Episode Details

The Herle Burly was created by Air Quotes Media with support from our presenting sponsor TELUS, as well as CN Rail.

Greetings, you curiouser and curiouser Herle Burly-ites! There's drama afoot within the conservative movement in Canada. Fights about what the party stands for and where it's going. It's all over Twitter and it's openly spilling into the pod-verse, national media airwaves, opinions in print, and into the hallways of Parliament. If you're a friend of Air Quotes Media, you know it has been talked about over at Curse of Politics.

Today we talk with one of the most thoughtful voices on the topic: Ben Woodfinden. Ben is an academic, a thinker about Conservative politics, worked for Pierre Poilievre in the run-up to and during the 2025 election, and has been active in this debate for the last couple of weeks. 

He doesn't think Poilievre has to leave for the Conservatives to be successful, but he does think they need to broaden their message. He shares his view that the Party needs to adopt a more patriotic position about Canada and demonstrate more love for Canada, including fiercer opposition to what Trump represents. At the same time, he thinks the Conservative Party of Canada's appeal to young people and its disruptive, anti-establishment energy is genuinely onto something and shouldn't be thrown away in the process. 

A smart, candid conversation about where conservatism in Canada goes from here. Stay with us. 

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