Friday January 30, 2026 | CALGARY, AB [Posted at 9:35 pm | Updated 10:07 pm PT]
Political analysis by Mary P Brooke | Island Social Trends
VOTE RESULTS: Poilievre receives 87.4 per cent of vote
Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre clearly pleased his party base in the convention hall in Calgary this evening. There were several standing ovations and some brief chanting of ‘Pierre, Pierre’.
He probably also may have created one or two attention-getting moments for general Canadian audiences, or at least delivering a variation on the material that they usually hear.
Some pundits said they thought the speech started too slowly. But Poilievre used the interpersonal soft skill of drawing people with a conversational style rather than a hard-edged ready-set-go. He was relaxed in his element at the podium in front of a packed room.
Acknowledging the Calgary convention location in winter and appealing to the local Alberta crowd, the Conservative leader delivered this: “Alberta is a land of oil and honey.” That had a shade of gold, that somehow faded a bit by stealing a page out of Prime Minister Carney’s playbook, calling his home town of Calgary (in the same neck of the woods as Carney’s home-town Edmonton) as “the place that taught me great values”.
Opportunities in Alberta are “as big as the sky”, said Poilevre, building momentum for a free-enterprise audience.
Mea culpa:
Poilievre had lost the 2025 election for the Conservatives (as in not forming government) and his own long-time seat, needing to later run in a bye-election ina safe Conservative seat in order to return to the House of Commons.
The review — with a vote result to come later tonight — was required by party rules as the party leader had not won a government-forming victory for the Conservatives.
Poilievre countered any shadow in that by reminding the room that got increased the number of votes delivered to Conservatives and 25 more seats. He also noted how the party had attracted more small business owners, young people, and union workers.
“Elections teach us lessons,” said Poilievre, in adressing the other objections to falling short of a win for the Conservatives. He said the party should hold earlier and open nominations, and provide more local autonomy to the local electoral district organizations that he called “the backbone of our organization”. Thing is, these are not new ideas and should not be new realizations for a major political party.
Trademark triplets:
The 40-minute speech included several of the trademarks triplets — not always alliteration but phrases. Likely this is a method by which Poliievre can more easily memorize his speeches.
Free enterpise, hard work:
But here’s a gem: “Start anywhere, get anywhere.” That’s a new way that Poilievre has framed the Canadian experience — or at least the way it used to be.
If there was a central theme to the speech it was appeal to and remind the audience of the free-enterprise Conservative ethos.
- “People don’t have to ask permission to succeed.”
- “People have all the wisdom to make their own lives, they don’t need to be boxed around by government. Government’s job is only for doing things that they can’t do for themselves. If he were to start his own political party is would be the mind-your-own-damn-business party”.
- “A smaller government makes room for the dignity of work.”
And that’s what led to the rest of the speech theme… how can Canada be improved in the Conservative way. But as is pretty much always the case, Pierre Poilievere delivers motivational imagery of how Canadians are struggling in today’s economy. He weaves a line about the “worries of families with empty fridges and empty bank accounts”.
Next steps:
But Poilievre never really articulates how that would be achieved. He paints the dream but doesn’t map out the route to get there.
Sure, it wouldn’t be cool to spill all the good ideas so that other political parties can pick them up (though the Liberals have done some of that). But a dearth of strategy is now starting to look thread-bare compared to Carney’s complex contextual macroeconomic strategy that is only just starting to be rolled out (major national projects, trade missions, new areas of engagement, helping guide new employment sectors).
“Here we are a year later — what’s changed?”
Firing up the Conservatives to say that the Liberals are doing nothing is something that Poilievre likely doesn’t truly believe — anyone watching and understanding what the federal government is doing can see the master plan. He gave a hint of that, saying that Canada needs an abundant, affordable, autonomous economy and future.
But creating or building on fear and anxiety does have a kind of feel-good power that has clearly brought more signed-up members to the Conservative party last year for the election and which have some further success.
National view & defence:
“A strong dollar that buys more requires lower inflationary deficits,” said Poilievre, as part of his context for affordability.
“Canadians must stand united so we can stand on our own two feet,” he said, in a flavour of ‘elbows up’. “We must prioritize our own national interest above all else. We need to unite this country like never before.”
“Self reliance requires self defence,” he also stated, in a speech by this time resembling a talk points list. But he added one specific about drones that he suggested should be used more often to reduce the risk to the lives of soldiers.
“We will no longer allow foreign conflicts to spill onto our streets” was among his various statements on crime and safety.
DEI:
And he tucked this in, that “hiring should be on the on basis of merit not political correctness”.
The diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) approach to hiring has in some cases disadvantaged hard-working people who might otherwise get ahead but for a type of reverse-racism, and Poilievre has to know that his frankness about that will appeal to some of his base on a guttural level.
Wrapping up:
“When you believe in something you fight for it, you never give up,” was perhaps a line that might appeal beyond the Conservative party faithful.
The parting line: “We never give up, because we know the best is yet to come.”
