Western Standard - Unity, Youth Surge, and a Leadership Mandate： Inside CPC 2026

00:00:00.000 Can you just say your name and what riding you're from?

00:00:02.020 Bryce McRae, Ottawa Centre.

00:00:03.720 Ottawa Centre, I'm from Ottawa as well.

00:00:04.980 Very nice to meet you.

00:00:06.100 Hey, nice to meet you.

00:00:07.000 So what are you looking forward most of all from this convention this weekend?

00:00:10.740 I think most of all looking forward to right now is just a hard reset.

00:00:14.400 Being able to move forward with Pierre Polyev as the leader at the end of the convention today,

00:00:17.800 moving into tomorrow and the future.

00:00:19.640 Obviously last year was tough with the election loss,

00:00:21.840 moving into the by-election and then this event.

00:00:24.160 Being able to look forward to potentially an election in 2026 and beyond.

00:00:27.320 Right, and what would you say a number for the leisure vote tomorrow

00:00:31.540 would constitute overwhelming support from the party

00:00:33.580 for him to continue his mandate as the leader of the Conservative Party?

00:00:36.380 80% plus.

00:00:37.180 80% plus?

00:00:37.680 80% plus.

00:00:38.800 And are there any motions or changes to party policy you'd like to see passed

00:00:42.500 or anything you want to see come out of there?

00:00:44.580 Nothing in particular really.

00:00:45.860 At this point in time it's making sure that memberships,

00:00:48.240 the EDAs across the country are feeling strong,

00:00:51.000 that everyone is singing from the same songbook,

00:00:53.080 that everyone's very well aligned moving in the next election,

00:00:55.320 that everyone knows what the processes are,

00:00:56.860 and then everything's very clear from up to the party central all the way down

00:01:00.480 to make sure that we move forward in the next election

00:01:02.280 in as strong a position as possible.

00:01:04.140 Right, and last question.

00:01:04.660 What do you think of Calgary so far?

00:01:05.880 I'm loving Calgary so far.

00:01:07.040 As someone from Ontario,

00:01:08.420 I know obviously with my Albertan friends,

00:01:09.920 you've got to get to Alberta, you've got to get to Calgary.

00:01:11.800 As someone who, it's unfortunate to say,

00:01:13.660 it's my first time being here, I'm loving it so far.

00:01:15.600 Right on.

00:01:16.040 Thank you very much, man.

00:01:16.520 Thank you very much.

00:01:16.980 Appreciate it.

00:01:18.140 Well, I'm Jazz Howland.

00:01:19.500 I'm the Member of Parliament for Calgary East.

00:01:21.840 I'm also the Shadow Minister for Finance for the Conservative Party.

00:01:25.320 There's many policies that are being put forward today.

00:01:27.920 I think the fiscal one obviously falls under my file.

00:01:31.180 And so there's some really good ones that were also implemented,

00:01:34.280 or we were going to implement if we had won the election,

00:01:36.520 that were in our 2025 platforms, such as the dollar-for-dollar law.

00:01:40.060 We've seen under the Liberals who,

00:01:42.240 Mark Carney said he was the best fiscal manager around.

00:01:45.040 And we thought Justin Trudeau was the worst money manager in Canada's history.

00:01:50.340 But, you know, Mark Carney said,

00:01:52.520 hold my champagne, I could do a lot better.

00:01:54.720 He doubled Justin Trudeau's deficit, if you could believe it or not.

00:01:57.900 So in order to stop those deficits that caused all the inflation that we're seeing,

00:02:03.040 the highest costs across the board, especially when it comes to food,

00:02:08.100 now Canada has the highest food inflation in the G7,

00:02:10.920 and in part it's too because of all the government spending.

00:02:14.160 In order to tackle that, in our platform we had a dollar-for-dollar law

00:02:17.700 that anyone under Pierre Paliyev, any department,

00:02:20.740 any minister that wanted to spend a dollar,

00:02:22.600 they would have to find a dollar of saving.

