Thoughts on BC Politics and More

The Conservative Party may have a reputation for bickering and in-fighting but its members were able to find one area of overwhelming consensus at the party’s policy convention in Quebec City this weekend. With 93 percent of delegates voting in favour of the resolution, the Conservatives almost unanimously decided to adopt elements of the Alberta provincial government’s strategy for combating drug addiction. It was one of the largest margins at the convention and a big endorsement of a policy that has been polarizing in Alberta, but has attracted the support of Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre as he campaigns against disorder in Canadian cities ... CLICK HERE for the full story

Federal Conservatives left their party's policy convention in Quebec City feeling a somewhat unfamiliar sensation: Celebration. Party members, MPs and insiders say the chance for a return to power feels within reach. Unity is also becoming more evident under Pierre Poilievre, elected leader a year ago.   With a mood buoyed by rising poll numbers and a sense of momentum, the challenge ahead, some say, is how to sustain the feeling, given the next general election could be years away. The Canadian Press put that question to strategists, MPs and party supporters at the convention. Five takeaways on what Conservatives say they need to do next ...     CLICK HERE for the full story

Guilbeault said his surprise appearance was a reaction to the Conservatives’ decision not to invite Liberal political observers to their convention     Fresh from a visit to Beijing, Liberal Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault appeared at the doorstep of Quebec City’s convention centre on Friday to crash the Conservative party’s national convention and call leader Pierre Poilievre a climate denier ... ... In an interview, Guilbeault justified his surprise appearance as a reaction to the Conservatives’ decision not to invite Liberal political observers to their convention, something Guilbeault said is a “long-standing tradition” among different parties. “It’s somewhat ironic that someone who would drape themselves into freedom and give doughnuts to the people who are occupying the streets of Ottawa would deny us the freedom… (to attend) their convention. What is it they have to hide?” ... CLICK HERE to read the full story

A social conservative group is making a push to check Pierre Poilievre’s power as the Conservative party gathers in Québec City this weekend.  The Conservatives are riding high in national polling and head into this weekend’s policy convention — the party’s first in-person convention since 2018 — with a sense of cautious optimism after eight years on the opposition benches. But it wouldn’t be a Conservative gathering without some good old fashioned intra-party power struggles. Alissa Golob, the executive director of anti-abortion group Right Now, said her organization is pushing for more transparency around party nominations and more power resting with local riding associations — rather than Poilievre and his team in Ottawa. The group’s goal is to nominate and elect more anti-abortion politicians to the House of Commons, with an aim of passing legislation to restrict abortion access in Canada ... CLICK HERE for the rest of the story

The Conservative Party's moment has come to sell Canadians on its "common sense" plan, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre told his caucus on Thursday, as they gathered in Quebec City for the federal party's three-day policy convention where controversial policy pitches risk impacting the party's broadening appeal.   To start the day, Poilievre rallied his MPs with a speech filled with the anti-Justin Trudeau messaging that would be familiar to anyone who had attended one of his rallies this summer: the prime minister and his nearly eight years in power are to blame for the rising cost of living, housing costs and the "crime, chaos, drugs and disorder" that are "common on our streets."   "Justin Trudeau of course, would like us to erase our past and cancel our future, and replace it with the dystopia that now exists in this country," Poilievre said, listing off proposals for how he'd govern differently, to ap...

The headlines that emanate from Conservative conventions do not, as a rule, help the cause    ... There is nothing in the policy book that seems unduly surprising or controversial — at least, not to Conservative party members. There are resolutions calling for the party to defund the CBC; kill the carbon tax; impose mandatory minimum sentences for criminals who use guns; allow provinces to use private health delivery; affirm the right to refuse vaccines; and oppose medically assisted dying. But those are already baked into assumptions about what a Poilievre-led government might do.   If all goes to plan, 2,500 Conservatives will travel to Quebec City, enjoy three days taunting Justin Trudeau and all his works, and then go home to prepare for government.   That will undoubtedly be the message that the keynote speaker on Friday, party co-founder Peter MacKay, will be pushing ... CLICK HERE for the full story