Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre delivered a keynote speech Friday to kick off the party’s national convention in Calgary ahead of a critical leadership review.
Poilievre sought to rally the party faithful and make his case as a future prime minister that can lead the Conservatives to victory in the next federal election. He touched on several of his signature policy platforms while also addressing major topics like Canada’s Arctic sovereignty, the U.S. trade war and Alberta and Quebec separatism.
Here’s a full transcript of Poilievre’s remarks, in English with French translation:
Thank you very much everyone.
Thank you Anna, the love of my life, the mother of my two beautiful children, Valentina and Cruz.
Thank you to the great grassroots Conservatives who work and unite here today. And welcome to my hometown of Calgary.
Conservatives from all over the country, who’s excited to be in Calgary in January? We’re tough, we can take it. A little bit of regional advice for our Atlantic friends: try the steak, not the seafood. For those of you from the eastern Prairies, sorry to block your view with the mountains. To our friends in Toronto, enjoy your time outside of the center of the universe.
I love seeing so many Conservatives in one place, but it must freak the Liberals out enough to invoke the Emergencies Act.
But truly, it’s great to be home in the beating heart of the west, a land filled with treasure, a land of oil and honey. The place that taught me my great values. Opportunity as big as the sky. Where a handshake and a word is a man’s bond and where a hard day’s work is its own sermon.
My parents taught me the value of a dollar here in Calgary. My mother could sure stretch one. She’s here over there, and she could stretch a dollar. My mother was one of those people who would literally drive clear across town to use one of those coupons to save half-price on breakfast. And my dad would have me up at five in the morning to deliver newspapers.
We weren’t rich, but life was good. That was the deal. Work hard, start anywhere, get anywhere. That’s what the country promised us all. A hopeful life, a safe home, a full table, a family you love, a flag that united. That’s the country that we live in.
We call it the Canadian promise, the deal. The professors might call it the social contract. The people have kept their part of that bargain — working hard, spending less, following the rules. But, unfortunately, the government has not kept its part of the bargain.
Right now, as we gather, families are struggling to do the math. Young people are wondering if they’ll ever have a job or a home. Worried parents are sitting at kitchen tables with empty fridges and empty bank accounts, and seniors worry that their savings might not last as long as their days.
This Liberal government doesn’t just leave people behind. It prices and shuts out youth from homes, workers from jobs, and families from groceries. Simply put, Canadians cannot afford life under the Liberal government.
The government is literally the biggest item in a family budget today. It takes up more money than food, clothing and shelter combined. The cost of government is driving up the cost of living. Taxes and record money-printing deficits are inflating everything. It’s no coincidence, therefore, that as the Liberal government doubled the debt, housing costs and food bank lineups doubled at the very same time.
Now they promised that all these deficits were going to lead to investments. Investments. It’s kind of like the old magicians who said that they could turn lead into gold. But those deficits never became investments. In fact, Canada has had the worst investment and the worst growth in the G7 over the last 10 years.
Amazingly, Canadian citizens — this is an incredible fact — Canadian citizens now open more businesses in the United States of America than they do in their home country. That’s elbows out. And taxpayers spend more on federal debt interest than on health care. That’s more money for bondholders and bankers than for nurses and doctors.
Liberal laws have unleashed crime. Out of control, open-borders immigration has overwhelmed health care, housing, and job markets. Cancel culture and identity politics divide Canadians. Separate movements are reawakened.
After 10 years of Liberal rule. Canada is more costly and crime-ridden, dangerous and dependent and divided than ever before.
Now, Mr. Carney, he promised to change all that. But here we are a year later. You know, what’s changed? Sure, the words have changed. The style has changed. But what’s changed in your life? Well, let’s go down the list.
The illusion: Mr. Carney said he would spend less. He’s spending $90 billion more and he doubled the deficit that he inherited.
The illusion: Mr. Carney said a country that cannot feed itself has few options. Well, food inflation has doubled under his watch, and it’s the worst in the G7. Groceries will cost the average family an almost unimaginable $17,600 this year. That’s after-tax money.
