From opinion polls to party faithful, Poilievre's Conservatives are riding high. But is it too soon?
CBC
Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre appears to be in the pole position with an enviable lead over the governing Liberals in most public opinion polls and he commands near-total loyalty from the Tory base.
The party's three-day policy convention, which ended Saturday, broke past attendance records with more than 2,500 delegates registered for the Quebec City love-in.
The party is flush with cash after eye-popping fundraising hauls in the first and second quarters of this year — funds that will allow the party brass to continue its expensive ad campaign touting Poilievre in this pre-writ period.
While the leader's lengthy keynote address on Friday seemed less punchy than the off-the-cuff stump speeches he delivers while on tour, it was as well received as red meat by the Liberal-hating crowd.
Blasting the supposed "snowflakes" in Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's cabinet, who he says are cancel-culture acolytes, and lampooning Liberal talk of Canada as a "post-national" state, Poilievre showed why he's adored by the so-called "true blue" Conservatives that now dominate this party.
He mounted a defence of patriotism, channelling Tory disgust with the government's passport redesign that erased historic references like Canada's First World War victory in the battle of Vimy Ridge.
"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," Poilievre said to some of the loudest applause of the night.
Poilievre's wife Ana delivered a heartfelt speech of her own, powerfully invoking the sacrifices their family is making to try and replace Trudeau.
They often have to leave their special needs daughter while on tour, she said. Valentina, who is almost five, has autism.
"We wouldn't be doing this if we didn't believe this was a necessary fight to take on for our children," she said, holding back tears as she referenced the government's perceived failures.
Poilievre-friendly delegates also fended off a social conservative-led attempt to rewrite the party's constitution to empower local ridings to have the final say in candidate nominations.
It was a policy proposal borne out of opposition to Arpan Khanna, a more moderate candidate parachuted into the Oxford, Ont., riding for a recent federal byelection. A local social conservative wanted to be the candidate.
The constitutional amendment defeat didn't go over well with anti-abortion activists like Alissa Golob, the co-founder of the social conservative advocacy group RightNow.
"There's a lot of Ottawa telling members what we should or shouldn't be thinking. It makes this whole convention a bit of a facade," she said in an interview.
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