Urban Conservatism

The Conservatives swept rural and suburban Canada in 2025. They lost nearly every urban riding, including ones they should have won. So what will it actually take to turn cities blue?

This week on Craft Politics: Karen Stintz joins Joseph Lavoie and Andrew Percy to answer the hardest question facing Canadian conservatism right now. Karen ran in Eglinton Lawrence, one of Toronto's most competitive ridings, came within 1.44 percentage points of flipping it Conservative, and walked away with a very clear view of what worked, what didn't, and what the party still doesn't understand about urban voters.

We discuss:

The NDP collapsed and we still lost. The left wasn't split. Liberals took 49%, Conservatives 48%, NDP under 2%. If we can't win in those conditions, when can we?

Legacy media still owns the narrative in cities. Karen could tell exactly who read the Globe, who watched CBC, and who believed Pierre was Donald Trump. And if that's the only story getting told, that becomes the ballot question.

The compassionate conservative moment we missed. There's no dignity in sleeping in parks. Most people agree. But when Pierre said it was wacko, we lost the chance to say what we actually believe about vulnerability and human dignity.

Why patriotism slipped through our fingers. Pierre defended the flag, our history, our heroes. And yet voters with giant Canadian flags on their lawns voted Liberal because they thought that was the patriotic choice. Karen still doesn't understand how we lost that.

The municipal gap. Conservatives don't have a brand at the city level. We don't run for council. We don't talk about parks or transit or local services. And until we do, urban voters will keep assuming we just want to sell it all off to developer friends.

Andrew on proving we can run cities well. Our values are in the right place. The activists running most big cities have made them dirtier, more dangerous, and more expensive. We just have to show we can do better.

Also discussed: why Doug Ford's campaign against Poilievre resonated with some Toronto Conservatives, the organized crime driving urban anxiety, why soundbites cut through nationally but fell flat locally, and Joseph's proposed raccoon elimination platform.

00:00 Welcome and introducing Karen Stintz — The urban conservative challenge
01:09 The razor-thin loss — 1.5 percent and a united left
02:36 What urban voters actually want from conservatives
03:57 Making friends and allies — The conservative isolation problem
04:57 The Globe, the Star, and CP24 — Legacy media's urban stranglehold
05:49 Andrew joins late from his royal engagement
07:32 The rally problem — Pierre's isolation from persuadable voters
08:59 The personality trap — When the leader becomes the party
10:40 Crime and the compassionate conservative moment we missed
16:12 The authenticity problem — Can Pierre pivot to compassion?
17:09 Doug Ford's betrayal and the conservatives who felt ignored
19:05 The patriotism flip — How Liberals stole the flag from conservatives
20:27 The nasty party problem — Overcoming conservatism's brand damage
25:51 Municipal conservatism versus federal conservatism — The coalition gap
26:45 The lack of urban conservative voices in caucus
27:15 Running cities well — The conservative municipal opportunity
28:49 The raccoon-free Toronto platform and the dog dirt election
32:00 Issue Scan — King Charles opens Parliament and the monarchy's relevance
32:59 Mark Carney's single mandate letter — Bringing cabinet in line
34:47 Nigel Farage and Reform — The party of the workers
36:34 The CEO succession crisis and the political vacuum
37:16 Wrap — Thanks for putting up with Andrew