Pierre Poilievre, Canada’s opposition leader and a populist often likened to Donald Trump, was reaffirmed as head of the Conservative Party on Friday, even after steering the party to an unexpected defeat in last year’s federal election.
At a party convention held in Calgary, Alberta, Mr. Poilievre delivered a speech echoing the central themes of his unsuccessful 2025 campaign, which ended with a Liberal victory under Prime Minister Mark Carney in April.
More than 2,500 party members attended the convention, and 87 percent voted to keep Mr. Poilievre as leader, according to results released early Saturday.
“You told us to ignore the voices who keep telling us to abandon our conservative principles,” Mr. Poilievre told delegates, invoking familiar critiques of “cancel culture” and “identity politics.”
Although he did not mention Mr. Trump directly, comparisons between the two figures have been common. Mr. Trump remains deeply unpopular with the Canadian public, even as some segments of the Conservative base view him favorably.
The outcome was widely anticipated, as Mr. Poilievre needed only a simple majority to remain leader. Still, a weaker showing, particularly anything below 80 percent, could have triggered doubts about his hold on the party.
Instead, the strong margin is expected to cement his authority at a time when the Conservatives have been losing ground to the Liberals amid Mr. Carney’s rising popularity.
Party organizers worked to ensure a decisive result, choosing Alberta, Canada’s most reliably conservative province, as the venue and mobilizing Mr. Poilievre’s most loyal supporters.
Despite this show of unity, his speech offered little indication that he intends to soften his message to appeal to moderate Conservatives or undecided voters. As during the campaign, he focused heavily on crime and affordability, particularly the cost of living.
Pierre Poilievre
The vote highlights a widening gap between the Conservative leadership and the broader electorate that the party must win over to form government.
Polls show Mr. Poilievre remains deeply unpopular nationwide, with nearly 60 percent of voters holding unfavorable views of him. By contrast, roughly the same proportion views Mr. Carney favorably.
Only a year ago, the Conservatives appeared poised for a landslide victory after nearly a decade of Liberal rule under former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Mr. Poilievre had gained traction by relentlessly attacking Mr. Trudeau over affordability issues, especially housing, while energizing his base with rhetoric targeting elites and “wokeism.” He also adopted tactics reminiscent of Mr. Trump, including the use of derisive nicknames for political opponents.
That momentum collapsed after Mr. Trudeau resigned and the Liberals selected Mr. Carney, a former central banker in Canada and Britain, as their leader. Many centrist voters, along with some Conservatives, grew uneasy with Mr. Poilievre’s Trump-like image.
Those concerns intensified as Mr. Trump threatened to annex Canada and imposed steep tariffs on Canadian goods, a backdrop that proved politically damaging for Mr. Poilievre.
The election loss was compounded by Mr. Poilievre’s defeat in his own district, which he had represented for more than 20 years. He returned to Parliament only after a sitting Conservative member in Alberta stepped aside to allow him to run in a safe seat.
Under party rules, a leader who loses a general election must face a confidence vote at the next convention.
While Mr. Poilievre has recently dialed back some of his more aggressive personal attacks and abandoned the use of nicknames, he has doubled down on other populist claims. These include accusing Canada’s federal police of concealing scandals from the Trudeau era, allegations that have unsettled even some within his own party.
As Mr. Carney’s standing has continued to improve, buoyed by a well-received speech in Davos on a post-American global order and efforts to diversify Canada’s international partnerships, Mr. Poilievre’s polling numbers have continued to slide.
The contrast was underscored recently when two Conservative members of Parliament defected to the Liberals, a symbolic marker of the parties’ diverging trajectories.