00:02:24.520 What that would do is that it would cap the government spending

00:02:27.060 and make sure that we wouldn't go over what Canadians,

00:02:31.840 or whatever our means are as a government.

00:02:34.060 That would help to lower inflation

00:02:35.460 and make sure we don't go through the inflationary crisis

00:02:37.540 that we're having to go through now because of the Liberals.

00:02:40.260 I think that's one of the very, you know,

00:02:42.480 important policies that we would have passed inside of our platform.

00:02:47.920 Okay, that's very interesting.

00:02:49.220 Do you have any other fiscal policies that you're looking forward to as well?

00:02:53.000 Yes.

00:02:54.100 You know, if you just look at our platform,

00:02:56.680 it was a huge variety of different policies

00:02:59.580 that we would have implemented.

00:03:00.760 As I said that, another one that's really important

00:03:04.340 is make sure that we ban CBDCs, 1.00

00:03:08.060 Central Bank Digital Currency.

00:03:10.580 And one of my colleagues, Ted Falk,

00:03:13.620 brought forward Bill C-400.

00:03:15.480 That would ban, not just,

00:03:19.480 it would make sure that cash is always readily available for use,

00:03:23.400 but it would also ban any type of Central Bank Digital Currency.

00:03:26.880 Another one on top of that is banning any and every kind of digital IDs.

00:03:32.780 That was another policy that I think is very important

00:03:35.180 that we'll be voted on as well here.

00:03:36.740 Okay, that's cool.

00:03:37.940 Okay, also I want to ask you,

00:03:40.540 what do you think about this being the largest convention so far?

00:03:45.260 You know what, it goes in line with having such,

00:03:47.920 one of the best leaders.

00:03:50.420 As a Conservative Party,

00:03:54.100 Pierre Polyev has not only

00:03:55.620 widened our tent, made it way bigger,

00:03:59.280 but on top of that,

00:04:00.520 in the last election, we got 2 million more votes.

00:04:03.040 We picked up 25 seats.

00:04:04.880 And if I take it back to his leadership,

00:04:07.520 we had hundreds of thousands of new members sign up.

00:04:10.700 Everywhere I go across the country,

00:04:11.980 there's people that say to me,

00:04:13.440 I've never voted before.

00:04:15.060 And now they're voting for us because of Pierre Polyev.

00:04:17.420 So coming here and seeing that this is the largest convention in the party's history

00:04:22.940 is no surprise to me

00:04:24.580 because of how much we've grown our tent because of Pierre Polyev.

00:04:27.860 That's why we're united behind Pierre Polyev.

00:04:31.160 He always says that, you know,

00:04:33.820 we need to bring back that Canadian dream.

00:04:36.120 Canadian dream was that you should be able to work hard

00:04:38.060 and earn a good paycheck that has low taxes on it.

00:04:41.200 With that same paycheck,

00:04:42.060 you should be able to have affordable groceries,

00:04:43.840 affordable housing,

00:04:45.020 and be able to live in safe neighborhoods

00:04:46.620 because after 10 years of Liberals,

00:04:48.760 Canada's more unsafe

00:04:50.260 and more unaffordable than ever before.

00:04:52.480 It's just not Canada anymore.

00:04:54.080 And that's just that the Canada we want,

00:04:56.160 it should be the one that we all used to know that.

00:04:57.760 You should be able to get by with a good paycheck

00:04:59.760 and live in a safe neighborhood.

00:05:02.200 That makes sense.

00:05:02.820 And do you think that message is probably getting through

00:05:04.860 to a lot of young people?

00:05:06.120 That's why your party has grown over the past few years?

00:05:08.780 Yeah, absolutely.

00:05:09.580 Look, I go to a lot of events.

00:05:11.040 I travel the country all over the place.

00:05:12.480 The amount of youth that come up to me first during the leadership

00:05:16.320 that said we were never a part of a political party before,

00:05:19.140 but we resonate with Pierre Polyev.

00:05:21.700 We understand what he's saying.

00:05:23.380 We know because it's young people that are suffering the most.

00:05:26.120 They're the most in debt right now.

