Juno News - January 31, 2026


Conservatives vote on Pierre Poilievre's leadership

Topics
Conservative Convention turnout
Mentioned
Pierre Poilievre Alex Brown Doug Ford Stephen Harper Danielle Smith Mark Ken Paxton Juno News Trump
Alexa Posa asked delegates at the Conservative convention what priorities matter most Legacy media ADMITS to protecting Carney

Episode Stats


Length

11 minutes

Words per minute

180.0

Word count

2,002

Sentence count

136

Harmful content

Misogyny

2

sentences flagged

Hate speech

1

sentences flagged


Summary

Summaries generated with gmurro/bart-large-finetuned-filtered-spotify-podcast-summ .

The Conservative National Convention kicks off today in Calgary, where delegates will decide whether Pierre Polyev will lead the party in the next election campaign. We'll also hear from Juneau News' Alex Brown, who reports from inside the leader's office.

Transcript

Transcript generated with Whisper (turbo).
Misogyny classifications generated with MilaNLProc/bert-base-uncased-ear-misogyny .
Hate speech classifications generated with facebook/roberta-hate-speech-dynabench-r4-target .
Topics generated with Qwen2.5-3B-Instruct.
Hosts, guests, and mentioned names generated with spaCy (en_core_web_sm), reconciled against Wikidata.
00:00:00.000 Well, the Conservative Convention kicks off today in Calgary, and delegates will decide
00:00:10.160 whether Pierre Polyev will lead the party in the next campaign.
00:00:14.180 Tonight, we'll also include a speech by Pierre Polyev.
00:00:17.300 Joining us now from Calgary is Juneau News correspondent, Alex Brown.
00:00:21.160 Welcome, Alex.
00:00:22.440 Hey, Mark.
00:00:22.920 Thanks for having me.
00:00:24.580 Set the mood for me.
00:00:26.800 Is it electric in Calgary today?
00:00:29.280 Oh, well, it's beautiful.
00:00:29.860 It's beautiful day in Calgary.
00:00:30.920 And the mood around town is, I'd say, positive.
00:00:35.100 I can appreciate that, you know, the federal election wasn't the result that many who have
00:00:40.480 gathered here this week wanted.
00:00:42.880 But, gee, it's the biggest convention they've ever put together from speaking with colleagues
00:00:48.020 last night and MPs and folks inside the leader's office.
00:00:51.540 They're overwhelmed by the turnout.
00:00:53.720 It's relatively positive and upbeat.
00:00:56.420 And I think it's a great movement, a moment for movement building.
00:01:00.140 It's just a question of, you know, when are these results going to follow?
00:01:04.380 And so it's an interesting tone here this week.
00:01:06.540 Now, he's looking for a certain number, I suspect, which will end all the speculation around Pierre
00:01:13.060 Paglia's leadership.
00:01:14.420 Is that number somewhere between 80 and 90 percent?
00:01:17.180 Is that what you're hearing?
00:01:18.500 Yeah, it is.
00:01:19.260 And it's, of course, it's somewhat just symbolic.
00:01:22.460 But with Stephen Harper, I think Stephen Harper's magic number was 84 percent.
00:01:26.560 And so I think that if you're above 80, you bought yourself some time.
00:01:32.100 It's not as if he wasn't ready for office.
00:01:34.900 I mean, if elbows up comes along and it's a, you know, it's a totally different equation
00:01:38.680 of Black Swan.
00:01:39.440 I'm not sure they entirely could have planned for.
00:01:41.980 But it's, I think, to quell some dissent to to to prevent a potential mess of things over
00:01:51.440 the months ahead.
00:01:52.220 You want to see a number that starts with eight.
00:01:54.340 Nine would be terrific.
00:01:55.280 I think it is.
00:01:56.800 I think he's I think he's very secure at the moment.
00:02:00.640 But I am curious to see what the years ahead, you know, where that may lead.
00:02:04.640 I understand 3,000 people gathering for the convention.
00:02:07.700 Is that the number you heard?
00:02:09.080 Yeah, that's the number I'm hearing.
00:02:10.460 And a great kickoff performance from Brett Kissel.
00:02:14.760 Great to see all kinds of Juno talents, Tiam Bextie on hand and Alexa as well. 0.99
00:02:21.240 And it's been, no, the town's buzzing.
00:02:23.820 And, you know, folks are having a good time.
00:02:26.120 So Juno News will absolutely have the best coverage.
00:02:28.840 So stick with us.
00:02:29.680 And the best party tonight, too.
00:02:31.180 So the other number I've heard is 48 million.
00:02:33.780 I mean, in terms of fundraising, just a blowout number.
00:02:37.660 Have you heard that?
00:02:38.360 Yeah, and that's that's unprecedented, particularly when you take into account that there is a there were an awful lot of months after the federal election.
00:02:46.300 And so there's I also work in the third party space.