The illusion: “build, baby, build.” The reality has been “block, baby, block.” He hasn’t gotten rid of a single anti-development law or bureaucracy. The “No New Pipelines” law? Still here. And by the way, speaking of pipelines, how many of them are approved?
(Switches to French)
Ten years ago, before the Liberals came to power, the social contract, the “unwritten rule,” was that if you worked hard, you could earn a good life, a good salary, buy a nice house, and start a family.
But today, living in Canada is more expensive. And Mr. Carney promised he would be judged by the cost of groceries. The result? Canada has the worst food inflation among the G7, and the average family will have to spend almost $18,000 on food this year.
Mr. Carney doubled the deficit he inherited, while your taxes keep rising. Young people can no longer afford to buy a home. Under the Liberals, Canada has become a nation of renters, not a nation of homeowners.
Mr. Carney promised change, and he did change some things: the tone, the style, the words. But since he became prime minister, have things really changed in your life? Does it cost less?
Mr. Carney likes to make grand speeches around the world, while making Canadians pay more here. Clearly, Mr. Carney is a big shot elsewhere, but a small player at home.
(Switches to English)
I’ve got a bit of a funny paradox for you. He imposes taxes and red tape on homebuilding, resource development, and businesses, then he creates new bureaucracies to subsidize homebuilding, resource development, and businesses. He taxes food production and then he creates new programs for food subsidies. In every case, he blocks and taxes a thing and then subsidizes that same thing.
As President Reagan says, if a liberal sees something that moves, he taxes it. If it keeps moving, he regulates it. And when it stops moving, he subsidizes it.
But why not just get out of the way and let things move? Well, because then there’d be no role for him. No photo op, no power. If everyone could just get up and do great things without him, he would be less relevant, the government would be less important. This way, you have to give him your money and then come ask for some of it back, and he can claim that he’s building the thing that he’s blocking.
The cost of the benefit is seen in the form of his photo ops and political power, but the cost is paid by the homeowner who can’t build a home, the carpenter who never gets a job building it, and the family that never gets to move in, or the entrepreneur who never launches the business or the senior who, because of all these extra costs, has to choose between eating and heating.
These costs are so often unseen. And even more often, so too are the people paying them. But my message to those people who have felt unseen for too long, who are carrying the country on their back and feel underappreciated and overworked, Conservatives see you and Conservatives will fight for you.
The people need the government off their backs, out of their way and by their sides. When I become prime minister, these great Canadians will not need to ask my permission to succeed.
Business will get ahead by having the best product, not the best lobbyist. By pleasing customers, not pleasing politicians.
(Audience member: “We love you, Pierre!”)
I love you too. Thank you. We have the most amazing patriots, the most amazing people in this party. Thank god for the grassroots of the Conservative party. And the great people of our country.
As I go around and I meet the people of this country, and I spend half my time doing that and half my time on Parliament Hill, it’s become very clear to me that the common people — not the ordinary people, the extraordinary people — they have all the wisdom and the virtue to make their own decisions and run their own lives. They don’t need to be bossed around by government.
Our government is here to do its job. Only the things that people can’t do for themselves, not run your life. In fact, if I were starting a new political party from scratch — I’m not. I’m not — but if I were it would be called the Mind Your Own Damn Business Party.
That includes respecting the constitutional jurisdiction of our provinces and getting the federal government to butt out of the affairs of Albertans and Quebecers and other Canadians. To make room, have a smaller government that makes room for the dignity of work and the soft, strong bonds of family.
It was by fighting for these principles and giving hope to the common people that we won the most votes in our party’s history. Two-point-five million more votes and 25 more seats.
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Often we won these votes in places that had never voted Conservative before. And now it is clear, Conservatives are the party of workers, including union workers, small business owners and young people.
Have you seen the youth delegation at this convention? It is amazing. You know, in the past when I was growing up we would go to a Conservative convention and you’d look out at the crowd, and it would be the Great White North: the white hair everywhere.
We love the people with white hair, the wisdom that they share with all of us, but we also need a party that’s infused with young people. And on that front, we are the youngest party and the oldest party.
