Conservatives, Poilievre seek to carry convention momentum back into Parliament

By Canadian Press on February 1, 2026.

OTTAWA — Political analysts say the federal Conservatives and leader Pierre Poilievre have momentum coming off a unifying convention in Calgary but the party still has a hill to climb in Parliament to one-up Prime Minster Mark Carney and the Liberals.

The Conservatives wrapped up their three-day national convention yesterday that saw Poilievre easily passed his mandatory leadership review by earning 87 per cent support from delegates.

Pollster Nik Nanos says Poilievre’s result was “quite striking” and should put an end to talk that the Conservative leader doesn’t have a firm grasp of the party after a pair of MPs crossed the floor to the Liberals late last year.

The Conservatives trailed the Liberals by four points in Nanos polling from the week before the convention but the firm also finds Carney now leads Poilievre by 28 points as Canadians’ preferred prime minister.

Nanos says it would be in the Conservatives’ best interests to co-operate more with the federal NDP in Parliament and give the struggling party more of an opportunity to pull progressive-leaning voters away from the Liberals.

Amanda Galbraith, a former adviser to Conservative prime minister Stephen Harper and now partner at public affairs firm Oyster Group, says she believes Poilievre should continue to hammer the affordability question in Parliament, which she sees as a “weak spot” for Carney and the Liberals.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 1, 2026.

Craig Lord, The Canadian Press