Poilievre delivering speech at Conservative convention ahead of leadership vote

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Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is courting delegates ahead of the party’s convention in Calgary where he faces a must-win leadership vote on Friday. Poilievre needs an overwhelming majority to keep his job after losing April’s federal election and his own seat in the process.

I'm a senior writer on the national desk. Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is set to address thousands of delegates tonight at his party's national convention in Calgary, in a speech sources say will set a tone of unity and sovereignty in a continuously shifting geopolitical landscape.

Moments after Poilievre finishes his remarks, the party faithful will vote to decide his future as leader. Loyalists expect Poilievre will easily survive the vote, but the margin of victory will send a message: either the party wants to stay the course or they think there's a need for change.

The Conservative leader takes the stage to Journey's Don't Stop Believin' after being introduced by his wife, Ana. Poilievre thanks her, as well as his two children.

In the run-up to the speech, delegates are being shown testimonials from various conservative luminaries from around the country, like former Saskatchewan premier Brad Wall, former interim federal Conservative leader Candice Bergen and former cabinet minister Peter Mackay.

“In spite of the loss in the last election, we made great gains and … we came so close,” Mackay said in his video speech.

A clear majority of delegates are expected to endorse Poilievre staying on as leader in that vote.

There are few, if any, public signs of dissension among the delegates who have travelled to Calgary — many were wearing "united" and "united with Pierre" buttons on their lanyards.

One person close to Poilievre told me earlier they expect he will get somewhere in the 80 percentage point range.

After Poilievre's remarks tonight, delegates will have two hours to vote in the leadership review that will decide his fate — and the results of that secret ballot will be announced sometime later tonight.

The ballots from the roughly 2,600 delegates will be counted by hand, which could make for a long night.

As is typical at convention speeches like this, party volunteers have blanketed delegates’ chairs with campaign signs for supporters to wave as Poilievre speaks.

On tonight’s placards, in each official language, we have: CHOOSE HOPE; RESTORE CANADA’S PROMISE; and that old personal classic of his, PIERRE POILIEVRE FOR PRIME MINISTER.

Like Prime Minister Mark Carney, who crafted his widely praised speech in Davos, Switzerland, himself, Poilievre personally wrote and revised much of what he will say on stage tonight, sources close to the leader have told me.

Poilievre will likely point to the successes he's had as leader, namely expanding the Conservative coalition to include many more young and working-class voters.

While Poilievre fell short in the general election and lost his Ottawa-area seat to a Liberal, the party did win its highest vote share in a generation on his watch.

The crowd in Calgary are now being allowed into the hall after that delay.

The crowd is growing quite restless as we’re now more than 15 minutes past the expected time we were supposed to be allowed into the hall for the evening part of this convention program. 

The venue — or party officials — have started piping in some music. The first song: Takin’ Care of Business by Bachman-Turner Overdrive. The delay is due in part to a longer rehearsal by Poilievre and his team.

We were escorted out of the hall about an hour-and-a-half ago to allow Poilievre to practise his speech and familiarize himself with the set and the room. The media blackout, as they call it, was supposed to be lifted as of 6 p.m. MT but we understand there were some technical issues with the rehearsal. 

There is currently a crush of media members and hundreds of delegates trying to get into the room.

Party officials have provided us with the question that delegates will see when they go to mark their ballots and it's about as straightforward as it could be: "Do you think Pierre Poilievre should stay as leader of the Conservative Party of Canada?"

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