All hands on deck to get out the vote in the Conservative leadership election
With the Conservative leadership election in the home stretch, the winner needs to walk away with 16,901 of the total 33,800 available points, and all five leadership campaigns are making last ditch efforts to urge their supporters to cast their votes as soon as possible. “We’re pushing on every channel we can,” said Chris Rougier, […]
What are people buying into with Poilievre?
OTTAWA—In 2008, when then-prime minister Stephen Harper delivered a formal apology to former students of the residential schools program, Pierre Poilievre said the Indigenous recipients of compensation payments needed to get to work, not get money from Ottawa. “My view is that we need to engender the values of hard work and independence and self-reliance. […]
Pierre Poilievre’s resume should tell you all you need to know
HALIFAX—Pierre Poilievre has caught the eye of Washington Post contributing columnist David Moscrop, and it isn’t pretty. “The problems Canada and the world face are far too great to leave to a right-wing, doctrinaire, stuffed-shirt of a politician of such little distinction, capacity, or imagination,” he recently wrote. In case you missed his drift, Moscrop […]
Alberta Sovereignty Act a ‘huge’ challenge for Poilievre if he wins federal leadership election, say political players
The issue of Alberta sovereignty will be the first “huge” political hot potato for Pierre Poilievre should he win the Conservative leadership this September, particularly if Danielle Smith also wins the leadership of the United Conservative Party in Alberta, say political players. Smith, the UCP leadership contest front-runner, has proposed the “Alberta Sovereignty Act” that […]
Conservative caucus to hold summer retreat after the election of new leader, say MPs
With party unity as the issue top of mind for Conservative Parliamentarians and party members, the 119-member Conservative caucus is tentatively scheduled to meet on Sept. 15-16 in Ottawa for its annual summer caucus retreat to plot strategy for the fall sitting of Parliament. This will be the Conservative MPs and Senators’ first retreat after […]
Profound concern with Conservative Party direction at Centre Ice event
There were a lot of topics discussed at the recent Centre Ice Conservatives conference in Edmonton, Alta.: economy, foreign policy, domestic, and global security, reconciliation, and inclusiveness. All, refreshingly, from an adult perspective on what is good policy for a conservative movement. For instance, there was discussion of the pressing need for comprehensive reform of […]
If Poilievre wins leadership, but fails to pivot to the centre, Quebec Tory MP Godin says he will ‘reflect’ on his own ‘future political life’
The Conservative Party will elect a new leader on Sept. 10, but already one Quebec Conservative MP is warning that the results could cause him to re-evaluate his future with the party. The unity of the Conservative Party after the leadership election will depend largely on the direction the new leader decides to take, says […]
Trump’s Canadian proxy catches a wave
OTTAWA—In the last Conservative debate on Aug. 3, Jean Charest looked like a guy who took the wrong bus to a part of town he didn’t want to set foot in. It was the last best chance for the former Quebec premier, who must have thought he was making an important contribution to the leadership […]
‘Textbook, hot-button politics’ behind Conservative leadership contenders’ attacks on international organizations, say strategists
Following Conservative leadership candidate Pierre Poilievre’s impressive second quarter fundraising haul, experts say it’s “obvious” that attacking international institutions like the World Economic Forum and the World Health Organization gets traction among a “certain crowd in the Conservative movement.” “But not among all Conservatives,” says former Conservative strategist Yan Plante, who was chief of staff […]
Closing in on party totals, Poilievre leadership win would put Tory fundraising juggernaut ‘on steroids,’ says Powers
The Conservative Party’s fundraising juggernaut continues to pull ahead of its main political rivals—raising more money than the Liberals and NDP combined for the past two quarters—and strategists say the numbers from the party’s leadership contest suggest that a win by MP Pierre Poilievre would be like a shot of “steroids” for the Tory apparatus. […]