00:05:28.260 And even before they graduate because of, you know,

00:05:31.260 that inflationary spending the liberals have done,

00:05:33.660 they're the ones who are suffering

00:05:35.080 because they can never move out of their parents' home.

00:05:36.900 They can never have a down payment for a house.

00:05:39.040 Nine out of ten young people have given up on the home ownership dream.

00:05:43.140 And it's because of the bad liberal policies.

00:05:44.980 So they're connecting with Pierre more than ever.

00:05:47.000 And they're the ones who are coming up to us and saying,

00:05:49.340 we've signed up for a membership.

00:05:50.880 We're going to vote for you.

00:05:52.080 And they did.

00:05:52.700 They came out in big numbers for us

00:05:53.960 because Pierre has recognized the pain that they're going through

00:05:57.340 and what they are going to go through because of bad liberal policies.

00:06:01.000 Well said, well said.

00:06:01.860 Well, thank you very much.

00:06:02.940 I really appreciate you taking your time.

00:06:05.240 Take care.

00:06:05.620 Okay, see you.

00:06:06.380 Thank you.

00:06:07.080 Thank you.

00:06:07.840 I'm here with Tim O'Brien,

00:06:09.740 Deputy Leader of the Conservative Party

00:06:10.860 and Member of Parliament for Edmonton Gateway.

00:06:13.400 Thank you.

00:06:14.080 What are you looking forward to most here at the 2026 Conservative Convention?

00:06:17.380 Meeting delegates from across the country.

00:06:18.780 It's already been great.

00:06:20.600 I've met so many people that are so engaged with the party,

00:06:24.660 engaged with getting their neighbours

00:06:27.100 and others to vote with the Conservative movement.

00:06:29.680 It's great to see and just kind of hear their stories

00:06:31.840 of how even they got involved with the Conservative movement.

00:06:36.600 Do you have any kind of number in mind

00:06:37.940 of what you're looking for, hoping for,

00:06:39.560 for Paliyev's leadership review?

00:06:42.400 What number would you constitute as overwhelming approval

00:06:45.540 from the party for him to continue?

00:06:47.300 I don't have a number,

00:06:48.380 but I know it's going to be a strong mandate.

00:06:50.360 Just when I've talked to delegates since yesterday and today,

00:06:53.420 everyone's just very supportive

00:06:55.480 and just wants to focus on what's next.

00:06:59.080 And what would you say you're hoping to come out of this convention?

00:07:01.620 Is there a different mindset for the party?

00:07:03.300 Any different policies that you're specifically championing

00:07:05.980 or looking to get past or anything like that?

00:07:07.940 I think it's just kind of the energy that we're seeing here today

00:07:12.820 to carry that forward.

00:07:14.400 I know the delegates are united

00:07:16.420 and they're looking forward to what we do next

00:07:18.540 and then what we're going to do

00:07:19.380 is to hold this Liberal government to account

00:07:21.680 and soon enough, I think we're going to be into an election

00:07:24.880 and we're going to need everybody around here

00:07:27.720 to volunteer, get involved, stay engaged

00:07:29.900 and it's just great that we're having these conversations now.

00:07:33.100 Do you think, you're kind of speaking on that,

00:07:34.360 do you think that we are looking ahead to a potential early election

00:07:37.700 or how would you say that's lining up?

00:07:39.340 Because obviously we've seen the vote happen

00:07:42.300 and it did get passed for Carney,

00:07:43.580 but there's been talks, there's been murmurings

00:07:45.740 about a potential spring, maybe summer election.

00:07:48.160 Have you heard anything more about that?

00:07:49.760 I just think that's essentially what they're setting it up to be.

00:07:53.300 I think they want an election.

00:07:55.120 They've more than hinted at it.

00:07:57.620 I think they also want in a situation

00:07:59.180 where they've made announcements,

00:08:00.360 but we haven't seen the results yet.

00:08:02.660 And so if we end up waiting for the results,

00:08:04.740 then Canadians will realize that it's just a bunch of empty rhetoric.

