares Hannon's position that the country should embrace a more robust form of national pride. In his keynote address Friday, Poilievre said Trudeau's trying to suppress Canadian patriotism.
"Justin Trudeau wants to cancel our proud history, erasing it from our passports," Poilievre said. "Why? Because there can be no heroes but him."
"This business of deleting our past must end. And this is a matter on which English Canada must learn from Quebec. Quebecers — and I'm saying this in English deliberately — do not apologize for their culture, language or history. They celebrate it. All Canadians should do the same."
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Top Poilievre adviser says Conservatives are experiencing a 'rejuvenation'
Former Harper deputy chief of staff says party is seeing gains among millennials, women, new Canadians
Conservative
Leader Pierre Poilievre shakes hands with delegates as he walks to the
stage to speak at the party's policy convention in Quebec City on Sept.
8, 2023. (David Richard/Radio-Canada)"There's been an evolution in terms of who the Conservative supporter is, who the Conservative voter is. Right now, we're seeing an entirely new group of people ... a new demographic of people that are looking at the Conservative Party and looking at Pierre Poilievre as being the next prime minister very seriously," Jenni Byrne said in an interview with CBC's The Houseairing Saturday.
"I think what's exciting is that right now we are seeing a rejuvenation of the Conservative Party."
The Conservatives are on the final day of their first policy convention under Poilievre's leadership, which has also introduced a new party logo. The party says over 2,500 people registered for the Quebec City gathering, more than any convention has seen since the modern Conservative Party's founding in 2003.
Poilievre has
focused on a message promising "common sense" solutions to housing
affordability, the opioid crisis, crime and economic uncertainty.
"Mr. Trudeau and I agree that things are broken. We just disagree on what's broken and who broke it. He thinks the people are the problem, when Canadians know he is the problem," Poilievre said during his keynote speech.
Liberals have countered that Poilievre is "importing far-right American-style politics."
Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault made a surprise appearance outside the convention, saying Poilievre's agenda represented a step backwards for Canada.
"We understand that some Canadians are having a hard time right now … but the solution is not to go back on everything we've been doing," he said. "It's not to cut back support for Canadians."
Speaking with Cullen, Byrne defended Poilievre's tone.
"I think what people like about Pierre is he tells it as it is," she said. She accused other politicians — including the current prime minister — of delivering divisive rhetoric.
The 'common sense' agenda
The Conservatives are enjoying a substantial lead in public polling, with some surveys suggesting a double-digit lead over the Liberals.
Byrne, who served as Stephen Harper's deputy chief of staff and as principal secretary to Ontario Premier Doug Ford, told Cullen that Canadians of all kinds are responding to the party's "common sense" message on affordability.
Byrne cited millennials, women, new Canadians and former NDP voters as key demographics that are considering the Conservatives in a new light.
A major part of the broader Poilievre message has been about housing, which this summer emerged as perhaps the dominant political issue in Canada.
Poilievre has proposed withholding federal funds from cities that don't make significant changes to permitting and zoning rules to allow for boosted development, and rewarding those that meet a target of increasing permits 15 per cent increase per year.
"The
cities can't have it both ways. They can't say, 'Sorry, this is our
decision as to whether homes are being built,' and then say, 'But
please, I need a handout to build infrastructure,'" Byrne said.
Jenni
Byrne, a senior adviser to Pierre Poilievre, waits to appear before the
procedure and House affairs committee meeting on May 11, 2023 in
Ottawa. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press)
She also sought to avoid questions about whether the party would entertain attempts to reinvigorate the abortion debate in Canada.
"Obviously, if there are groups that did not see policies that they were espousing or they wanted, it was evident that it was not the priority for Conservatives across the country, in every region," Byrne said.
Byrne repeated a long-standing Poilievre promise to dismantle the federal carbon tax, but said specifics of the Conservatives' plan would come closer to the next election.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
With files from Catherine Cullen
Landers Haughten
I remember Robby Baby Batherson way back when he was a spokesman for
Nova Scotia Premier John Hamm