In fact, Elections Canada holds a mock vote in the high schools on Election Day and this year, Conservatives won. We came in first. So congratulations parents, the kids are alright.
Now, and you know, every year, one-third of those high school kids roughly becomes eligible to vote for real. So we’ve got to make sure we get them out to vote by continuing to inspire them every day and in every way.
Obviously elections teach us lessons — like, for example, the need to hold earlier and open nominations, to have more local autonomy to empower our local riding associations. They’re the backbone of our organization.
And for that I want to thank all of you in this room. You have provided such valuable input in the lead-up to and throughout this convention. You are the ones whose ears and whose feet are on the ground and have the best intelligence to bring us.
And you have told us many things, but one of the most important lessons I have gained from listening to you throughout this convention is that you told us to ignore the voices who keep telling us to abandon our Conservative principles.
We will remain true to our principles.
You know, on the issue of the principles that we hold, we won the debate in the last election on every single one of the big issues. On carbon taxes, inflation, housing, resources, crime, drugs, and soon we will be proven right once again on the wasteful and insane Liberal gun grab.
It’s funny to watch the Liberal rhetoric. First they said, “Conservatives have no policies. It’s just slogans.” Then they said, “Conservative policies are very scary.” And then they said, “We agree with all the Conservative policies.”
The best part of being Conservatives is that eventually everyone admits that we were right all along.
It’s not just the solutions for the past. It’s the solutions for the future that we offer the Canadian people that brings so much hope. Policies like an affordable government for an affordable life.
You see, stronger take-home pay requires lower taxes. A strong dollar that buys more requires we end inflationary deficits. Both require we cut spending on bureaucracy, consultants, corporate welfare, foreign aid, and handouts to foreign refugees.
Speaking of affordability, everything should be dirt cheap in Canada because we have the most dirt on which to build homes, grow food, and dig resources, right? Think about it. The treasures in our soil, mixed with the hands of our genius engineers and tradesworkers can and will supply an abundant, affordable, autonomous future to our country.
And now more than ever, we need autonomy and independence. Unfair and unresolved U.S. tariffs and diplomatic distractions and disruptions from down south and from other places show that we cannot rely on others to secure our borders or buy our goods.
Conservatives renew our good faith offer to help the prime minister and his government get U.S. tariffs removed and open new markets abroad. We will work with the government in any way we can because Conservatives always put our country ahead of our party.
In this dangerous and uncertain world, Canadians must stand united so we can stand on our own two feet. United and strong Canadians will bow before no nation anywhere on earth. Canada must make new friends, honour our alliances, and do our part on resources, trade, diplomacy, foreign aid, and everything else, though it’s clear we must prioritize our own national interest above all else.
And here’s the good news. The good news is that the same Conservative policies that will make life affordable will make Canada more self-reliant.
We will do it by starting with the Canadian Sovereignty Act. This is a law that will put us back in charge of our lives.
It will bring home the half-trillion dollars of investment that has fled south by ending capital gains tax on reinvestment in Canada. That will be like economic rocket fuel for startups, high tech, and major job-creating Projects.
We’ll replace anti-development laws like C-69 and C-48 with new laws that will quickly approved projects and allow energy shipping off our west coast.
We will also quickly greenlight Danielle Smith’s proposed pipeline to the Pacific. Let me just put this into context: that pipeline would move a million barrels a day and $30 billion a year. That would be the single biggest increase to overseas exports in Canadian history.
And for context, the Liberals now say that they want this strategic partnership with China for a “new world order.” One pipeline to the Pacific would increase our exports more than all the products that we currently sell to China in a year. So I think that is a more accurate and pragmatic approach to diversifying our trade.
And we will end the industrial carbon tax so that we can produce more steel, aluminum, and other things that it takes to grow food and build homes.
And speaking of that, you want to launch or relaunch the biggest tariff-proof industry in Canada? You know what it is? Homebuilding.
No other country can tariff homebuilding, because it’s built on Canadian homes, on Canadian land with Canadian workers using Canadian lumber. It is literally the most homegrown industry we have. So why don’t we dedicate ourselves to working with all levels of government to remove all the taxes and all the red tape so that we can create jobs, harvest more lumber, and build homes that our young people can afford?
