Tories pass resolutions on prickly social issues
• Conservatives passed resolutions at their convention Saturday on controversial cultural issues including vaccine mandates and children transitioning genders amid tensions among party members that doing so risked giving ammunition to the Liberals to use against them.
With the party rising steadily in national polls on messages focused heavily on cost of living and the housing crisis, a highly anticipated plenary session Saturday afternoon provided a chance for grassroots members to push issues ignored by party leader Pierre Poilievre during the three-day convention.
Meanwhile, a proposal to change the party’s constitution that would have given more power to the grassroots in riding nominations and forced the leader to implement the policy resolutions adopted at conventions were dropped on Saturday. Delegates who were in the room said the proposals, which were opposed by Poilievre’s inner circle, were scrapped during what they described as a rowdy breakout session on Saturday that had left some members frustrated and bitter.
While a variety of resolutions related to defence, energy transition and eliminating the deficit were adopted with little debate and near-unanimity, other proposals elicited fiery debate between members as they started to vote on issues related to health, social policy and criminal justice.
Speakers lined up to the mic when it was time for statements on the highly anticipated resolution calling on a future Conservative government to prohibit “life altering” medical or surgical interventions “to treat gender confusion or dysphoria” for minors on the premise that children are not equipped to make such significant medical decisions as permanently changing their sex.
“Canada’s watching our leader kick Justin Trudeau’s ass and you know what?”
“He’s doing it by ... high cost of living, high taxes, Liberal incompetence. As a government in waiting ... We need to show we’re competent. This is a provincial matter,” argued Liam O’brien, a delegate from Newfoundland and Labrador, who argued against passing the resolution.
Also on the floor was Dr. Lisa Bonang, a family physician who said that age alone does not determine the ability to consent and that this policy “stands against the values of our party to embrace freedom and bodily autonomy.”
In the end, their arguments did not sway the room and the policy on kids’ gender transitioning was adopted by 69 per cent of delegates.
Another proposition calling on every Canadian to be entitled to “informed consent
(THIS POLICY) STANDS AGAINST THE VALUES OF OUR PARTY.
and bodily autonomy,” specifically regarding vaccines, had some delegates protesting that they did not want to go back to the divisive debates related to vaccine mandates during the pandemic.
“We want to ensure the election of a majority Conservative government,” said Dominic Bellemare, a local association president in Quebec. “This will reduce our electability.”
In the end, the resolution on bodily autonomy was adopted by 66 per cent of members.
Members considered dozens of policy resolutions and constitutional amendments during their convention, but only a portion of them were voted on Saturday. Even those are not guaranteed to make it into the party’s next campaign platform, as Poilievre said he would not be bound by the policy resolutions that would be adopted during his party’s convention.
Alissa Golob, from the anti-abortion organization Rightnow, said Conservatives might be riding high in the polls now, but said she thinks they will have to come up with more than anti-trudeau messaging and promises of lower taxes to galvanize conservative voters.
“There has to be more to that to excite people and motivate them to get to the polls,” she said.
Golob said she thinks the fact that issues such as gender identity and vaccine mandates made it to the floor were meant to appease the grassroots.
During the three days of the convention, Conservative caucus members steered clear of commenting on the party’s resolutions on gender identity and vaccine mandates, instead accusing the media of being fixated on the controversies.
“You guys want to make it an issue. The Liberals want to make it an issue,” said MP Glen Motz. But the average Canadian and us here? We have a job to do, and that’s to win the next election.”