Success at a political party convention depends on objectives, and for RightNow at the 2026 Conservative Party of Canada policy convention, the results were mixed. We aimed to elect a pro-membership National Council, amend the party constitution, and advance pro-life policies. We largely succeeded on governance and constitutional reform: nine of ten supported National Council candidates were elected, giving pro-membership National Councillors a slim majority, and three key nomination-process constitutional amendments passed at plenary, strengthening local riding associations and limiting centralized party control. These wins are expected to improve fairness for future nomination contests, including for pro-life candidates.

Where RightNow fell short was delegate recruitment and policy outcomes. Despite there being roughly 1,200 unfilled delegate spots, only three of forty willing pro-life members were appointed as delegates, highlighting the need to elect delegates directly through riding associations rather than relying on appointments. As a result, pro-life representation was limited to about 10% of voting delegates, constraining success in policy breakout rooms. Of seven pro-life policy proposals, most passed at the breakout level but lacked sufficient margins to advance, with only one reaching and passing the plenary, alongside the defeat of a pro-assisted-suicide proposal. Overall, we have graded our performance as “good but not great,” concluding that future success hinges on dramatically increasing elected pro-life delegates and scaling up grassroots engagement to move from incremental influence to decisive leadership within the party.

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