00:08:09.520 A lot of what they're announcing isn't working

00:08:11.420 and I think they want to be able to blame Trump for everything

00:08:14.740 rather than their poor policies,

00:08:17.500 their inaction on so many of these issues.

00:08:20.200 Canadians continue to struggle.

00:08:21.760 There's over 2 million Canadians a month

00:08:23.860 are going to a food bank.

00:08:24.720 Never imagined that would happen in a country like Canada.

00:08:26.920 On the crime situation, they haven't done anything.

00:08:30.620 Yeah, they've introduced legislation,

00:08:31.720 but they themselves aren't even pushing it forward in the House of Commons.

00:08:35.140 We've been saying, you know, let's debate that.

00:08:37.200 Let's get it forward.

00:08:38.100 It's not perfect, but we'll support you on it.

00:08:40.540 They haven't even brought it forward.

00:08:41.820 So I think that's the situation they want to be in

00:08:45.360 where they could say they announced something, but no results.

00:08:48.920 Kind of speaking on that, you mentioned Trump there.

00:08:50.960 And with the Kuzma negotiation set to be renegotiated,

00:08:53.720 renegotiated, how would the Conservative Party,

00:08:56.280 the potential Conservative government tackle that differently

00:08:58.760 than how you think the Liberals would?

00:09:00.180 I think the number one thing there is

00:09:02.120 that we would not be in this situation.

00:09:05.400 We ourselves, we would have made ourselves as Canada

00:09:08.200 a much stronger trading partner,

00:09:10.940 but also be in a stronger position

00:09:12.600 where we're not just looking towards the US

00:09:14.940 as in the, you know, what, 90% of our trade is with the US.

00:09:19.360 We need to be in a position of strength.

00:09:22.160 Canada should be in that position.

00:09:23.540 We would get rid of the legislation

00:09:26.220 that the Liberals have brought in,

00:09:28.140 over-regulated, over-taxed,

00:09:29.880 that restricts our energy sector, 0.97

00:09:32.860 restricts our ability to build and grow,

00:09:36.100 and really, you know, is holding back our economy.

00:09:40.260 You scrap all that, you fix that,

00:09:42.360 we would be in a position of strength,

00:09:44.040 and we would have other countries coming to

00:09:45.780 wanting to trade with us.

00:09:47.380 Thank you very much.

00:09:48.120 All right, thank you.

00:09:48.920 Thank you.

00:09:49.240 So, why don't you just start out

00:09:50.500 by introducing yourself and what riding you're from?

00:09:52.780 Tom Robertson from Don Valley West in Toronto.

00:09:56.360 Well, how are you liking cow goo so far?

00:09:58.680 Loving it.

00:09:59.440 Yeah, it's fantastic.

00:10:00.480 Yeah, yeah.

00:10:01.820 Sorry, I'm not much taller.

00:10:03.460 This is my first convention, so it's a lot of fun.

00:10:06.020 That's cool.

00:10:06.920 Well, I guess I want to know,

00:10:08.780 what kind of policies are you interested

00:10:11.000 in the party to discuss for this event?

00:10:14.060 Probably right now it's geopolitics.

00:10:16.040 It's Canada's place in the world.

00:10:18.080 That, I think, is topical.

00:10:20.200 It's what I hope to be hearing a lot about

00:10:22.860 during the course of the convention.

00:10:24.860 Okay, geopolitics.

00:10:26.320 So, are you talking about, like,

00:10:28.420 U.S. relations with Canada?

00:10:30.300 I think Canada's place in the world,

00:10:32.320 and how is our party going to be helping push forward

00:10:35.640 Canada in an ever-changing geopolitical climate?

00:10:38.980 So, what kind of things do you want the party to do

00:10:43.240 when it comes to geopolitics?

00:10:44.540 I think I'd like to see the party

00:10:46.220 take a strong stand on defense issues.

00:10:48.600 We should be advocating for hitting our NATO commitments, 0.50

00:10:52.240 and to the extent we're able to increase our defense spending.

