Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre speaks at an International Holocaust Remembrance Day ceremony at the National Holocaust Monument in Ottawa, on Tuesday.Patrick Doyle/Reuters
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre’s leadership review is the headline event of the party’s Calgary convention, but delegates will also spend hours debating and voting on additions or modifications to the party’s official policy handbook, as well as its constitution.
Here’s an overview of some of the changes party members want to see.
Policy
More than four-dozen policy proposals are up for discussion, covering a range of issues.
Some reiterate positions that Mr. Poilievre has already taken, such as calling for major changes to the Temporary Foreign Worker Program or a dollar-for-dollar law that would see every dollar the government spends matched by a dollar it cuts.
Others touch on regional pressures, including a suggestion from the Calgary-Nose Hill riding association for the party to adopt a strategy to fight forest fires.
One, from the Toronto riding of Thornhill, seeks to address a contemporary issue – artificial intelligence – by calling for an AI framework to advance innovation.
A resolution sponsored from the riding of Nepean, the seat currently held by Prime Minister Mark Carney, calls for a vote in the House of Commons to take place before Canada grants diplomatic recognition to any new state. The resolution flows from the Carney government’s decision to recognize the state of Palestine.
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From the Saskatchewan riding of Yorkton-Melville comes a policy idea that would include pulling Canada out of the World Health Organization. U.S. President Donald Trump cut America’s ties with the WHO earlier this month.
Conservatives from Lethbridge, Alta., are seeking to replace the party’s existing policy laying out several steps on oversight of the CBC with: “The Conservative Party believes the control and operations of the CBC/SRC as an entity should be accomplished through independent, non-governmental funding.”
Lethbridge MP Rachael Thomas is the party’s heritage critic.
A resolution sponsored by the B.C. riding of Similkameen-South Okanagan-West Kootenay seeks to delete the party’s existing policy on abortion. It currently reads “A Conservative Government will not support any legislation to regulate abortion.”
In the rationale for proposing the change, the riding wrote: “This is an issue of conscience. We are a ‘big tent’ party. Having this policy alienates voters that are pro-life. By eliminating this policy, we continue to grow our base and allow our leaders, candidates and MPs to be flexible and best represent the values of their individual ridings.”
Constitution
The thrust of most constitutional amendments proposed by riding associations is to give them more control and oversight over the party’s operations.
Much of this is a direct response to frustration that the leader, as well as the party’s national council and the Conservative Fund – which oversees the money – have too much control and are not transparent enough about their decisions, including who gets to run under the party banner.
The Manitoba riding of Provencher has sponsored a proposal calling for an overhaul of the nomination process, pointing out that when the previous election began, more than 100 candidates hadn’t even been nominated – even though the party had been agitating for an election for more than a year.
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“Right now, candidates put years of their lives on hold (selling memberships, organizing in their communities, and preparing to serve) only to be left in limbo. They deserve certainty.”
The party announced nomination rule changes ahead of the convention, though they won’t kick in for some time.
Some riding associations, however, also want to see changes to the party’s foundational principles.
Those include adding a sentence: “We honour in entirety the Original national anthems: French Lyrics by Adolphe-Basile Routhier, 1880 and the Robert Stanley Weir, 1908 version.”
The Weir and Routhier lyrics are the basis for the official lyrics of O Canada, though they’ve been changed numerous times. The most-recent modification was in 2018 when the anthem was changed to be gender-neutral.