Lethbridge reaction rolls in following Pierre Poilievre’s landslide CPC leadership victory

Lethbridge MP Rachael Thomas believes her party’s newly elected leader will have success uniting the federal conservatives.

“He came out with 70 per cent support, so I would say that’s pretty unifying in and of itself,” Thomas told Global News on Monday.

Pierre Poilievre was declared the winner of the Conservative Party of Canada’s leadership race on Saturday, receiving a resounding 68 per cent of the party membership’s vote.

In his acceptance speech on Saturday night, Poilievre didn’t waste any time calling out the Trudeau-led Liberal Party of Canada.

“There are people in this country who are just hanging on by a thread. These are citizens of our country,” Poilievre told the audience. “We are their servants, we owe them hope, they don’t need a government that sneers at them, looks down on them, calls them names, they don’t need a government to run their lives – they need a government that can run a passport office.”

2:23 Trudeau congratulates Pierre Poilievre on Conservative leadership win, criticizes ‘buzzwords, dogwhistles’

Thomas was a part of that audience on Saturday, and says the room was filled with optimism as they listened to their new leader.

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“I can tell you that the room was full of excitement and energy and momentum,” Thomas said.

“I think as a caucus we’re looking forward to moving into the future behind a leader who we believe has vision and passion and the competency to lead Canada well.”

The Conservatives were plagued with internal division under former leaders Erin O’Toole and Andrew Scheer. University of Lethbridge professor of sociology Trevor Harrison says Poilievre will have to prove he’s more in tune with Canadians than his predecessors, if the Tories are to return to power for the first time since 2015.

“He brings a kind of freshness, and at this point I think there’s a certain fatigue with the federal Liberals,” Harrison said.

But he believes Poilievre’s combative style could prove challenging when it comes to appealing to a wide range of voters across the country.

6:08 What Alberta should expect with Pierre Poilievre named as new federal Conservative Party leader

“He’s shown a pretty hard edge, he kind of travels with his elbows up all the time,” Harrison said.

“Many of the things that he is associated with — support for the convoys, being anti-Liberal, anti-Trudeau, and the libertarian appeal to freedom — these are things that sell very well in Alberta, but again its to break out of the heartland of conservativism here to actually win a national election.”

Speaking at the Liberal Party retreat, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau congratulated Poilievre on becoming the leader of the Opposition.

“We all need to work together. Now is not the time for politicians to exploit fears and to pit people one against the other. As you all know, the Conservative Party picked a new leader over the weekend,” Trudeau said.

Trudeau added that the government has been making “every effort” to work with all politicians and will “continue to do so.”

“But this doesn’t mean that we’re not going to be calling out highly questionable, reckless economic ideas. What Canadians need is responsible leadership,” Trudeau said.

The next federal election isn’t expected until 2024.

–with files from Rachel Gilmore, Global News