00:10:55.940 That's probably high on my list,

00:10:58.400 and our party should be advocating that

00:11:00.200 as a party that's generally strong on national defense issues.

00:11:04.800 That would be first.

00:11:05.480 But a lot of the motions that are being brought forward

00:11:10.060 seem to be technical in nature.

00:11:11.660 They seem to be relating to our governance,

00:11:16.180 our internal governance,

00:11:17.140 and perhaps that's the purpose of these conventions.

00:11:20.340 But I would like to see more that's outward-facing

00:11:23.120 versus inward-facing.

00:11:24.780 So, I just wanted to ask you,

00:11:27.020 so obviously the liberals right now

00:11:29.020 are making more relations with China.

00:11:31.640 Do you think, if, say, the conservatives

00:11:33.900 are elected in a spring election, if we have one,

00:11:36.660 do you think they would do something similar?

00:11:38.820 Yeah.

00:11:39.680 Well, it's a great question.

00:11:41.160 I think it's the right issue to be thinking about

00:11:43.140 and talking about.

00:11:45.840 Were there to be a spring election,

00:11:47.540 I don't know that the conservatives would win.

00:11:49.560 I think Carney and the liberals would probably win,

00:11:52.620 based on where we are right now.

00:11:54.080 The second part of your question around the trade deal,

00:11:57.160 although I think that's sort of aggrandizing

00:11:58.980 what it actually was with China,

00:12:00.820 I think that's been a net positive to the country.

00:12:04.980 40,000 or 50,000 electric vehicles coming in

00:12:07.860 doesn't move the dial in terms of autoworker jobs.

00:12:11.480 But what it does do is it signals to not just China,

00:12:13.940 but the rest of the world,

00:12:15.320 that Canada is open

00:12:16.400 and that we are ready to trade.

00:12:18.960 And what we need to do in this moment,

00:12:20.600 more than anything else,

00:12:21.560 is diversify.

00:12:22.940 And so I think that the Carney government

00:12:25.460 has made a prudent and, at this point,

00:12:28.620 remains to be seen,

00:12:29.620 but at this point,

00:12:30.860 I go so far as to say a wise step

00:12:35.020 in doing that deal with China.

00:12:38.300 And let me just add to that,

00:12:39.460 that following that Davos speech,

00:12:41.840 I think that was the first time,

00:12:43.580 certainly for me,

00:12:44.620 but I think for a lot of Canadians,

00:12:45.900 that we felt like we could...

00:12:47.160 Should I be looking at you, maybe?

00:12:48.580 You've got the camera.

00:12:49.420 Sorry, I've never done a media interview.

00:12:53.660 Let me just go back.

00:12:55.940 For me personally,

00:12:56.940 and I think for a lot of Canadians,

00:12:58.880 that Davos speech allowed us

00:13:00.380 to hold our heads high

00:13:01.600 in a way that we haven't been able to do

00:13:03.420 since Trump started

00:13:07.380 sort of attacking our country

00:13:09.160 over the last, whatever it's been,

00:13:11.420 12 to 18 months.

00:13:13.640 Now, that's not to say I'm a huge fan

00:13:15.620 of the Liberal government.

00:13:16.920 I mean, I'm a card-carrying Conservative

00:13:18.260 and have been my whole life.

00:13:20.720 But in this moment,

00:13:22.380 I think Kearney is making some steps

00:13:24.880 that are to our country's benefit.

00:13:28.080 And we Conservatives should acknowledge that

00:13:30.380 and not back away from that.

00:13:32.800 At the end of the day,

00:13:33.880 a lot of the policies that Kearney's pursuing

00:13:36.320 are Conservative policies.

00:13:38.260 And so we should, I think,

00:13:39.820 step back from our tribalism

00:13:41.460 and acknowledge that they are

00:13:42.940 to the benefit of our country.

00:13:45.280 Well, I have another question for you.

00:13:47.360 Do you think Kearney will win the leadership race?

00:13:51.400 And, yeah, I guess that's my question.

00:13:54.260 Tonight's vote.

