Key takeaways from the Conservative policy convention Did someone forward you this newsletter? Sign up here to get it delivered weekday mornings. Conservative leader Erin O'Toole delivered his much-anticipated speech at this weekend's Conservative Party policy convention, pushing for progressive platform changes and quelling any doubts about his political beliefs. The looming question used to be what O'Toole stands for; now, it's whether he can convince his own party that he's on the right track. O'Toole's big argument was that the party needs to evolve to succeed. Maclean's published the full transcript of his speech, but the key takeaway came just a few sentences in: We have lost two elections in five-and-a-half years. In that time, we have had four leaders. We must present new ideas, not make the same arguments hoping that maybe this time more Canadians will come around to our position. Key among those new ideas is climate change. A policy proposal aimed at ending that debate—it would have added the phrase "climate change is real" to the official Conservative platform—got voted down by grassroots delegates. Opponents cited a reluctance to rely on buzzwords without substance and an unfair attack on greenhouse gas emissions. (To be fair about the buzzwords, one of the proposed sentences to be included was this fluffy teddy bear of a sentence: "We need to become a world class leader and to use innovation as a lever of economic development.") Looking at the provincial voting breakdown , a clear majority of Easterners supported the change, but the Western bloc united with the Territories in stronger numbers to shut the proposal down. Maclean's published analysis from columnists Paul Wells, Andrew MacDougall and Shannon Proudfoot, the latter of whom found the leader's speech to be all talk and little substance: The speech was distinctly short on specifics that would flesh out “Canada’s Recovery Plan” or the party’s efforts to grow. Restoring every pandemic-ravaged job within a year, beefing up conflict-of-interest and lobbying laws, crafting a mental health action plan, ensuring Canada can produce its own vaccines and personal protective equipment so it’s not relying on China in the next mass health crisis and balancing the federal budget within the decade were the bullet-points, but they were almost entirely that. MacDougall, however, saw things differently. He believes O'Toole did exactly what he set out to do: define himself, his goals and his pitch to Canadians in the next election. Just how the party will change is a conversation for another day; O’Toole’s speech was meant as a signpost that something different would be before voters come voting day, whenever Justin Trudeau decides to push for it. In these narrow terms, O’Toole met his moment: he looked like a boss (and plausible Prime Minister) without sounding exactly like the old boss(es). That O’Toole dropped a five-point plan was the one obvious homage to the past, harkening back to the last time voters took a punt on a relatively unknown Conservative leader with five key priorities in the window. In less flashy headlines from the CPC, Robert Batherson was elected president of the party on Sunday. The two-term national councillor and former Parliament Hill staffer becomes the first Conservative Party president from Nova Scotia, and he won on the first ballot. Show trials. In China, Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig had their days in court over the weekend. Spavor's trial ended without a ruling after just two hours on Friday morning. Those circumstances aren't unusual—outcomes are predetermined, but verdicts can still take months to announce. As The Globe and Mail's Steven Chase pointed out, it's worth noting the seven friendly nations who sent diplomats to stand outside the courthouse after being barred from entering the closed trial: the United States, Netherlands, United Kingdom, France, Denmark, Australia, Sweden and Germany. (Canada's ambassador to the U.S. says our southern neighbour is treating the two Michaels "as though... they were American citizens.") Kovrig's trial began Monday morning, local time, and ran past this newsletter deadline—but it's safe to bet there will be a similar outcome. At their Young New Democrats Convention, NDP leader Jagmeet Singh announced plans to push the governing Liberals to cancel up to $20,000 in student debt per Canadian and create a five-year interest-free grace period for new graduates. The Liberals put a moratorium on the federal interest from student loans during the pandemic back in March, but that expired in September, despite pleas from the NDP and activist groups to keep the moratorium alive. On Friday, the White House confirmed it would send 1.5 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine north. But it's not an act of charity: even though the U.S. has stockpiled millions of doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, the Food and Drug Administration has yet to approve it. Since this particular vaccine supply expires in April and May, American officials made the smart move of "lending" a total of 4 million doses to Canada and Mexico—its neighbours will repay the States in kind later this year, once the country can actually use them. The shipment dates aren't set in stone, but Procurement Minister Anita Anand says the first batch could show up as early as this week. This afternoon, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will swing by Trois-Rivières to make an announcement with Premier François Legault and Innovation Minister François-Philippe Champagne. No details on the content—maybe something to do with Quebec's under-construction vaccine manufacturing plant? After a scathing Globe and Mail report last fall revealed Canada's pandemic alert system, GPHIN, had been sidelined and drained of funding for years, the feds launched an independent review into what exactly happened. Their preliminary report came back Saturday, and the results are not as damning as the media led us to believe. The report's initial conclusions claim the system effectively warned Ottawa of the pandemic on Dec. 31, 2019, and the government's pandemic response began the next day. "The Panel has seen no evidence suggesting that earlier identification by GPHIN of the outbreak would have been possible," it says. It begs the question, which perhaps will be answered in the fuller report: if GPHIN isn't to blame, why was Canada still caught unprepared? From Vancouver to Veracruz. Yesterday, CP Rail announced it was buying Kansas City Southern, an American railroad company, for $25 billion. The plan: connect it to CP's existing lines and stitch together a 32,000-km rail network connecting Canada, the U.S. and Mexico. The enticing T-shaped rail map should excite travellers and railroad fans who dream up fantasy high-speed rail maps for fun . (Of course, CP's announcement makes no mention of high-speed trains, so this is really just an exciting reality for people whose transportation dreams still exist in the mid-20th century.) —Michael Fraiman | 