QUEBEC –
Conservatives gathered in Quebec City will vote today on a series of changes to their policy handbook on the final day of a three-day convention.
More than 2,500 delegates have been gathered at a conference centre near the city’s historic walls to energize themselves to fight the next election and debate what to change about the party’s policy and constitution.
Riding associations from across the country worked to advance certain priorities and delegates met behind closed doors Friday to hash out which would reach the convention floor for a final vote.
Many fell in line with Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre’s priorities to tackle the cost of living crisis and crime, but some others brushed up against his agenda.
Delegates will be presented with a final slate of suggested changes before voting gets underway today, although some of the more controversial ones were already known to have failed.
That included inking a line into the policy playbook that would see Conservatives pledge to pull federal funding from both the English and French programming wings of the Canadian Broadcasting Corp., which would have run counter to the desire among Quebec MPs not to touch its French-language wing.
So after closed-door delegate deliberations to determine which CPC policy proposals would make it to the the plenary room for a vote later today, the final list of 30 resolutions advancing has been released. Both trans-centric submissions have advanced. https://t.co/ViEe8Kowg9 pic.twitter.com/AWS5mJ0zwq
— Rachel Aiello (@rachaiello) September 9, 2023
Others that failed sought to deal with the party’s constitution, such as requiring party leaders to implement policies passed at conventions by its grassroots.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 9, 2023.