Arpad Nagy's blog

This past week, I attended the Conservative Party convention in Calgary. Along with five co-workers from CLC who were on the ground, we worked hard to promote pro-life and pro-family policies in an effort to make the party more pro-life. 

I arrived a day early to prepare some logistics for our team.

(In this blog, I won’t go into all the nitty-gritty details, but instead aim to provide an overview of the CPC convention and some of its implications.) 

The Conservative Party of Canada is currently the only federal party with seats in Parliament that allows pro-lifers to run as candidates and be part of the party caucus. Because of this, advancing pro-life values through the CPC has been a high priority for the political arm of the pro-life movement. 

The voting cards for the Friday sessions.

Leading up to the convention, social conservatives within the party advanced several common-sense policies and constitutional amendments that would make the party more grassroots-driven and more pro-life. This work took place through direct involvement in the pre-convention process, where party members bring resolutions forward to the convention floor. Many committed pro-lifers across the country spent months refining proposals, building networks, and gathering enough support to ensure these resolutions made it to the convention. 

Our info session for pro-life delegates was a great success! Thank you Jack!

As many of you know, certain ways of operating within the CPC have drawn significant criticism from party members in recent years. The appointment of over 100 candidates in the last federal election—rather than allowing fair nomination races—along with issues such as the disqualification of pro-life candidates, has frustrated a large portion of the conservative base. As a result, many of the proposed constitutional amendments focused on improving transparency and restoring a fair, grassroots-driven nomination process within the party. 

On the policy side, the party’s policy book reflects the values of the membership and provides guidance on what elected representatives should prioritize. These policies span a wide range of topics, from infrastructure and economic policy to social programs and regional concerns. While the policy book is not binding, it signals the direction the party should take. In past conventions, pro-lifers have successfully helped pass policies condemning sex-selective abortion (2016), opposing the expansion of euthanasia (2018), promoting domestic adoption (2020), and protecting women’s sports from biological men (2023). 

Debbie, Jack and Chris conversing with our supporters after the convention.

At each convention, party members also elect the National Council. These representatives, chosen by members in each province, serve as the highest authority within the party between conventions. This made it especially important to support candidates who respect grassroots involvement and are committed to upholding the party’s rules. 

This convention also included a leadership review for party leader Pierre Poilievre, which he passed with flying colors. 

Going into the 2026 Calgary convention, we brought forward several strong policy proposals, including: 

-  Deleting Policy 86, which currently states that the Conservative Party should not legislate on abortion 
-  A euthanasia policy aimed at protecting vulnerable people 
-  MAiD-free sanctuary spaces 
-  Life-affirming care and post-abortion support 
-  Health care protections for children born alive after abortion 
-  Parental rights to body-affirming therapy for children

We experienced some success, with a few friendly proposals passing, but we also faced significant resistance. Just as we worked to encourage pro-life members to attend and engage, other interest groups were actively lobbying against these policies. Several important constitutional amendments did pass, but most were defeated. Many delegates appeared to be there primarily to vote down resolutions that are deeply important to the grassroots. 

When it came to policy, many strong proposals cleared multiple hurdles but failed to make the final cut, as only the top 30 policies advanced to the plenary session. The only strongly pro-life policy that reached the plenary was the “Parental Right to Body-Affirming Therapy for Kids” policy. Sadly, it fell just short of adoption. While 51.85% of delegates voted in favor, the policy also required a majority of provinces to support it. In two provinces, it failed by margins as small as one to six votes. I was especially surprised by Alberta delegates, where only 52% voted in favor—just hours after Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, who recently enacted very similar policies, received a standing ovation. 

One of the most common reasons given by those who voted against these common-sense policies was this: “We won’t be able to win an election if we pass this. The Liberals will attack us.” 

The plenary session where all the delegates vote for all the submissions. 

Honestly, this deeply concerns me. Conservatives have become overly defensive. Party leadership, along with many in the grassroots, seem unwilling to clearly assert conservative positions. Instead, the aim appears to be to appeal to liberal voters in the hope of electoral success. This strategy lacks leadership, courage, and common sense. When conservatives refuse to support policies that would guarantee care for infants born alive after abortion, prevent the medical mutilation of children, support parental rights, allow free votes on abortion, provide healing for women after abortion, or better protect Canadians from euthanasia, it is hard to feel confident about the party’s direction heading into the next election. 

That said, one thing is clear: if pro-lifers step up, we can significantly strengthen our presence at the next convention. If just a dozen pro-lifers in each province commit to attending, we could win every resolution we bring forward. 

Despite the challenges, this convention did bear good fruit. We won important votes, challenged the status quo, built strong connections, and touched many hearts. People make policy—policy is shaped by people. When enough pro-lifers are actively involved in the political process, we will be able to take meaningful steps forward in protecting the most vulnerable among us. 

Our team on the ground, from left to right: Arpad (QLC), (and the rest with CLC) Jack, Gideon, Chris, Josie and Debbie