00:02:49.720 I'm the director of the National Citizens Coalition, a conservative legacy organization.
00:02:54.660 There are all kinds of groups and organizations, as is the norm, that come out of an election cycle.
00:03:01.280 If they've been third party advertising, if there's been a version of disappointment, that it can be occasionally kind of hard to rub nickels together.
00:03:08.880 And it's not that you don't, you know, keep running things and keep balancing the books.
00:03:13.600 But it's that they continue to do that, you know, after what was to many a generational disappointment, who felt like they were finally getting, you know, some urgent reforms and results may vary on that front, even as liberals borrow much of what the conservatives laid out.
00:03:31.100 That number is frankly astonishing, because I would have totally understood if people just sat on their wallets for a while because they were raising so much money.
00:03:38.980 They had the best digital.
00:03:40.560 It didn't get them all the way across the finish line. 0.66
00:03:42.300 Yeah.
00:03:43.600 And the economy not being particularly strong, people dug in deep and came up with a huge number.
00:03:52.000 And, you know, I think there's a, there must be a buzz around election talk.
00:03:57.240 I mean, there must be some buzz around the fact that, you know, might as well stick with Pierre.
00:04:03.080 I mean, we could be going to the polls this spring and, you know, who wants to go through the whole trouble of picking another leader, you know, having a convention and all.
00:04:13.600 That sort of thing is there that kind of talk that you're hearing that kind of talk that you're hearing as well, election talk.
00:04:18.900 Yes, I think anyone would be foolish to not be on guard for a spring election, to not to to not appreciate that that could be a consideration.
00:04:29.380 But there is also there is no obvious other person.
00:04:34.380 There's there's from talking with people inside the leader's office and from talking with some MPs who have good relationships with.
00:04:41.480 It's no one is angling for his position right now.
00:04:45.200 If if you have this solidified 38 to 41 percent, you don't just toss that aside right now and potentially run a kind of diet carny approach.
00:04:55.800 Why would people go out for diet carny when you've got the real thing at home?
00:05:00.100 And so I think that no matter what even the number is tonight, unless it's some shock below 70, I think he is in for the short term.
00:05:08.800 It is a question of, you know, coming out of this weekend, coming out of a kind of reset, how long he stays after that.
00:05:15.300 But they are they are certainly sort of positioned to understand that, you know, an election could be coming in the spring.
00:05:21.320 Is there any talk of independence? Because I thought there might be a bit of a cloud around that with all the talk around the independence movement, the group that are spearheading that movement and the referendum going to the United States, holding talks with U.S. officials, perhaps connected with the Trump administration.
00:05:41.660 How much talk around that is going on at the convention?
00:05:46.860 It's definitely part of it. I mean, it's there's the recent numbers.
00:05:50.040 I think, as Daniel Smith highlighted yesterday, you know, there's over a million people who are who are, you know, showing showing interest in this.
00:05:57.760 And I think that many are empathetic to the situation of those who feel drawn in by it.
00:06:04.660 But there's no there hasn't been any actoring, though.
00:06:07.060 There haven't been any protests.
00:06:08.820 I think particularly at a federal convention, you're hoping everyone wants everyone to stay in the tent.
00:06:14.820 That's that's very much the impression.
00:06:16.740 But there's also a.
00:06:19.300 Canada has a tone policing thing that particularly as a younger guy, it drives me nuts, whereas we're so good at hectoring others, but not getting our own house in order.
00:06:27.760 And so I do think that the conservatives have a line to walk.
00:06:30.660 I think they're walking it well so far, which is that they are they are being empathetic to the situation.
00:06:35.300 They can appreciate the squeeze that Alberta has felt and continues to feel.
00:06:39.740 They're not going to do the Doug Ford thing or the David Eby thing where they just seemingly throw gas on the fire to make things worse.
00:06:47.440 But there's, of course, the the whole agreement coast to coast needs to work better for Alberta.
00:06:53.240 These these MOUs need to be worth more than the paper they're printed on.
