From crime to culture wars, Pierre Poilievre's leadership isn't the only thing on the agenda at the Conservative convention

While party leaders are not forced to include policies adopted at the convention in future election campaigns, a refreshed policy blueprint can solidify a party’s identity: something the Conservatives need after their fourth straight election loss. 

Sixty-two policy changes are on the docket, representing a mix of proposals that clearly bear Poilievre’s mark and a smattering of pressure points that could prove thorny for a leader on the cusp of a potentially career-defining vote.

Here’s a taste of some of the policies on the table, and what they say about where the party is heading.

Familiar fare

This time around, there are plenty of proposals that demonstrate Poilievre’s influence as he approaches four years in the party’s top job.

Several deal with crackdowns on crime, including proposals to impose stricter bail conditions, tackle intimate partner violence, deport non-citizens convicted of serious crimes, and ensure that lethal force is considered a reasonable response to self-defence.

Grassroots are also looking to overhaul the party’s position on the country’s temporary foreign worker program, calling on the program — as Poilievre has already done — to be axed outright, or limited in its use.

Like Poilievre, party members also want to see opposition to drug decriminalization and “safe supply” policies enshrined in their policy book.

On other health-related matters, members are hoping to retain existing language that would allow provinces and territories to offer a “balance of public and private” health-care services. One proposal goes a step further in calling to reopen the Canada Health Act to give provinces more insurance options, inspired by countries that have not adopted a single-payer model. That’s a matter that Poilievre has never directly addressed, though he’s previously expressed opposition to that model when it comes to nationwide drug coverage.

David Coletto, CEO of Abacus Data, said that aside from affordability and economic issues, topics like health care, immigration and public safety resonate with Conservative voters.

Mitch Heimpel, a former Conservative staffer and vice-president of government relations at Texture Communications, told the Star that issues like those are also a sign that party faithful are capitalizing on the public’s frustrations with immigration, unemployment and poor access to health care.

“I think those are good examples of a policy debate doing what it needs to do. I think there are other examples … of people responding to things that are a little too online,” Heimpel said. 

The keyboard debates

By “a little too online,” Heimpel is referring to some ideas that have generated more attention on social media than in everyday life. 

One is the “Jordan Peterson Policy,” which states that “no person should have their professional accreditation revoked solely for voicing their opinion or refusing compelled speech.”

(The College of Psychologists of Ontario told Peterson in 2022 to undergo social media training or risk having his license revoked after the regulatory body said his online comments on issues like gender identity could be “degrading” to his profession.)

The proposal, should it be adopted, would not clash with Poilievre’s own position on the matter: the leader is a longtime ally of Peterson’s and has defended the psychologist’s freedom of expression. 

But there are other powder kegs.

A new call to “reclaim Canadian sovereignty” by withdrawing from the World Health Organization (WHO) made it to the final list, though Poilievre has said he would not do so. Opposition to the UN agency increasingly grew in online circles following the COVID-19 pandemic, with the United States announcing its intent to withdraw from the organization when Donald Trump returned to the White House. 

“If you put 1,200 randomly selected Canadians in a room and ask them what they want their government to focus on, that doesn’t come up,” Heimpel noted.

And when it comes to trust in political and democratic institutions, partisan rifts abound, Coletto said. 

“We’re seeing in the broader public opinion research these cleavages … that do exist between Conservative Canada and everyone else that I think is being reflected in some of these resolutions,” he said.

Potential pitfalls

The only effort to entirely wipe an existing position from the Conservatives’ playbook is a proposal to delete a policy stating that a “Conservative government will not support any legislation to regulate abortion.”

Poilievre has previously been clear that he would not introduce any legislation or rules that would restrict access to abortion.

But Heimpel said the grassroots found a “creative” way of putting the issue back on the agenda by framing the existing policy as legitimately inconsistent with other party positions, such as its stance that MPs can vote freely on issues like abortion.

Another proposal that may put Poilievre at odds with members is a proposal that includes a clause calling on the party to oppose Parliament’s unanimous 2021 decision to ban the largely discredited practice of conversion therapy. While Poilievre was not party leader at the time, he had previously supported a ban.

Some members also want the party to take a harder line against the CBC and its French-language arm, Radio-Canada, calling for both to operate without government funding. That proposal could paint Poilievre into a corner, due to his previous promises to defund CBC while somehow preserving its French services.

That’s not necessarily a bad thing, Heimpel said, given that it’s time for the party to seriously discuss how it would tackle the issue.

Tim Powers, a former Conservative strategist and chair of Summa Strategies, said proposals like opposing the conversion therapy ban and going all in on the public broadcaster could also help Poilievre.

Any risk generated by those proposals could be “worth the political benefit it will produce for him in the short term, because he does need short-term political benefits right now,” Powers said.