Kamloops' Conservative MPs feel leader Pierre Poilevre can still win despite low poll ratings

MPs have Poilievre's back

Photo: The Canadian Press

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre delivers his keynote address at the party's national convention in Calgary, Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Larry MacDougal

Kamloops’ two Conservative members of Parliament weren’t surprised to see Pierre Poilievre chosen to remain as leader, and feel he can still win over Canadians in another election despite poor poll numbers.

The Conservatives wrapped up their three-day national convention at the end of January with Poilievre easily passing his mandatory leadership review with 87.4 per cent support from some 2,600-plus selected delegates.

Both Kamloops MP for Kamloops-Thompson-Nicola Frank Caputo and Kamloops-Shuswap-Central Rockies MP Mel Arnold voted for Poilievre to remain as leader.

The renewal comes after a historic collapse last April in which the Conservatives lost a 27-point lead in opinion polls over the Liberals and Poilievre lost his Ottawa seat in Parliament, despite having held it for two decades.

Poilievre would go on to regain a seat in the House of Commons by winning the ultra conservative riding Battle River—Crowfoot, in Alberta in a by-election spurred by colleague Damien Kurek stepping down.

Meanwhile, Poilievre’s personal approval rating remains low as it was in the last election.

The latests Angus Reid polls shows the Conservative leader with a 58 per cent unfavourability rating amongst respondents as of late January compared to 36 per cent of Canadians he’s won over.

Liberal prime minister Mark Carney’s stats show the opposite, however, as of late January, with a favourability rating of 60 per cent compared to 34 per cent who view the prime minister unfavourably.

Asked if they felt Poilievre can still win given the latest polls, Caputo and Arnold both said they believe he can.

“I would have to believe that all the time,” Arnold said. “I think if, if the ballot issues are really what matters to Canadians, I think Conservatives can build a majority government.”

Caputo said he also still believes Poilievre can win, noting the top issues he hears about from constituents are crime and affordability.

“I think ours are quite superior to the Liberal policies, and in a lot of instances, they've actually copied our policies and called them Liberal,” Caputo said, adding he feels what the party really needs to do is figure out how to reach people who didn’t vote for them.

Asked how the party can better sell Poilievre to Canadians given his poll numbers, Caputo said he feels showing people his human side and humble upbringings would resonate with voters.

“I think that's very important,” Caputo said.

He said voters also don’t like to see a lot of “negative politics” but at the same time the party has to balance that with pointing out the government has not delivered on election promises such as a trade deal by last July, and building a new pipeline.

“It’s not just, I think, a matter of selling Pierre. It's also a matter of being constructive in the way we ask for people to evaluate the government's performance,” Caputo said.

Arnold said he felt U.S. President Donald Trump was a distraction last election, and Canadians opted for Carney over Poilievre to deal with him — and he still hasn’t determined why people thought he was the better choice.

He said he feels Carney has been all talk so far and Poilievre just needs to bide his time.

“I think once people see what's really happening and start paying a little less attention to our U.S. friends, I think the votes will turn,” Arnold said.

Arnold said he feels Poilievre got the resounding support he did because he speaks about issues that matter to people such as affordability and employment crisis.

“Those are those issues resonate not just with our members, but I think with people across the country,” Arnold said.

Arnold noted the vote was a free and secret ballot so that everyone could vote how they wished and he feels Poilievre now has a strong mandate to move forward.

Caputo said he felt Poilievre was given the strong vote of confidence because he has stayed true to his principles, and had a strong speech at the convention.