Pierre Poilievre received an overwhelming affirmation at the recent Conservative Party convention. That’s good. He represents a brand of conservativism most people in his party can get behind, not to mention many Canadians.
Despite barely holding the Liberals to a minority, it is hugely significant that Poilievre led the Conservative Party of Canada to the most votes a right-leaning party has received since the Mulroney majority of 1988. He led a solid and bold campaign based on economic fundamentals and practical solutions for the country.
Conservatives have been searching for this since Stephen Harper stepped down. Considering how downhill Canada went thereafter, it’s a wonder the Harper years aren’t remembered more fondly. We had steady leadership; great economic, social, and environmental policy at home; and clear and sensible foreign policy too.
Harper came from the Reform tradition but kept Conservatives focused on issues that united the Conservative camp. He even managed to make it a bit socially conservative with family-friendly with policies like income-splitting on income taxes for couples with children. His party voted down an opposition motion to include abortion spending abroad. Harper wasn’t flashy but no one questioned his principles or competence.
The same could not be said for the leadership that followed. Andrew Scheer was a family-friendly conservative too but found it more difficult to convey distinctly Conservative policies on some issues people in his party wanted. When he signed the Paris Climate Accord, it was too Liberal-light for some. In fact, on issues from pronouns to supply management, his rival Maxime Bernier took a few people with him because Bernier had the courage to convey a clear right-leaning vision.
Erin O’Toole portrayed himself as “true blue” but turned out to be kind of red. He listened to Toronto and other urbanite Conservatives when he proposed his own version of the carbon tax. Despite ongoing disasters and record deficits from the Trudeau government, he couldn’t make much headway. He didn’t have Trudeau’s charisma and came off as wishy-washy.
Finally, Pierre Poilievre emerged as the right man at the right time. He was the sharpest tack and the sharpest critic against successive Liberal regimes that absolutely deserved it. Thanks to his early involvement in politics, he was an acolyte of the Reform style conservatives and Alberta politics yet had unfailing electoral success in the Ottawa area of all places.
A Poilievre conservatism was the perfect antidote to crippling consequences of coddling criminals, overspending money, sacrificing the economy on the altar of net zero emissions, wide open borders, affordability challenges, and stalled economic growth. Young Canadians, especially males, were attracted to his youth and his clear vision of the future because it revived hopes they could have a good life in this country. Given our abundance of resources, this never should have been in doubt except for the Liberal governments that dampened their expectations.
Poilievre also had the courage to frame environmental issues through an economic lens. He said the best thing Canada could do for Canadians and the world was to export all the oil and natural gas it could. That was better than Chinese coal for the environment and met the needs of European countries who no longer wanted energy from Russia. That argument is sound.
What Poilievre lacked that Harper enjoyed in his years was weak Liberal leadership and popular, charismatic NDP leadership. Harper cannot take credit for such circumstances, nor can Poilievre take blame for what he faced. Poilievre was such a formidable force that lefties abandoned the Jagmeet Singh NDP that formally propped up the Trudeau disaster and went with the new, allegedly anti-Trump face of Mark Carney.
Poilievre didn’t blow it in 2025. Hurricane Trump blew in and changed everything. The electoral boundaries in Poilievre’s riding also changed, contributing to his first ever election defeat. Ottawa is Civil Servant Central and it should surprise no one they chose the Liberals who had a special gift of bloating the civil service to bloat their own electoral chances and fill the bureaucracy with those in their own image.
Thankfully, 87 per cent of Conservatives realized it would be the worst time possible for the party ship to change its captain. Poilievre has a rare ability to connect to the everyday person, to speak to the practical needs or Canadians, to speak on matters of criminal justice that resonate with most Canadians’ own sense of justice. He knows how government and politics work and he knows how the economy works too. All Conservatives needed was the sense to stay behind him. Let’s hope they don’t lose it and other Canadians realize what a gift Poilievre is to this country.