We’ll create free trade bonuses for our provinces to open up markets to the rest of Canada. We’ll bring incentives and rules to ensure that we keep our Canadian technologies in Canadian hands on Canadian soil. We’ll move from the second-slowest building permits in the developed world to the fastest building permits anywhere in the developed world.
You know, people ask, it seems so complicated. How is it that we get things built? There’s actually a very simple checklist that you need to build resource projects.
One, you need the resources. Check. Two, you need the workers. Check. We’ve got a hundred thousand unemployed construction workers available to start any day. Third, you need the investment. Check. We’ve got massive pension funds that are literally investing hundreds of billions of our savings in other countries where they can get things built.
So the fourth thing is the only thing missing. It’s the federal government permits. They are among the slowest in the world. We need to checkmark this box so that we can get the federal government out of the way, get the permits so we can get shovels in ground, and that’s what we will do.
Self-reliance requires self-defence. We must be a nation that protects our seas, skies, and soil, without depending on the U.S. or anyone else to do it for us. And that’s what Conservatives believe.
It’s time to cut the back-office bureaucracy and the botched purchases so that massive increases in defence spending actually hit the front line and support our soldiers, sailors, aircrew, and veterans.
We will re-assert Arctic sovereignty in this great Conservative tradition of Harper and Diefenbaker. We will take back control of our North and ensure no foreign powers ever threaten our territory.
New bases in — you know, we have no bases in the North right now, in the Arctic North today. We haven’t had any since the Cold War. We will open new bases in Iqaluit, Churchill, Inuvik. Four, rather than two, new icebreakers. We’ll break open that ice and open up new passageways for Canadians.
We will speed up the purchases of new tactical submarines. … I think my little girl wants to be a submarine sailor. She’s very excited by that idea. I think she’s tired of hearing Daddy’s speech, though. So we lost her.
We will speed up purchases of new submarines, tactical helicopters, satellite ground stations, over-the-top radar, and we will quickly add an arsenal of drones that will cover more territory at lower costs and less risk to Canadian life so that we are ready for the future of warfare.
And we will expand recruitment, and also performance by promoting and hiring based on merit and not political correctness. Our forces will be guided by a warrior culture.
And our government will be dedicated to its first responsibility, which is to take care of our precious veterans. They fought for us and we will always fight for them.
(Switches to French)
We must diversify our markets and strengthen our alliances with our NATO partners. We must fight the American tariffs and do all we can to reach a no-tariff agreement with the United States.
And yes, the Conservatives are ready to work with Mr. Carney and his government to open up new markets and eliminate the American tariffs. But we can no longer be dependent on others.
That’s why I’m proposing the Canada Sovereignty Act, which will allow us to develop our natural resources, bring production back into Canada, create well-paying jobs and a stronger dollar and purchasing power, so that we can truly and finally be masters in our home.
(Switches to English)
And we need to unite this country like never before, because a house divided cannot stand.
Here we go again. Liberals are in power, and just as night follows day, separatist movements are in resurgence back in Quebec and here in Alberta. These movements which had been dormant or even dead when Prime Minister Harper left office.
Now, we can simply attack people who feel this way. Or we can ask them why. Why, in Alberta and Quebec — why particularly among young people in those provinces — have so many lost hope in Confederation?
Well, here’s a few hints.
For the last 10 years, Ottawa has told our young people that our history is filled with shame and horror, that we are a post-national country with no core identity, and that our youth will never own homes. But other than that, they should feel great about being united in Canada.
All the while, the federal government stomps on Alberta’s energy sector and Quebec’s jurisdiction.
Our message to those youth and to all of the people in Alberta and Quebec who are losing hope in our country: you will again have a country that respects your autonomy, is proud of your industries, unites us around our common identity and history, a country that will afford you the hopeful future that you have earned.
You know, it’s incredible that when Conservatives — there’s never been a referendum crisis or a national unity crisis when Conservatives have been in power. It’s an interesting coincidence, isn’t it?
