What do the federal Conservatives need to do to stay relevant?
Posted May 26, 2016 8:13 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – For the first time since losing to the Trudeau Liberals, federal Conservative Party members are gathering to talk policy and figure out how to keep the Tories relevant.
Political strategist Alise Mills has been in the trenches in a number of election campaigns and has some thoughts about what she thinks is the major goal of the bi-annual policy conference: figuring out how to rebuild and renew the party.
“What’s the next step? What does that brand look like? What are the core elements that make the Conservative Party — not the old Progressive Conservatives, not the old Reform Alliance. This is the Conservative Party of Canada.”
The highlight tonight is a speech by former Prime Minister Stephen Harper. It will be his first comments since losing to the Trudeau Liberals last October.
“A lot of people are still suffering from the shock of the loss, but I think that what we have to do is use this convention to determine the path forward… the basic principles of conservatism need to be established,” says Mills.
She notes that also includes how to keep the party relevant to voters.
Add to that the dynamic of the three candidates vying for Harper’s job in town glad-handing, and Mills says the policy convention should be “interesting.”