00:13:55.620 I think the leader will be successful

00:13:57.720 in tonight's vote.

00:13:59.100 By how much, percentage-wise?

00:14:00.440 I'm relatively new to this world.

00:14:03.860 I've heard very...

00:14:05.040 I think he needs to get above 65%, 70%.

00:14:07.900 And I think he'll pass that threshold.

00:14:10.180 I've heard higher than 80%.

00:14:11.720 That's what I've heard.

00:14:13.700 But I wouldn't be the one to ask.

00:14:15.480 I don't know.

00:14:16.080 I'm not a pollster.

00:14:18.480 Okay.

00:14:18.860 Well, thank you very much for talking with us.

00:14:20.540 We really appreciate it.

00:14:21.360 So, you answered a couple of questions.

00:14:23.200 Can I add a few thoughts?

00:14:24.860 Okay, yeah.

00:14:25.560 Go for it.

00:14:26.200 So, this is my first convention.

00:14:28.240 And walking the convention floor,

00:14:29.940 I'm struck by the number of conversations I have

00:14:32.880 that stay at the surface.

00:14:34.860 You ask people why they're Conservative,

00:14:36.480 what it means to be Conservative.

00:14:37.920 And the answers you get

00:14:38.920 are perhaps what you'd expect,

00:14:41.100 lower taxes, freedom.

00:14:43.180 But it often doesn't go beyond that.

00:14:45.340 And I'd encourage Conservatives,

00:14:46.880 card-carrying Conservative Party members,

00:14:49.200 especially those that are over the age of, say, 30,

00:14:51.620 to really understand what it means to be Conservative,

00:14:54.420 particularly in this moment

00:14:55.740 when our country's sovereignty is in danger.

00:14:58.260 You know, we really, I think,

00:14:59.980 as Conservatives, have a few core beliefs.

00:15:02.900 First, we believe in freedom.

00:15:04.800 And that's not just the freedom to do things,

00:15:06.560 it's the freedom from things.

00:15:08.180 That requires institutions.

00:15:09.820 So, we, as Conservatives, respect institutions.

00:15:13.160 That's Burkean.

00:15:13.940 That goes back to, you know,

00:15:15.940 notes on the French Revolution.

00:15:18.040 And then third, we believe in the betterment of all,

00:15:21.800 of ourselves as individuals,

00:15:23.100 but of others as well.

00:15:24.560 And we achieve that through things like capitalism.

00:15:27.800 But really, it's incumbent, I think,

00:15:29.640 on all of us to understand what we believe,

00:15:31.520 why we believe it.

00:15:32.360 Only in doing that can we convince others,

00:15:34.560 can we convince Canadians

00:15:35.500 that we should form government.

00:15:36.880 So, thanks for allowing me

00:15:37.980 to add that little bit at the end.

00:15:39.820 Well said.

00:15:40.280 Thank you very much.

00:15:41.040 Thank you.

00:15:41.380 Can I actually ask a question,

00:15:42.620 if you don't mind?

00:15:43.120 Please.

00:15:43.960 Sorry, I was just going to ask.

00:15:45.480 So, you've described that you kind of see

00:15:48.020 the current landscape as Carney's,

00:15:51.680 so what Carney's doing, you say,

00:15:52.740 is for the betterment of Canada.

00:15:54.360 And so you think that his reaching out

00:15:57.100 to the Chinese and with Qatar

00:15:58.280 and all the other kind of diplomatic trips

00:16:00.600 he's done for trade

00:16:01.480 are for the benefit of Canada.

00:16:04.260 How would you say the Conservative Party should,

00:16:06.640 what should the Conservative Party do, rather,

00:16:08.220 to push the government in the direction

00:16:10.740 you think would be correct?

00:16:12.040 So, that's a great question.

00:16:14.620 You know, I think about the Conservative Party.

00:16:17.020 I think about the think tanks

00:16:18.440 that come up underneath the party.

00:16:20.300 I think the work they do is really important

00:16:22.060 to help inform policy conversation and debates.

