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Alberta Premier and United Conservative Party Leader Danielle Smith walks on stage at the Conservative Party of Canada national convention in Calgary on Saturday.Jennifer Gauthier/Reuters
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre’s commanding win in his leadership review saw party members breathe a bit easier Saturday as they wrapped their policy convention.
Though Mr. Poilievre’s victory was presumed, both delegates and observers to the convention interpreted his 87.4-per-cent vote as a sign the party has moved past the sting of losing the last election.
“He’s a very popular leader and I still believe he’s the best to lead us,” said Alberta delegate Justin Vung.
Poilievre wins 87.4% in leadership vote, cements hold over Conservative Party
Resolutions debated by delegates Saturday yielded few signs of division among the rank-and-file either.
Many proposals sailed through the voting, with one of the most divisive being a proposal supporting conversion therapy, which aims to change a person’s gender or sexual identity. It failed to advance.
Mr. Poilievre did not speak to the media Friday or offer any public comment on the leadership review vote. It was required at this convention because he lost the April general election.
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Poilievre, alongside his wife Anaida, and children, Cruz and Valentina, waves to the crowd after his keynote address at the convention.Jennifer Gauthier/Reuters
The party said 2,588 delegates cast a ballot and turnout was 95 per cent.
There were fewer delegates to the convention than there could have been. Each riding association can send at least 12 people.
With 343 ridings, that means there could have been more than 4,000 votes cast if every delegate spot was filled – though they rarely are for any convention.
Mr. Poilievre did, however, attend Alberta Premier Danielle Smith’s speech to convention delegates just before lunchtime on Saturday.
She offered him a ringing endorsement, and launched a blistering attack on the Liberals, just days after she sat next to Prime Minister Mark Carney and said they had common ground.
“I want to thank all the delegates here for giving our leader such a strong mandate, because we are going to need Pierre strong to fight for our values and reverse the terrible policies of the last 10 years,” said Ms. Smith.
Unusually for Ms. Smith, she delivered part of her 10-minute speech in French.
Though Ms. Smith has long supported Mr. Poilievre, their relationship has been challenged since Mr. Carney became prime minister and embarked upon a mission to turn Canada into an energy superpower.
A landmark accord signed between Ottawa and Alberta last year paves the way for a new oil pipeline, and Ms. Smith has repeatedly complimented Mr. Carney for a total reset in provincial-federal relations.
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Ms. Smith at the Conservative Party convention. Her 10-minute speech primarily looked back on Trudeau’s decade in power.Larry MacDougal/The Canadian Press
Ms. Smith’s remarks to the convention went in the opposite direction as she invoked the Liberals’ record under Justin Trudeau and his former environment minister Steven Guilbeault.
She also leaned on themes of provincial autonomy, and referenced one of her government’s more controversial policies to restrict transgender athletes over age 12 from competing in amateur female sports divisions. She protected the legislation from legal challenges last year by invoking the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms’ notwithstanding clause.
“Pierre also believes in protecting our women and girls and upholding fairness and safety, something that we’ve done here in Alberta because Pierre, myself and a majority of Canadians believe that biological men do not belong in women’s sports,” she said, which earned a standing ovation.
Ms. Smith referred to Mr. Carney only once: “I would love, as the Prime Minister said, for pipelines to be boring again. I would love to just get them built,” she said.
Opinion: A reconfirmed Poilievre, now with more hope and optimism
She did not address the continuing issue of separatist sentiment in the province, which Mr. Poilievre had taken on during his own remarks Friday night.
He blamed the Liberals for those in both Alberta and Quebec no longer feeling they belong in the country.
“We can simply attack people who feel this way, or we can ask them, ‘Why?’” Mr. Poilievre said.
Mr. Poilievre’s Friday night call for national unity, however, fell flat for Jeffrey Rath, one of the leaders of Alberta’s independence movement.
He was at the party convention Saturday, saying he has many friends in the party. He said he has never spoken to Mr. Poilievre but was convinced of one thing:
“He’s not keeping Alberta in Canada.”
Editor’s note: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre received 84.7 per cent of the vote in his leadership review. It was 87.4 per cent.