(Switches to French)
When the Liberals are in power, however, it always benefits the sovereigntists who had disappeared during the Harper years. When the Conservatives are in power, Quebec’s autonomy is respected, and Alberta’s contribution is recognized, and our country is proud, united, affordable, and full of hope.
The problem is that for the past 10 years, the Liberals have essentially told two things to young Quebecers and young Albertans: that Canada is a post-national state without an identity, with a supposedly shameful history, and that young people will never own a home.
So, we’re telling our youth: you have no identity and no home, but be happy and proud to be Canadian. We can imagine why our young people are starting to lose hope.
So, tonight, I have a message for young Quebecers: Quebec nationalism is part of Canadian patriotism. Canada will be proud of its history and its identity, and you will once again be proud of our country and Canada will allow you to realize your ambitions, your dreams and your future within a united Canada.
(Switches to English)
And we will celebrate rather than tear down our heroes in history. Our museums and heritage programs will tell the unvarnished truth that Conservatives have known all along: this is the greatest country on Earth precisely because of the goodness of those people who came here and sacrificed before us.
As the great Nova Scotian Joseph Howe said, a wise nation preserves its records, gathers up its muniments, decorates the tombs of its illustrious dead, repairs its great public structures, and fosters national pride and love of country by perpetual reference to the sacrifices and glories of the past.
Uniting around our common history will heal the divisions. We want a nation where all of us are equal, a nation that is colorblind. We want a nation with no more hyphens, no more group labels. We are all Canadians. Canadians in our heart, Canadians in every single way.
And immigration must serve our national interest as well. We will welcome those who contribute, and we will make sure that their skills are recognized so that they can get licensed to work as doctors and nurses in our country and reduce wait times in our hospitals.
At the same time, we must cap immigration at numbers we can integrate into our jobs, housing, health care, and Canadian way of life.
We will deport criminals, end fraud, end abuse and handouts to phony refugees. We will no longer allow foreign conflicts to spill onto our streets.
We must unite to end antisemitism and the attacks on our places of worship. And stand with our Jewish friends and neighbours who are under attack like never before. We want Jews to feel comfortable and safe. They should be able to wear the Star of David, put up the mezuzah, and wear a kippah everywhere and be proudly Jewish all around.
That’s the story of Canada, isn’t it? It’s incredible. Protestants and Catholics tear each other’s eyeballs out for hundreds of years on the other side of the pond, and they came here and got along. Yes, we squabble. Yes, we get on each other’s nerves, but we don’t fight each other because of religious or sectoral differences.
We get along with our next-door neighbors regardless of where their grandparents live. When newcomers arrive in this country, just as it has always been, we will ensure that they leave differences at the doors.
We must restore security at home. Crime has gotten so bad in this country that in Toronto, the police tell people to leave their keys at the door so that thieves can more safely steal their car in the middle of the night.
In Brampton, people are literally being told that because there is an extortion wave on their particular street, they should move into their basements to minimize being hit — the chance of being hit — by a stray bullet. In Canada.
It’s not just stats. It’s human tragedies.
In 2024, a violent repeat offender, released by Liberal laws, murdered a wonderful piano teacher, Esthe Jones. The killer should have been in jail, and Esthe should still be alive today. Her niece, Esther, is here with us today.
She decided to turn this terrible tragedy into action, this terrible tragedy into real change. She joined our party and testified in a Parliamentary committee against catch-and-release Liberal laws. And together with her — together with you, Esther — we will work to pass laws requiring that anyone convicted of three serious offenses will have a minimum of 10 years in prison with no bail, parole, probation or house arrest.
The tiny group of criminals, the career criminals, will stay behind bars so that no one ever faces a tragedy like Esther’s family. And I can tell you Esther that your wonderful aunt will have an incredible legacy because her story will inspire us to take the action that will save so many other lives. Thank you and God bless your beautiful family.
We will also protect the freedoms of law-abiding people with a new castle law that allows you to take whatever action necessary to protect your family against home invaders.
We will do so also by protecting the rights of law-abiding firearms owners, stopping the Liberal gun grab, and putting the money into border security.
By definition, if you’ve got a possession and acquisition license, it you following the law, if you would even respect this compensation — this confiscation policy, you’re by definition not the risk. You’re not a danger. And we shouldn’t be wasting police resources harassing you.