00:16:25.360 So, in the House of Commons,

00:16:26.380 our MPs who are in opposition

00:16:27.620 should be using question period,

00:16:29.720 yes, to challenge the government,

00:16:31.180 but also to bring forward proposals

00:16:33.980 that can help the government move forward

00:16:35.740 on this agenda of protecting our country

00:16:37.680 in its hour of need.

00:16:39.600 I'm 51 years old,

00:16:41.240 so much older than all of you.

00:16:43.840 Never in my lifetime has our country been under

00:16:46.380 the sort of threat to its very existence

00:16:48.720 that it's under right now.

00:16:49.740 Here we are in Alberta.

00:16:50.620 There's an Alberta sovereignty movement right now.

00:16:53.180 I was in military college in 93 in Quebec

00:16:55.400 when there was a sovereignty movement.

00:16:57.380 I had a license plate on my car,

00:16:58.740 my car proud to be Canadian.

00:17:00.820 My car was vandalized on Saint-Jean-Baptiste.

00:17:03.300 I've seen what separatist movements can do.

00:17:06.600 And I'm worried that what's happening right now,

00:17:09.100 geopolitically, driven,

00:17:10.440 as you've mentioned earlier,

00:17:11.860 by the United States,

00:17:13.420 has the potential,

00:17:15.040 it might not be probable yet,

00:17:16.420 but it has the potential

00:17:17.340 to bring down our country.

00:17:19.040 Never would you have thought,

00:17:20.380 24, 36 months ago,

00:17:22.160 that you would have op-ed pieces

00:17:23.480 in the Globe and Mail

00:17:24.340 written by respected thinkers

00:17:25.800 forecasting the end of our country.

00:17:27.860 So we are at a very serious moment.

00:17:30.180 It's the role of the official opposition right now,

00:17:32.400 not to come up behind the government

00:17:34.160 and support everything,

00:17:35.120 to challenge the government in a healthy way,

00:17:37.220 but to do so in a way

00:17:38.460 that moves the country forward.

00:17:40.140 And for us right now,

00:17:41.500 what that means is helping the government,

00:17:44.520 which is led by Mark Carney,

00:17:46.800 in a minority situation,

00:17:48.220 but led by him,

00:17:49.260 it's to help them go out

00:17:51.120 and build relationships for Canada.

00:17:53.420 We are a middle power.

00:17:55.140 Do deals with other middle powers.

00:17:56.600 Help us diversify

00:17:57.660 so that my kids

00:17:59.060 and my kids' kids

00:18:00.360 will still have a Canada.

00:18:02.560 Right, so you kind of touched on

00:18:03.480 the whole Alberta sovereignty movement.

00:18:05.200 And so what would you say,

00:18:06.160 again,

00:18:06.740 we see with the UCP in Alberta

00:18:09.220 that there is a base,

00:18:11.180 as Danielle Smith said,

00:18:12.340 a million strong...

00:18:13.180 30%.

00:18:13.400 Exactly.

00:18:14.040 So how would you say

00:18:15.120 the Conservative Party,

00:18:17.080 as the federal representation

00:18:18.400 of the Conservative movement,

00:18:19.580 which obviously seeks to unite the country,

00:18:23.280 how would they best go about

00:18:24.520 wooing separatists or sovereignists

00:18:28.200 back into the Federalist fold?

00:18:30.800 Yeah, another good question.

00:18:32.120 I would say,

00:18:33.460 and I don't speak from a wealth of knowledge

00:18:36.140 on the topic,

00:18:37.020 but what I've seen here in Calgary

00:18:38.320 and what I've been reading

00:18:39.000 over the last few weeks,

00:18:40.440 the separatist movement in Alberta

00:18:42.120 seems to have a strong strand within it

00:18:46.040 of what would traditionally

00:18:47.520 be considered Conservatives.

00:18:49.100 So these are people

00:18:49.940 that share the beliefs

00:18:51.600 that we as Conservatives share

00:18:53.320 around a sense of patriotism

00:18:55.180 in their land.

