A late Friday night vote in Calgary that gave Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre a resounding result and a clear mandate to lead his party into the next election has left grassroots members, delegates and members of Parliament motivated about the party’s future.
“I was blown away. The base is solid - solid behind him. Now we just need to get the rest of Canada to see what we all see,” said Greg Belanger, a delegate from Alberta, in an interview with CTV News.
Ahead of his high-stakes Friday night speech, Poilievre got a hero’s welcome from the Calgary crowd.
“Those people who have felt unseen for too long, who are carrying the country on their back and feel underappreciated and overworked, Conservatives see you and conservatives will fight for you,” Poilievre told the crowd.
Following that speech, Poilievre received 87.4 per cent support from voting delegates, who decided he was best suited to remain at the helm of the party.
“I feel awesome about it today. It’s good to see everybody is behind Pierre,” Desmond Hamlin, a delegate from Ontario, told CTV News.
Stephen Simpson, who travelled from British Columbia to support Poilievre during his leadership test, said “it was not only a vote for Pierre, but a real vote for the party and party unity.”
On the Convention floor Saturday, Alberta Premier Danielle smith received a warm welcome from the crowd before throwing her support behind Poilievre as well.
“Congratulations to our leader, Pierre Poilievre,” she said early in her speech.
The party, which appears firmly behind its leader following this weekend’s result, is keen on looking ahead to the future.
“The hard work starts today,” said Ontario MP Michael Barrett in an interview with CTV News.
“And that’s about introducing someone in Pierre Poilievre who is collaborative, who listens, but who is going to fight for that Canadian dream.”
Part of that work begins now to grow the party’s support with the wider electorate, following last year’s election loss.
“There was a big grieving period after that election result — I’ll be honest with you,” said Tony Clement, a former Conservative cabinet minister.
“But I think we’ve turned the page on that now. We’re looking forward to the future. We’ve got a leader who’s focused.”
Conservative members spend Saturday debating policy priorities on the convention floor.
On Friday, Poilievre leaned on lessons he said he learned during the convention, promising to keep the party on its current path.
“You told us to ignore the voices who keep telling us to abandon our conservative principles. We will remain true to our principles,” Poilievre told the crowd.
This weekend’s result solidifies Poilievre’s position as leader heading into the next election, giving him another opportunity to try to form a Conservative government for the first time in more than a decade.
