Conservatives must address the elephant in the room.

There's a big issue Conservatives need to immediately address. To do that, we need leadership stability.

Hello, dear readers, from the flip side of a particularly intense federal election campaign. I am grateful to the voters who cast a ballot in Calgary Nose Hill who put their trust in me to fight for them - which, as always, I will do for all of my constituents, no matter their partisan stripe.

And that work must begin now. 

Headed back to Parliament at some point later this month after months of prorogation, the Conservative Party, with a strengthened seat count in its role as the Official Opposition, will have to address four related issues. The first, economic data seems to suggest Canada is already be in a recession, with major analysts confirming this is likely the case. The second, a major credit ratings agency suggested that the federal government’s credit rating is likely to be downgraded - thus increasing the cost of debt servicing - if the Liberals implement their proposed major spending increases. The third, cost of living issues like grocery inflation continue to be a persistent problem. The fourth, given all these issues, the Bank of Canada is “confused” about what do with rates. 

Said differently, the elephant sized issue in the room is that Canada is facing a stagflationary scenario without much wherewithal in the government coffers.

With tens of millions of Canadians living paycheque to paycheque, the job losses that will precipitate from a recession, combined with continued inflationary pressures, have the potential to catastrophic for the country. This means Parliament must resume, and Conservatives need to immediately dive into assessing the actual state of the nation’s finances (which the Liberals sat on for months until the day before the House rose last December), and opposing Prime Minister Mark Carney’s plans to blow past even Justin Trudeau’s massive spending increases.

I have no doubt that is what our caucus will immediately focus on. The upcoming Liberal budget is, according to experts, going to be a disaster for the majority of Canadians and must be vigorously opposed. The fact that these issues aren’t the top story on legacy broadcast news loops means that Conservatives must force that elephant of an issue into the spotlight, and dislodge what those Liberal-affilated pundits would rather talk about: post-election machinations of the Conservative Party of Canada.

So, how can the Conservatives do that?

I’ve made this argument before after previous elections, and I’ll make it again: our party needs leadership stability to grow its voter coalition. I firmly don’t believe that a leader who has increased our seat count should be removed if they are willing to serve again. The Conservative Party’s constitution, written and ratified by party members, supports this principle. It’s our members who assess whether a leader—post-election loss—has demonstrated the introspection, insight, and concrete planning needed to grow their coalition and form government.

Will Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre make that case? That’s solely for him to answer. He hasn’t spoken publicly yet - and I don’t blame him. Given that he just inspired over 8 million Canadians to vote for our party - a historic result - he absolutely deserves time and space to recover from the rigours of the campaign, consult widely, reflect and chart a path forward without people clamouring for his outster. And I firmly believe he understands that particular assignment and will absolutely crush it.

I’m in a unique position to make the case for giving him the chance to do so.

I didn’t back Pierre in the last leadership race, so at the outset of his leadership, I was one of his deepest skeptics. But since he won the leadership with a resounding plurality, he has more than earned my respect. I’ve watched Pierre inspire disillusioned or exhausted members to rejoin the fold with vigour. I’ve seen him lead caucus with calm authority—offering praise and correction to allies and critics alike. He’s built a meritocratic team, deftly avoided creating internal divisions, and definitively shut down the lingering smears our opponents have used against our party for years. His leadership in this general election campaign led to historic Conservative turnout, gains in new ridings, and a broad, energized coalition. Said differently, Pierre has already demonstrated the capacity for growth required of a potential leader of our country - both personally and politically. 

And that growth has yielded both political gains for our party, and results for Canadians who need them. Pierre has united our caucus in common purpose and I see no wavering from that unity in the aftermath of this campaign. That purpose is this: our party must consistently give voice to the very real concerns of millions of Canadians failed by the Liberal government, who have steadfastly refused to admit that their concerns are valid. Pierre has walked this talk. He’s championed reduced inflationary spending, tax relief, safer streets, action on the drug crisis, immigration reform, more housing, and the end of government censorship. He’s done so without equivocation, and—crucially—not for personal gain, but out of a genuine desire to serve. That particular fact was demonstrated as he pushed on these issues even when vigorously opposed by the Liberal establishment, and was proven right as they campaigned on adopting some of his policies.

Still, the road to government has now proven that it demands even more: broader appeal, sharper discipline, and building an even wider coalition. That’s why there may be a silver lining for Pierre in his personal loss in Carleton. Temporarily out of the daily grind of the House of Commons, he can focus even more on coalition-building and deepening his public connection without being consumed by the necessary partisan grind of House of Commons debate. By taking a temporary beat from day to day House combat, Pierre will have the time to focus more on things like the thoughtful, long-form discourses that served him so well during the campaign—where Canadians saw him as the devoted father, husband, and patriot that he has proven himself to be.

Without equivocating, I learned the value of this type of reset myself once, too. After former Conservative Party leader Erin O’Toole was ousted, I wasn’t assigned critic role by the interim leader that followed. I chose to see that decision as a gift. Stepping out of the day-to-day partisan and party fray gave me both time and space to rediscover my purpose as a Parliamentarian. I deepened my policy work, drafted and tabled meaningful legislation, learned to listen more carefully to those who disagreed with me, and become more selective about which political fights I waded into. More importantly, that change reminded me that real political power comes from the people you seek to represent. In short, that time allowed me to grow. I have confidence that Pierre - already a giant - has the capacity to both hold and further grow our voter coalition, and he now has a little more breathing room to do so while still being the leader of our party.

A final thought of this topic: success in public service means putting people over politics. I believe Pierre has shown through his actions that this is where his heart lies. He deserves the chance to make the case for continuing on as leader. And I want him to know that I hope he chooses to stay on and fight.

That choice would give our caucus the stability and leadership needed to build on solid momentum and show Canadians that we’re focused solely on them— which is exactly what the Liberals and their fellow travellers would love for us not to do. Because right now, far bigger issues like stagflation are largely due to a decade of failed Liberal policy, and Mr. Carney has not shown any signs of reversing course on Liberal legislation and policy that took us to that place. The Liberals would love for Conservatives to once again turn our guns inward as opposed to litigating Liberal failures and preventing them from foisting their egregiously irresponsible economic plan on Canadians.

And so Conservatives need to get back to work and build on the foundation that Pierre led through this federal election campaign. That means pushing the Liberals to adopt his plan to rein in inflationary spending and restart economic growth, and showing stability within our leadership and ranks. I have every confidence that’s exactly what our caucus will do - they’re a deeply talented team of patriots who love their country and the people they represent.

We all know that if the Liberals fail to act, we must hold them accountable—and show Canadians that there’s a focused, ready government-in-waiting on the other side.

Giddyup.