Conservatives say they are united after strong endorsement of Poilievre’s leadership

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre delivers his keynote address at the party's national convention in Calgary, Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Larry MacDougal

CALGARY — Conservatives wrapped their three-day national convention in Calgary on Saturday, ready to look ahead to the future after solidifying Pierre Poilievre’s leadership.

“A united Conservative party has come out of this weekend, telling Canadians that we are ready to govern and fix the problems that the Liberals have created over the last decade,” said former Alberta MP Damien Kurek, who stepped down in the spring to allow Poilievre to run in a byelection.

Poilievre easily passed his mandatory leadership review, earning 87 per cent support from delegates who voted after listening to him speak on Friday evening.

Poilievre’s main message was one of hope in the face of the rising cost of living. He blamed the Liberals for those struggles and pledged that his party would have solutions.

Ian Brodie, a professor of political science at the University of Calgary, said Poilievre did what he needed to do to turn the page on a difficult year.

“I think that the party is as united as it’s ever been,” said Brodie, who was also chief of staff to former prime minister Stephen Harper.

On Friday morning, the Conservative fund chair Rob Staley praised Poilievre’s team for another record fundraising year in 2025 and told delegates the party is financially ready to go for another election.

“Now the campaign team’s attention can turn to the campaign focus … to showing off a bit more of the policy positions (Poilievre) is going to have into the next election,” Brodie said.

He said there seemed to be good conversations between Poilievre’s new campaign team and the grassroots members.

Poilievre acknowledged a strategic error Friday evening, saying he had learned from frustrations aired after the election over the way his team inserted itself in some nomination contests.

Delegates voted for a number of amendments to the party’s constitution aimed at handing local riding associations more autonomy and control.

One such change ensures sitting MPs cannot be unilaterally removed as candidates — something that Alberta MP Garnett Genuis was pushing for, saying it ensures members of Parliament are accountable to their constituents and caucus colleagues.

“I think that discussion is healthy and it’s good that we come together and work that out,” he said.

‘Strong leadership’

Saturday’s featured speaker was Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, who gave Poilievre a hearty endorsement.

“The Conservative Party of Canada has strong leadership, leadership with moral clarity with a plan to restore Canada’s economic leadership,” she said.

Smith’s eight-minute speech took aim at “the terrible Liberal policies of the last 10 years,” but focused almost entirely on former prime minister Justin Trudeau.

She got big cheers for referring to the “federal left-wing activist coalition government” of Trudeau’s Liberals and the NDP led by Jagmeet Singh, and for pointing out that Steven Guilbeault is no longer a member of the Liberal cabinet.

Smith did not mention Prime Minister Mark Carney by name, nor did she attack his policies.

“Pierre Poilievre and our Conservatives believe in our Constitution, in leaving the provinces to be provinces, focusing on what the federal government needs to do,” Smith said.

The crowd heartily agreed with Smith’s assertion that “myself and the majority of Canadians agree, biological men do not belong in women’s sports, period.”

Despite that, delegates did not take up a number of policy changes pushed by the party’s social-conservative wing on abortion and parental rights.

Technical issues plagued the voting on a resolution that inspired some debate on the convention floor, which stated the party should oppose the federal conversion therapy ban and endorse the right of parents to “arrange for body-affirming talk therapy for their gender-confused child.” Eventually, the resolution did not have enough support to pass.

Another proposal that aimed to overturn the long-standing party policy that “a Conservative government will not support any legislation to regulate abortion” did not make it to the convention floor for a vote.

Delegates passed a raft of other policy changes, including a number focused on justice issues: opposing the decriminalization of illicit drugs and safe-supply programs and supporting harsher sentences for those convicted of intimate partner violence.

There was more than 90 per cent support for a “castle law” policy that encourages a future Conservative government to change the Criminal Code to “presume any force, including lethal force, is reasonable when used to defend against an uninvited intruder in one’s home.”

Delegates also supported a policy that Poilievre has long endorsed, calling for the party to end government funding of the CBC.

Poilievre and his caucus are not bound by any of the policies debated and adopted at the convention.

Sarah Ritchie, The Canadian Press