00:18:55.920 Now, for them,

00:18:56.420 it's narrowed in on Alberta at the moment,

00:18:58.640 due in large measure

00:18:59.600 to frictions between East and West

00:19:01.120 over many generations.

00:19:02.540 So what we can do as Conservatives,

00:19:04.280 what the Conservative Party can do

00:19:05.460 is appeal to that sense of patriotism.

00:19:08.740 That's our natural playground.

00:19:10.240 And so were I in a position

00:19:12.180 of leadership in our party,

00:19:13.400 I would be saying

00:19:14.260 the party needs to take a strong stand

00:19:16.960 against Alberta's sovereignty

00:19:18.520 to remind Albertans,

00:19:20.640 those in the secessionist camp,

00:19:22.640 that their forefathers

00:19:24.340 and foremothers fought for Canada,

00:19:27.160 fought for the freedoms

00:19:29.080 we have as Canadians,

00:19:31.280 that trace its way back.

00:19:33.540 You can go back to the Magna Carta,

00:19:34.860 and that's something worth preserving.

00:19:38.600 We lose sight of that

00:19:39.760 when we focus on the challenges

00:19:42.360 of the moment

00:19:43.000 and the challenges of the day.

00:19:44.180 So our party should be taking 0.95

00:19:45.480 an approach to Alberta's secession

00:19:47.780 that says it's wrong,

00:19:49.520 it's not Conservative,

00:19:51.520 it's this sort of strand of populism

00:19:55.640 that's permeating across the West right now,

00:19:58.900 but it's not Conservative.

00:20:01.140 Okay.

00:20:02.560 That helps.

00:20:03.840 Okay.

00:20:04.460 So, my last thing.

00:20:05.800 Yeah.

00:20:07.140 Would you say then that,

00:20:09.060 because we've seen obviously

00:20:09.880 with David Eby,

00:20:10.760 the Premier of BC calling,

00:20:12.240 saying it's treason,

00:20:13.500 saying that this element

00:20:14.820 is a treasonous element.

00:20:15.960 Yeah.

00:20:17.040 Would you say that it is productive

00:20:19.120 to go on the attack,

00:20:20.280 or would you worry that

00:20:21.280 if you go on the attack too much

00:20:22.820 then it might alienate this base?

00:20:25.560 It already does feel marginalized

00:20:26.680 in Confederation

00:20:28.140 to just be more sunken

00:20:29.480 into their position.

00:20:32.020 That is a risk,

00:20:33.160 but that risk strikes me

00:20:34.420 as the similar risk

00:20:35.460 of appeasing a bully

00:20:37.060 on the playground.

00:20:39.180 Yes, there's a risk

00:20:40.200 that you're going to further

00:20:41.040 alienate some folks

00:20:42.780 and others will jump on this

00:20:44.740 as an opportunity

00:20:45.660 to push sovereignty more,

00:20:47.360 but there are certain times

00:20:49.460 when you need to stand on principle,

00:20:51.460 and there's no greater principle

00:20:53.540 from a Canadian perspective

00:20:55.480 than the sovereignty

00:20:56.540 and unity of our country.

00:20:58.320 And we as conservatives

00:20:59.160 have traditionally been

00:20:59.940 the standard bearers of that,

00:21:01.080 and that's an area where

00:21:01.980 I think our party

00:21:03.180 can play a role

00:21:04.040 in this moment

00:21:05.120 where we are in opposition.

00:21:08.000 We can help take that

00:21:09.480 aggressive stand

00:21:10.520 that perhaps the government can't.

00:21:12.040 The government needs to be

00:21:12.960 perhaps more even-keeled

00:21:14.240 because it's the government

00:21:15.480 of the day.

00:21:16.000 It speaks for all Canadians.

00:21:17.640 We can take a more aggressive stance

00:21:19.360 as the official opposition.

00:21:22.320 Thank you very much.

00:21:23.100 Thank you.

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Western Standard - January 31, 2026

Unity, Youth Surge, and a Leadership Mandate： Inside CPC 2026

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