At the Canada Strong & Free Network conference in Calgary, Conservative MP Jamil Jivani didn’t stick to safe talking points. He laid out a clear choice in politics: power for power’s sake, or politics rooted in principle.

And in his view, Ontario Premier Doug Ford has chosen the wrong side.

“For some people, politics is just about staying popular,” Jivani, who represents the Ontario riding of Bowmanville-Oshawa North, said.

“If you’re popular but not doing good things, why am I supposed to be happy about that?” He warned that this poll-chasing style breeds cynicism, leaving young voters, volunteers and ordinary Canadians to wonder if politics is even worth the effort.

Jivani is also proposing a heritage committee study into the disturbing trend of church attacks — over a hundred vandalized or burned in recent years — along with attempts to cancel peaceful Christian artists.

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He says Heritage Minister Steven Guilbeault must answer for Ottawa’s inaction, especially given Parks Canada’s role in a cancelled concert. Jivani also supports harsher penalties for arson against churches. “They’re quick to virtue signal on other issues. Not this. It’s our job to demand accountability.”

On federal politics, Jivani didn’t hold back: Mark Carney is “Trudeau without the charisma.”

A different face, but the same hostility to free expression, faith in the public square, and the same economic failures. With Pierre Poilievre returning to Parliament on September 15, Jivani says Canadians will see the real contrast between stale Liberal management and genuine Conservative change.

When it comes to crime, particularly in the Greater Toronto Area, Jivani argues Ford’s government should stop prosecuting people who defend themselves at home and strengthen self-defence rights, pointing to Alberta as an example.

“Seven years in, when does he start acting like the guy in charge?” Jivani asked of Ford's floundering.

For Jivani, politics isn’t about keeping power, it’s about conviction. And he’s betting Canadians can tell the difference.