The Liberals want to protect turkeys from hunters. We want to protect Canadians from criminals.
And we will protect your religious freedom. We will stop the Liberals from censoring politically incorrect Bible verses. You will have the ability to worship God in your own way.
And we’ll protect our loved ones from addictions. Overdoses have cost 50,000 lives and overrun our streets. We’ll bring in life sentences for fentanyl kingpins. shut down the drug dens and treat drug abuse. Because 50,000 dead is too many.
After years of intense struggle with drugs, Kirk was determined to take his life, while driving on the Sea to Sky Highway. He took off his seatbelt and he drove full speed into a rock wall.
But God was not finished with him yet. Kirk survived. And he later said, “At that moment, I decided I was going to change my life.”
Kirk entered recovery, counseling, group therapy, exercise, and yes, faith. It was hard, but it saved his life. And he has since become a chef at the same treatment centre. He makes a mean steak, which he’s promised to let me try. He’s also the CEO of Probiotic Sodas and has six employees. He will soon be marrying his beautiful fiance, and both of them are here with us tonight. Give them a big round of applause.
Way to go, buddy. Way to go, man. We love you.
You know, when I go to these treatment facilities, I love to go and meet with mostly the young men who are in those places, turning their lives around. And I walk in and I say, I’m not here because you need me. I’m here because, frankly, I’m here because I need you. Canada has a job for you to do. You need to get better and go out and pull the next guy off the street. And he’s going to come in and get better, and he’ll go back out and pull the next guy off the street, and we’re going to keep doing that again and again until every last one of our brothers and sisters is back on their feet.
So hang on, have hope. Help is on the way.
Hope. That’s really the theme of this convention this evening. Hope is on the way for our people as well. But hope is not just a comforting blanket. Hope is the knowledge that your work will fulfill your purpose, your “why.”
“He who has a ‘why’ can bear any ‘how,’” Viktor Frankl wrote in the great book, Man’s Search for Meaning. That thing that you call meaning could be for you a home, a career, a family, a business. Seeing your autistic daughter speak for the first time.
It’s the thing — that meaning is the thing that keeps people fighting on through hardship.
People ask me why I keep going. You know, the slings and arrows, they’re the easy part. Constantly being away from family, that’s the harder part.
You know, my little boy, Cruz, he cut out and coloured a little paper Spider-Man and gave it to me to take on the road to stop bad guys. I look at it when I’m in the hotel room, sometimes late at night. It makes me smile.
I see all those little scribbles and cut marks and imagine those little fingers working away. And I know that one day I’ll come home and those fingers will have grown big, and I miss him. And too often I kiss my wife and daughter goodnight through FaceTime.
So why keep going? Because we want our kids to have the same promise that we had.
Because we want them to know that when you care about something you work for it when you believe in something you fight for it.
And most of all, when you start something, you never give up.
Because the unsung heroes who built and protect this country, who have it infinitely harder than I do, they never give up, so I have no right to give up.
Because all of you who pound signs on frozen ground, knock doors on dark nights and sacrifice warm family dinners for cold campaign pizza, you never give up, so I’ll never give up.
Because the young couple scrimping to start a family, and the single mother fighting each day to feed her kids, they never give up so that we never give up.
Because the Canadian Pacific Railway workers who pounded spikes into frozen ground and forged steel ribbon that united east and west, they never gave up, so we never gave up.
Because the Canadian teenagers living in frozen, rat-infested trenches, who had it infinitely harder than we do, they fought on, they never gave up and they won wars so that we will never give up on our country in these times.
(Switches to French)
Canadians don’t give up because our country is worth fighting for, as are its people and its promise.
(Switches to English)
Because we are Canadians. Only Canadians could carve the world’s best country out of a big, cold, vast land. Because we never give up. We never back down. We never run away.
We stand united tonight, together, always, because this country, its people and promise are worth fighting for.
Because while some say this is as good as it gets, we know the best is yet to come. Thank you very much.
Read the full transcript of Poilievre’s speech to Conservative convention
