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The Conservative Party of Canada “is and always will be the defender of Canadian sovereignty, our national interest and Canadian identity, and we will take no lectures from Liberals on what it means to be proud to be Canadian,” Aaron Gunn told the crowd at the Telus Convention Centre in Calgary.

The member of Parliament for British Columbia's North Island—Powell River riding said the Liberals have only “spontaneously rediscovered their patriotism” after spending the last decade “deriding this country, tearing down statues erasing our history” and “stigmatizing the flying of our national flag.”

Gunn recalled how many progressives were prepared to cancel Canada Day celebrations just a few short years ago and slammed the Liberals for removing images of Terry Fox and Vimy Ridge from passports.

“Instead of putting Canada first over the past 10 years, they have been putting their ideology first — and we've seen the consequences,” lamenting the damage done to the economy by restrictive government policies.

Working-class Canadians have been left behind by Liberal and NDP governments, both federally and provincially, he said, while they deal with unimportant issues “like renaming cities, streets and towns” or “handing out free drugs and keeping our oil in the ground.”

Canada “doesn't have to be this way,” stated Gunn. If Conservatives were governing the country, it would “realize its true potential,” he continued.

Crucially, government action isn't what's needed; rather, “we just need the government to get out of the way and give this country back to those who built it: the people.”