Pierre Poilievre wins leadership review with 87.4% approval

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Kenney: Poilievre could have addressed the gorilla in the room

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has easily cleared his leadership review winning the approval of delegates with 87.4 per cent of the vote, a party spokesperson says.

A Conservative Party spokesperson says voting has concluded.

The paper ballots will now be hand counted.

A reminder that delegates voted "yes" or "no" to this question: "Do you think Pierre Poilievre should stay as leader of the Conservative Party of Canada?"

Stay with us. We don't exactly know what time we'll get the result. The party has told us it will come via a news release. We'll bring them to you as soon as we get them from the party.

After Poilievre's speech, delegates piled from one ballroom to another in the convention centre. 

There, they’ll vote on whether to keep him on as party leader. 

A large crowd by the ballroom door seemed to thin out rather quickly, though media are barred from this area so I cannot give you more perspective on the scene inside the voting room.

The paper ballots will be hand-counted by volunteers under supervision by scrutineers and an accounting firm overseeing it all.

The party is expected to announce the results and Poilievre’s percentage score later tonight, once they finish tallying the votes of close to 2,700 delegates. That’s expected at around 11 p.m. MT.

If there was a marked difference, it might have been stylistic. Poilievre referenced "cancel culture," "identity politics" and "political correctness" (spoiler: he's opposed to all three), but he may have been more self-contained and serious, even sunnier, than in previous outings. He was eager to emphasize "hope."

Based on this speech, I think one could conclude that Poilievre seems focused on maintaining the support his party won in last year's election, perhaps adjusting his own presentation, and counting on the Carney government to fall short of expectations.

But first, of course, he needs a strong showing in tonight's leadership vote.

I think this was largely a speech that Poilievre could have delivered in 2024 or during the 2025 campaign. At least in terms of subject matter and prescriptions (with a couple exceptions, particularly the section on the separatist threats in Alberta and Quebec). 

And I'm not sure Poilievre would quibble with that assessment. I don't think he or his party think they need to completely reinvent themselves or their offer: that the problems they identified in 2024 are still present — and that their policy agenda is still the right answer.

There were obvious nods to the threat posed by Donald Trump — and the need for Canada to be more self-reliant — but there wasn't a lot about how Poilievre sees or would approach the new world that Canada seems to be facing. Some of that might become more apparent as Mark Carney's government has to make choices and as the myriad issues raised by Trump become more clear.

It’s also a nod to the separatist challenges the country is facing with independence movements bubbling up in Alberta and Quebec.

"Only Canadians could carve the world's best country out of a big, cold, vast land because we never give up. We never back down. We never run away," he said. 

"We stand united tonight, together, always, because this country, its people and promise are worth fighting for."

Those lines, delivered towards the end, also got some of the loudest applause from this predominately western audience.

One thing did stick out to me: this may have been one of the most patriotic speeches Poilievre has ever delivered. 

Poilievre made his political name by claiming "Canada is broken" because of Liberal mismanagement under Justin Trudeau.

But, in these remarks, he invoked moments of Canadian greatness: the workers who drove in the spikes to build the Canadian Pacific Railway and unite the country. The soldiers who endured the horrors of trench warfare in the First World War. 

He is clearly drawing a parallel: that determination to build a seemingly impossible railway through unfriendly terrain or finish the fight in a gruelling war is like his commitment to stay on as leader and finish what he started despite the obstacles. 

Poilievre has delivered a speech designed to reach two target audiences: the party base — the delegates — who are voting tonight on whether to stick with him as leader, but also the caucus of MPs he leads and needs to keep in the Conservative fold. This wasn't a speech designed to sway swing voters.

There was little new material in this speech. Indeed, Poilievre delivered some of his greatest hits: blasting the Liberals, invoking former U.S. President Ronald Reagan's anti-government rhetoric, warning against the dangers of deficit spending and pleading with Ottawa to greenlight new natural resources development. 

Then there’s a promise to reverse the Liberal “gun grab” and turn away from political correctness. 

And while Poilievre faced criticism from some people within his own party for essentially ignoring U.S. President Donald Trump and his threats in the last federal election, the leader made no mention of him by name tonight. 

He did call Trump's tariffs "unfair and unresolved," and he said Canada must be "united and strong" and "bow before no nation" — but it's clear Poilievre is reluctant to make that fight a central plank of his leadership.

Instead, he wants to lean into the issues he champions that resonate with voters anxious about other things, namely the cost of living and crime. 

There will be no ideological pivot, either. Poilievre says he will stick with his conservative principles, regardless of what the pundit class tells him to do. 

Kenney: Poilievre could have addressed the gorilla in the room

Former federal cabinet minister and Alberta premier Jason Kenney praised Poilievre, saying he "nailed" his speech at the Conservative convention. The one thing Kenney said he didn't feel Poilievre adequately addressed were Trump's threats and insults directed at Canada — "the 800-pound gorilla in the room," as Kenney put it.

Former federal cabinet minister and Alberta premier Jason Kenney praised Poilievre, saying the leader "nailed" the speech and "hit it out of the park."

The one thing Kenney said he didn't feel Poilievre adequately addressed was Trump's threats and insults directed at Canada — "the 800 pound gorilla in the room," as Kenney put it.

"The one point of constructive criticism I would offer is, you can't deal with the reality of the Trump threat by pretending it is not there," Kenney said.

"In a major keynote address like this, to pretend that the president of the world's super power attacking us weekly is not an issue I think misses the moment to some extent."

Kenney did acknowledge that Poilievre offered to help resolve the tariff issue with the U.S., but said there wouldn't be "any downside" if he had taken a more challenging tone against Trump.

Some party delegates I spoke to before Poilievre’s speech said they wanted to hear some new strategies he had to defeat the Liberals after falling short last year and squandering a massive poll lead.

It’s not clear Poilievre delivered that in his speech. His more resonant applause lines were ones about refusing to abandon Conservative principles and refusing to “give up” — and linking that campaign ethos throughout the country’s history to agrarian pioneers, trench war fighters, and railway builders.

“I have no right to give up,” he told the convention.

If that’s the sturdy resilience delegates want in a leader, they’ll support his leadership review, and most are expected to. But some who hoped for more from the leader’s speech may have other thoughts.

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