Azim Jiwani Says Conservatives Need a More Persuasive Tone, Not Softer Principles

Azim Jiwani is pushing back against the idea that Canada’s Conservatives must soften their principles to win more voters. In an opinion piece, he argues that the party’s challenge is not what it believes, but how it presents those beliefs to the public. Jiwani takes issue with advice former Conservative leader Erin O’Toole offered earlier this year to Pierre Poilievre and the party. O’Toole said Conservatives should moderate some positions to reach more Canadians, move away from culture-war disputes and concentrate on economic prosperity. Jiwani says he once shared a similar view, but now considers that approach misguided. His change of heart comes after his own experience trying to shape the party’s direction. In early 2022, Jiwani co-founded Centre Ice Conservatives with other party members. The group later changed into what he describes as an unusual centrist political party. As a lifelong Conservative, he says, he had no interest in that new direction, and the organization eventually became defunct. That history appears to inform his argument: rather than asking Conservatives to water down their positions, Jiwani says they should find a more persuasive way to communicate them. His piece frames the debate as a question of political style and outreach, not a demand that the party abandon its core beliefs. The article also appears alongside unrelated links about Ontario politics, Jewish identity and energy consumption. Those headlines are separate from Jiwani’s argument, which focuses on the Conservative Party’s messaging and the lessons he says he learned from helping launch a political organization.