Federal Parties: 1)(Updated) Conservatives converge on downtown Calgary, eager to hear from party leader Poilievre; 2)Poilievre pledges co-operation, calls for action from Liberals as Parliament returns

1)(Updated) Conservatives converge on downtown Calgary, eager to hear from party leader Poilievre

Courtesy Barrie360.com and Canadian Press

By Sarah Ritchie, January 30, 2026

Conservatives have kicked off their national convention in Calgary focused on hope for the future and presenting a vision of a party that is united in the face of Liberal attempts to divide.

“Canadians are looking for serious leadership and real, tangible solutions, and we provide that,” said Quebec MP Pierre Paul-Hus at the convention’s opening ceremonies Thursday.

Organizers told the crowd this weekend’s event is the largest Conservative convention in history.

In an interview on Sunday, Saskatchewan MP Andrew Scheer told The Canadian Press he’s expecting to see many people who’ve never attended a convention before.

Poilievre is set to address several thousand party faithful on Friday evening, in a speech that many anticipate will set the tone for the Tories heading into the next election.

It is also meant to set the tone for the vote that happens moments after his speech wraps. Delegates are widely expected to confirm Poilievre’s continued leadership.

“This weekend, we’ll show Canadians just how ready we are to get to government, back on track after 10 years of Liberal mismanagement,” said Alberta MP Stephanie Kusie on Thursday.

Ontario MP Costas Menegakis spoke from the stage Friday morning, urging unity in the party.

“The Liberals have tried to sow division in our party for months now,” he said, an apparent reference to the two Conservative MPs who crossed the floor to the government benches since November.

Laura Stephenson, a political science professor at Western University, said the Conservatives have struggled since 2015 to hold together the different factions of the party.

“There is definitely a more far-right faction and there is definitely more centrist faction,” she said.

Stephenson said some of the more moderate members of the Conservative big-tent might be happy with the direction of the current Liberal government.

Recent polls suggest that may be true. Surveys from Leger and Abacus Data this week suggest the Liberals have increased their share of support, in particular since Carney’s trade mission to China and his speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

Leger’s poll suggests Liberal support is at 47 per cent, with the Conservatives trailing at 38 per cent. It also suggests 58 per cent of Canadians are satisfied with Carney’s government.

Abacus polling suggests while 76 per cent of Conservative voters would opt to keep Poilievre as leader, just 34 per cent of Canadians think he should stay on.

Abacus’s data also suggests Canadians have an overall negative view of Poilievre and a positive view of Carney.

The polls cannot be assigned a margin of error because online surveys are not considered truly random samples.

On Thursday evening, Quebec MP Luc Berthold accused Carney of being “on the side of big business,” not on the side of small business and entrepreneurs. Other speakers said the Liberal government works for elites and insiders, not regular people.

The Conservatives under Poilievre have rebranded themselves as being a party for the working-class and union members.

The lineup of MPs who spoke to the crowd gave a likely preview of what Poilievre will have to say on Friday.

It’s an echo of the message Poilievre first launched nearly a year ago, in mid-February, when the party held a “Canada First” rally in Ottawa. At the time, U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade war had just launched a wave of Canadian national pride, and the Liberals were surging in the polls with the prospect of a new leader taking the helm.

The Conservative leader adjusted his tone, dropping the message that “Canada is broken,” and turning to a more positive vision of the country.

From the convention stage on Thursday, B.C. MP Aaron Gunn took a shot at Carney and the Liberals, saying “we will take no lectures, especially from those who only spontaneously discovered their patriotism and love for Canada 15 months ago.”

Ontario MP Arpan Khanna laid out the problems that persist, from housing unaffordability to crime.

“But Pierre and Conservatives are offering a different vision: a message of hope, a message of opportunity, a message that says Canada should work for those who work hard in our country.”

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith is set to speak at the convention, but a number of other conservative premiers who were in Ottawa meeting with the prime minister this week won’t be making an appearance.

Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservative party is holding its own convention this weekend in Ontario, a schedule that was set after the federal party announced its own date.

Nova Scotia’s Tim Houston is skipping the convention, as is Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe, who says he wishes Poilievre well and expects him to get strong support.

Poilievre’s team had public rifts with the Progressive Conservative governments in both Ontario and Nova Scotia during the spring election campaign.

Moe, who had been a vocal critic of Justin Trudeau’s Liberal governments, has found an ally in Prime Minister Mark Carney and has spoken positively about his government’s efforts to solve trade issues with China that affected Prairie canola growers and to emphasize major infrastructure projects.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 30, 2026.

—With files from Jim Bronskill in Ottawa

2)Poilievre pledges co-operation, calls for action from Liberals as Parliament returns

Courtesy Barrie360.com and Canadian Press

By Dylan Robertson, January 24, 2026

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is calling on the prime minister to deliver results when Parliament resumes next week, as the Liberals say they hope to work with the Conservatives to advance legislation.

In a letter to Mark Carney Saturday under the subject line “Time to turn rhetoric into reality,” Poilievre said he’s offering to help fast-track policies to enact trade deals, make groceries more affordable, fix the bail system and approve major projects.

The Conservative leader also offered that members of his caucus could travel to the U.S. or other trading partners as part of bipartisan delegations.

But Poilievre’s letter also took sharp jabs at the Liberal government’s record. It opened with a quote from Carney’s now-viral speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, this week: “A country that can’t feed itself, fuel itself, or defend itself has few options.”

Poilievre said Canada can’t do any of those things, despite Carney’s “rhetoric,” pointing to food price inflation, rising gas prices due to “anti-energy” policies and gaps in Canada’s military personnel and resources.

“You said you would move at speeds not seen since the Second World War. But the reality does not match the rhetoric,” Poilievre wrote. 

“Sure, the deficit has doubled. But little else has changed. People cannot eat speeches. Photo ops don’t stop criminals. Pipelines need permits not signing ceremonies and red carpets.”

The letter was sent to Carney before Parliament is set to open Monday after a six-week winter break.

Government House Leader Steven MacKinnon told reporters he hopes “a lot” of legislation gets passed. The Liberals moved a relatively small amount of legislation this past fall and the Tories argue the House has been sitting at a historically low frequency.

MacKinnon would not say which bills are taking on a priority this spring. 

“They’re all priorities. Bills are like my children, it’s very hard to pick between them,” he said.

MacKinnon said the government is considering Poilievre’s written proposals. 

“We’re taking a good look at that and we’ll be interested to follow up,” said MacKinnon, who is also transport minister. 

“Let’s hope that we’re at the dawn of a new day of co-operation.”

He would not speculate on the prospect of more MPs crossing the floor to the Liberals after two Conservatives joined the government, which is a few seats short of a parliamentary majority.

Other Liberal MPs declined to share whether they were given a detailed sense of the legislative priorities for the session, but some mentioned that the cost of living will be a prominent focus.

MP James Maloney, who chairs the Liberal caucus, said to “stay tuned” for any action on affordability issues, but said it’s the top issue for his MP colleagues from across Ontario.

“That’s why the prime minister is doing what he continues to do. We’re increasing Canadians’ customer base and working on trade relationships with everybody, and all of that will pay dividends,” he said.

In his letter, Poilievre proposed a list of ways the Conservatives would help advance shared priorities, but most of them involved supporting Conservative proposals and significant legislative amendments to what the government has tabled.

He said Conservatives would help fast-track bills to enact trade deals, including one to invite the United Kingdom to the Trans-Pacific Partnership and another to approve the Canada-Indonesia Trade Deal.

He also offered to team up with Liberals to advance Canada’s trade ties abroad.

“Members of our Conservative team are ready to travel to the United States or other markets to open up trade, including in bipartisan delegations, to expand exports,” Poilievre wrote.

The Canadian Press reached out to the Prime Minister’s Office for comment but has not yet received a response. 

— With files from Sarah Ritchie