Poilievre to face leadership vote after addressing Conservative convention

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is set to address his party faithful this evening in Calgary in a speech that many anticipate will set the tone for the Tories heading into the next election.

It is also meant to set the tone for the leadership review vote that happens moments after his speech wraps. Delegates are widely expected to confirm Poilievre’s continued leadership.

Conservatives have kicked off their national convention in Calgary with a focus on the future and a vision of a party united in the face of Liberal attempts to divide it.

“Canadians are looking for serious leadership and real, tangible solutions, and we provide that,” Quebec MP Pierre Paul-Hus said at the convention’s opening ceremonies Thursday.

Organizers told the crowd this weekend’s event will be the largest Conservative convention in party history.

In an interview on Sunday, Saskatchewan MP Andrew Scheer told The Canadian Press he’s expecting to see many people who’ve never attended a party convention before.

Many attendees, like 21-year-old Jesse Affleck from New Westminster, B.C., said Poilievre has their full support.

“When I go to these events, he will shake the hands of every single person and have an actual conversation with every person,” he said.

Vincent Kunda said Poilievre’s message is what drew him to politics and he’s the right leader to take on the challenges posed by U.S. President Donald Trump.

“I voted for him in the last election because I put my vote and my faith behind him to handle Trump,” he said.

Susan Friedman, from the riding of Parry Sound—Muskoka, said she knows her opinion of Poilievre puts her in the minority.

“I was in Ottawa when he was elected. I didn’t support him then, and a lot has happened since then and it’s not good,” she said.

“I don’t think that he really can lead the party.”

Voting is set to begin after Poilievre’s speech, at 9:30 p.m. ET.

“This weekend, we’ll show Canadians just how ready we are to get to government … after 10 years of Liberal mismanagement,” Alberta MP Stephanie Kusie said Thursday.

Speaking from the stage Friday morning, Ontario MP Costas Menegakis called for party unity.

“The Liberals have tried to sow division in our party for months now,” he said — an apparent reference to the two Conservative MPs who have crossed the floor to the government benches since November.

Laura Stephenson, a political science professor at Western University, said the Conservatives have struggled since 2015 to hold together the different factions of the party.

“There is definitely a more far-right faction and there is definitely more centrist faction,” she said.

Stephenson said some of the more moderate members of the Conservative big-tent might be happy with the direction of the current Liberal government.

Recent polls suggest that may be true. Surveys from Leger and Abacus Data this week suggest the Liberals have increased their share of support — in particular since Carney’s trade mission to China and his speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

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Leger’s poll suggests Liberal support is at 47 per cent, with the Conservatives trailing at 38 per cent. It also suggests 58 per cent of Canadians are satisfied with Carney’s government.

Abacus polling suggests that while 76 per cent of Conservative voters would opt to keep Poilievre as leader, just 34 per cent of Canadians think he should stay on.

Abacus’s data also suggests Canadians have an overall negative view of Poilievre and a positive view of Carney.

The polls cannot be assigned a margin of error because online surveys are not considered truly random samples.

On Thursday evening, Quebec MP Luc Berthold accused Carney of being “on the side of big business,” not on the side of small business and entrepreneurs. Other speakers at the convention said the Liberal government works for elites and insiders, not regular people.

The Conservatives under Poilievre have rebranded themselves as a party for the working-class and union members.

The lineup of MPs who spoke to the crowd gave a preview of what Poilievre is likely to say on Friday.

It’s an echo of the message Poilievre first launched nearly a year ago, in mid-February, when the party held a “Canada First” rally in Ottawa. At the time, Trump’s trade war had just triggered a wave of national pride and the Liberals were surging in the polls with the prospect of a new leader taking the helm.

The Conservative leader adjusted his tone, dropping the message that “Canada is broken” and turning to a more positive vision of the country.

From the convention stage on Thursday, B.C. MP Aaron Gunn took a shot at Carney and the Liberals.

“We will take no lectures, especially from those who only spontaneously discovered their patriotism and love for Canada 15 months ago,” he said.

Ontario MP Arpan Khanna laid out the problems that persist, from the shortage of affordable housing to crime.

“But Pierre and Conservatives are offering a different vision, a message of hope, a message of opportunity, a message that says Canada should work for those who work hard in our country.”

—With files from Jim Bronskill in Ottawa and Dayne Patterson in Calgary

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