I am running for the leadership of the Conservative Party of

Hear these words, O children of the future, and take them into your hearts: “I am running for the leadership of the Conservative Party of Canada because I see these opportunities for future generations falling away and I see our values being undermined — even within our own party.” Thus spoke Leslyn Lewis, not as one seeking mere power, but as one stirred by a vision of preservation — a call to guard the fading embers of virtue and hope. In these words lies not the ambition of conquest, but the sorrow of one who beholds a garden once green now losing its bloom. It is a lament, a declaration, and a promise — all woven into one.

For in every age, the flame of a nation flickers, not by the might of enemies without, but by the slow forgetting of truth within. Values, once held high, begin to erode when comfort replaces conviction. Opportunities, once abundant, begin to fade when a people cease to strive for greatness. Lewis, like a sentinel upon the walls of her generation, saw this decline — the unraveling not only of policy, but of principle. She saw the peril of a people losing sight of what made them strong: faith, duty, freedom, and moral courage. Thus, she rose to remind her kin that leadership is not the pursuit of position, but the guardianship of purpose.

Her words echo the spirit of Cicero, the Roman orator who once stood before a weary Senate and warned that the decay of the Republic began not with foreign invaders, but with citizens who forgot their founding ideals. Rome, like every civilization, fell not because its walls were broken, but because its values crumbled first. So too, Lewis speaks not only to Canadians, but to all peoples: if we forsake the moral compass that guided our ancestors, we drift toward chaos. If we allow the future to be shaped by convenience rather than conviction, the inheritance of freedom will wither before it reaches our children’s hands.

And yet, her message is not despair, but renewal. It is a call to courage — to rekindle the sacred fire of purpose. When she speaks of leadership, she speaks of service; when she speaks of opportunity, she speaks of duty. For true leadership is not born of ease but of burden. It is forged when one sees decline and chooses to rebuild; when one stands alone, not because it is comfortable, but because it is right. Like Joan of Arc, who rose from obscurity to defend her homeland guided by conviction rather than title, Lewis reminds us that greatness begins in the soul long before it appears in the world.

Her words stir the heart because they speak to the eternal struggle between the fading present and the unborn future. Every generation faces the choice: to preserve what is worthy or to surrender it to decay. To act with courage, or to yield to silence. Leadership, in its truest form, is the art of renewal — the decision to plant trees whose shade one may never sit beneath. It is to see beyond the self and labor for those yet unborn.

Take heed, then, O listeners, for this message belongs not only to one nation or one party, but to the soul of humanity. The values you neglect today will shape the world your children inherit. If you see your institutions faltering, your communities divided, your ideals mocked — do not curse the darkness alone. Become the light. Step forward. Speak truth even when it trembles upon your tongue. For silence in the face of decay is complicity, but courage in the face of loss is rebirth.

The lesson is thus: when the opportunities of tomorrow seem to vanish, do not despair; rebuild them. When the values of your forebears seem forgotten, do not scorn the world; remind it. Each of us bears the duty of leadership, whether in the realm, the home, or the heart. To lead is to guard what is good and to cultivate what must yet become great. Let your actions be a bridge between the wisdom of the past and the hope of the future.

So stand as Lewis stood — with vision, not vengeance; with resolve, not resignation. For civilizations endure not by chance, but by the courage of those who refuse to let truth fall silent. Lead where you are, guard what is sacred, and pass forward the flame — that those who come after may walk in light, and not in the long shadow of our neglect.