There are several ways conservative-minded Canadians would say Pierre Poilievre has changed the Conservative Party of Canada for the better. One of them is his embrace of “true blue” leadership.

While the Merriam-Webster dictionary defines “true blue” as a term for “genuine,” a precise definition of true-blue conservatism can be hard to come by.

The conservative coalition comprises people who elevate different principles and priorities and of course it has evolved a bit over time. But in basic terms, there’s broad agreement: a true-blue conservative is someone who believes in smaller, more limited government, supports free enterprise, and has a patriotic view of Canadian history and a clear sense of the country’s national interests.

Poilievre embodies this conception of Canadian conservatism. He has grown up in the movement and now personifies its aspirations. His true-blue leadership has helped close the ideological gap between parts of the small “c” world and the big “C” Conservative Party. The success of his political approach is manifested in strong poll numbers and declining support for Maxime Bernier’s People’s Party of Canada. It has also meant “small-c” movement conservatives stepping up to run as Conservative Party candidates.

Many of these “movement conservatives” are well-known figures within Canada’s conservative movement even if they’re not household names. They may not be Bay Street lawyers or former provincial cabinet ministers. But they’re seen as star candidates by grassroots conservatives. They’re broadcasters, social media commentators, columnists, and civil liberties advocates. They’ve often been called outspoken, independent-minded, unapologetic, and even edgy. They boast online followings larger than some cabinet ministers. They’re also all under 50. For most, it’s their first foray into politics.

Here are some of the movement conservatives running with Poilievre.

Jamil Jivani

Jivani, a Yale-educated lawyer and author of the book Why Young Men: Rage, Race and the Crisis of Identity, has been a key figure in movement conservatism in recent years through, among other things, his regular columns in the National Post, his provocative iHeartRadio show, and as president of the Canada Strong and Free Network.

He’s also known for his close friendship with Republican vice-presidential candidate JD Vance.

Last year he sought the Conservative nomination in Durham, Ont., replacing former party leader Erin O’Toole. This March, he was elected to Parliament in a byelection, winning the riding with the largest margin in 20 years.

Jivani has over 42,000 followers on X.

Aaron Gunn

Gunn, a longtime activist, is running for the Conservatives in B.C.’s North Island-Powell River. He’s known for founding the Canadian Taxpayers Federation’s “Generation Screwed” initiative, for his online commentaries for BC Proud, and for his Politics Explained video series, including the impactful documentary Vancouver is Dying, which laid bare the violent crime and drug abuse residents of that city are enduring.

Gunn has over 117,000 followers on Facebook, over 42,000 followers on X, and over 19,000 followers on Instagram.

The progressive bias in our national institutions, and particularly in our media and our universities, is so clear and indisputable that I won’t waste your time, dear reader, reciting the evidence. The only things worth discussing are its nature, its source, and the solution.

Of these, the last is the most important. There must be a “solution” because the problem of institutional bias is not an immutable law of nature. It is not something we just have to shrug and accept, like snow in winter or rain in Vancouver. And because it can be fixed, governments that recognise and reject the bias have a duty to do so.

But first let’s consider the nature and the source of bias.

In the recent dustup between Pierre Poilievre and CTV, the major journalistic sin was the deceptive splicing of Poilievre’s words to invent a sentence he never said. But as The Hub‘s Sean Speer pointed out, the fact that they made it appear (incorrectly) that he wanted to bring down the government and force an election over dental care, of all things, was also revealing.

“In what world does CTV News staff (including its senior journalists) scan the country’s political environment and decide that dental care is the biggest issue or think that it will be decisive in the next federal election? The choice is clearly a highly editorialised presentation of the political facts that’s at least as manufactured as the words put into Poilievre’s mouth,” wrote Speer.

Whether the choice was conscious or unconscious, it is an example of how our national news is not just dominated by the issues that interest very online professionals living in the Laurentian corridor but also shaped by their assumptions about those issues.