00:06:56.460 And so it's it's it's part of the conversations is not the main one and the main one is in in some ways centered around, you know, what, you know, how things go for Pierre this evening.
00:07:06.780 But no, it's it's it's omnipresent, but it's not everyone.
00:07:11.820 Everyone's on the same page, I think, and just hoping for a for a resolution and to get everybody, you know, together in the same boat.
00:07:19.120 Yeah, I mean, this happens, this happens right after the sniping that we've heard from people like Doug Ford, as well as Eby taking shots at the independence movement in Alberta, even shots at Daniel Smith for not being firm enough in her opposition to that movement.
00:07:36.200 And I suspect that that might end up backfiring because Albertans are going to say, you know what, we're going to decide that for ourselves.
00:07:43.900 Yeah, I think you're not going to decide that.
00:07:45.820 So, you know, you might want to button your lip.
00:07:49.500 I think they know what they're doing.
00:07:50.760 I think I think Ford and Eby are very good at deflecting.
00:07:54.440 I think for the Ontario PC convention is is this weekend weekend mark.
00:07:59.080 And that was deliberately scheduled.
00:08:01.780 Yeah.
00:08:02.280 So they could be hiding from scrutiny, justified scrutiny and all kinds of files.
00:08:08.000 And I am wearing a media pass right now for the for the federal convention.
00:08:12.280 And media is barred from from Doug Ford's convention this weekend.
00:08:16.080 And so it is very easy for him to to join another dais as he did yesterday.
00:08:22.960 It is very easy for him to to talk a big game.
00:08:26.060 The results are not there.
00:08:28.700 And he's even walled himself off further from accountability and is hiding behind the federal convention.
00:08:34.660 It'll be interesting to hear from Pierre today.
00:08:39.020 I mean, usually you get the unity speech, you know, in a circumstance like this, but there might actually be a little bit of campaign talk.
00:08:47.820 You know, there might be some buzz around that.
00:08:50.020 So, yeah.
00:08:50.700 Are you hearing anything about what that message might contain?
00:08:53.400 Yes, I can tell you what I'm hearing is is what people don't want to hear the message to, you know, I don't I, too, as a Juno host and correspondent and I wear many hats is I don't want to hear the same stump speech.
00:09:09.960 I can appreciate the importance of populism.
00:09:14.620 I can appreciate very much so keeping your young working class coalition.
00:09:18.860 And you've you've got such a fascinating blue tent right now, but I don't think that they can come out tonight and say axe the tax, build the homes, boots, not boots, not suits, our home, your home.
00:09:32.020 Let's bring it home.
00:09:32.940 I they have to change it up.
00:09:34.940 It is it is it kind of a joke.
00:09:37.420 Not that it isn't great comms, but it's kind of a laughing matter around convention where it's like, I hope that speech doesn't come back because I think they know they certainly understand there's very intelligent people in that room working with him.
00:09:48.340 That they need to be positioned away from, you know, some of these impressions of them that I don't think are accurate.
00:09:57.240 They do need to appeal a little bit more so to to these kind of swing vote, mushy, carny supporters.
00:10:05.700 And so I think you need to get off of some of the rhetoric of the past.
00:10:09.220 And so I'm hoping to see a little bit more of an articulation of future.
00:10:12.580 I be incredibly positive, positive balance is an absolute winner right now.
00:10:17.620 It's not that Canada isn't broken, but evidently, you know, the carny supporters are furious. 1.00
00:10:23.400 And when you ever mention any criticism of the country, even though it is all kinds of problems, like I am in a hotel in Calgary right now and I'm surrounded by drugs and squalor and this is conservative Calgary.
00:10:33.140 It's like there's all kinds of problems, but no, positive balance, switch up the rhetoric.
00:10:39.160 I don't want to hear too much alliteration.
00:10:41.500 I'm really hoping that they they offer something a little bit different tonight.
00:10:44.960 And I know others feel the same.
00:10:47.280 Alex, thank you so much for coming on the show.
00:10:48.940 We appreciate it.
00:10:49.880 Mark, real pleasure.
00:10:50.620 Thank you.
00:10:51.420 Alex Brown is the host of Not Sorry.
00:10:53.280 And, well, you will be sorry if you support Juno News and you have the opportunity to do just that.
00:11:00.420 Support independent journalism today by becoming a premier subscriber.
00:11:04.440 Go to junonews.com.
00:11:06.580 We'll see you next time.