(first published in the Niagara Independent)

For the past few days, this author has been attending the Conservative Party of Canada’s Leadership Review and Policy Convention in beautiful Calgary, Alberta. In a reversal of the usual situation, those of us from Ontario left a very cold and snowy location to bask in relative warmth – temperatures well above zero! – and lack of snow in the West. It was clearly chinook time, and we appreciated the change. It turned out that this convention had the largest attendance of any previous Conservative convention in history. It’s hard to know exactly why so many people attended this conference, but it likely had something to do with the turmoil in Canada and around the world, the loss of the last election when expectations were that the Conservatives would win and the fact that the Carney government has not brought about any positive changes in Canada that some expected after the abject failure of Justin Trudeau. 

There are always speeches, boring votes on constitutional issues in the party, interesting policy discussions, procedural matters and other events at such conventions. But the schmoozing is likely the highlight for most people. Seeing old friends, meeting new ones, touching base with politicians, journalists, thoughtful policy folks and others is always fun and enlightening. As I happen to be a big supporter of Israel and have many Jewish friends and colleagues, I was fortunate to attend a Shabbat dinner on the Friday night. 

At the table where I was seated for the dinner, I noticed an older lady sitting by herself and went over to chat with her. After some pleasantries, she told me she was Pierre Poilievre’s mother! She was a lovely lady, very proud of her son of course, and insisted on putting me on her Christmas card list. You never know what kinds of things can happen at these events. Turned out I was also fortunate to be seated beside the Israeli Ambassador to Canada, Iddo Moed. He is a lovely, thoughtful and low-key gentleman, and we had a great conversation about important issues of the day. 

Another aspect of this convention that was different from previous ones was a strong presence from the “influencer” community. As anyone on social media knows, there are many influencers that have large followings and represent different points of view. There are many very effective Conservative influencers, including Northern Perspective, Mario Zelaya, Dan Knight, “The Pleb Reporter” (whose real name I don’t know) and Jasmin Laine, among others. Ms. Laine made a speech during the convention, which was exceptional. 

The speeches are always a highlight of these conventions, and they did not disappoint. Pierre Poilievre’s speech was excellent and very moving, as he clearly showed his love for his family and Canada. He also emphasized his support for more freedom for average citizens in Canada, something that is being attacked under this Liberal government. He repeated his support for smaller, more effective government, meaningful tax reductions for Canadians, and more accountable government. Another reason I think attendance was high at this convention was that people wanted to show their support for Poilievre as party leader. With a vote of almost 88 per cent in favour of his leadership, Poilievre could hardly ask for a better result. 

There was the usual sniping from Liberals about this number, which was absurd as any leader of any party would kill to have that kind of support in a leadership vote. The terrible state of our mainstream media was once again emphasized with a headline that Poilievre “survived” the vote. With almost 90 per cent. The immense bias of Canada’s legacy media has become almost laughable with such ridiculous reports. 

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith also did a wonderful speech of support for Poilievre and the federal Conservatives and, as we were in Alberta, got a rousing amount of applause from attendees. She received a standing ovation for comments about how Alberta won’t be co-operating with the federal gun confiscation program. This foolish program, which once again will be wasting gobs of taxpayer dollars to take guns away from legal, law-abiding gun owners while doing little about the criminals who are really responsible for gun crimes, needs to be scrapped. It has been very encouraging to see police departments across Canada and many provinces refuse to agree to enforce the Liberals’ program. When the law is as ridiculous as this is, Canadians should rebuke it.  

Perhaps the most intriguing aspect of this convention was how many young people were there. It was very noticeable and could be the main reason attendance was as high as it was. The “influencer” group was largely composed of younger folks as well. Former Liberal MP Sheila Copps sent out a mean-spirited message on X/twitter during the convention saying that she didn’t see many young women there. This was absolutely not true. Conservative candidate Barbara Bal, a well-spoken military veteran who contested Carney in the safe Liberal riding of Nepean in the last election, chose to respond to Copps by putting together a video with a whole bunch of young Conservative women waving & saying “Hi Sheila.” It was clever, funny & effective. 

Last year’s federal election showed some dramatic differences in voting patterns among the various age groups. Other than the comfortable boomers who have not to date been negatively affected by bad Liberal policies and people that depend on government for their livelihood, younger Canadians are voting strongly for Conservatives. The lost decade of Liberal government in Canada has produced nothing positive for younger Canadians. In fact, the Liberals have hindered their ability to own a home, form a family, have a decent standard of living and look forward to the future. Once the baby boom generation fades away in the next number of years, it does truly seem that the future is Conservative.

Catherine Swift

Catherine Swift is President of the Coalition of Concerned Manufacturers & Businesses of Canada (CCMBC). She was previously President of Working Canadians from 2015-2021 & President & CEO of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) from 1995-2014. She was Chief Economist of the CFIB from 1987-1995, Senior Economist with TD Bank from 1983-1987 & held several positions with the federal government from 1976-1983.

She has published numerous articles in journals, magazines & other media on issues such as free trade, finance, entrepreneurship & women business owners. Ms. Swift is a past President of the Empire Club of Canada, a former Director of the CD Howe Institute, the Canadian Youth Business Foundation, SOS Children’s Villages, past President of the International Small Business Congress and current Director of the Fraser Institute. She was cited in 2003 & 2012 as one of the most powerful women in Canada by the Women’s Executive Network & is a recipient of the Queen’s Silver & Gold Jubilee medals.

She has an Honours BA and MA in Economics.

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