Delegates to the Conservative party's first policy convention in more than three years have kept the party largely in line with the direction taken since Prime Minister Stephen Harper took office in 2006, while veering right on a couple of controversial issues.

Delegates vote on resolutions during a constitutional plenary session at the Conservative Convention in Winnipeg Saturday. (John Woods/Canadian Press)

Voting on policy amendments Saturday saw the party, which had nearly 2,000 delegates at the convention, embroiled in some heavy debates.

Among them was a proposal to extend additional charges against a person who kills or injures a fetus while committing a crime against a pregnant mother.

The sponsoring delegate from Saskatchewan said the motion "recognized the unborn child as a victim of crime in the event of deliberate injury or death to the mother and child."

"You are essentially saying that the unborn child is a person," responded the first delegate to speak against the motion. "Therefore you are re-opening the way to that slippery path that will take away a woman's right to choose. This is the thin edge of the wedge."

Despite a raucous exchange of boos and cheers from delegates with differing view, the resolution was passed.

A resolution that seeks to limit the investigative and adjudication powers of the Canadian Human Rights Commission and tribunals for complaints of hate-mongering was passed almost unanimously.

"This tribunal is a direct threat to our freedom of speech," the sponsoring delegate said to applause.

Edmonton MP Laurie Hawn supported the motion, saying "we already have hate laws" and the tribunals "punish individuals for expressing legitimate — even if they're controversial — views."

The resolutions are not binding for Harper or his Conservative caucus, but they allowed party faithful to reaffirm their right-of-centre policy leanings.

"While it forms the basis of our policy discussion, it can't hamstring us from addressing the issues as they develop," said MP Jay Hill, the Conservative House leader in the Commons.

There were about 300 resolutions up for debate Friday at meetings that were closed to the media. Sources said delegates had whittled that list down to about 30 or 40 resolutions by Saturday.

One of the policy resolutions that said the provinces and territories should be encouraged to consider new ways of delivering health care, such as the use of both the public and private sector, was defeated on the grounds that privatization is already happening. Concerns were expressed that the motion would simply bolster attacks from the party's opponents.

It was the party's first policy convention in more than three years and the initial meeting of delegates since the Conservatives won another minority government on Oct. 14.

Most convention business was dedicated to debating policy amendments, although the issue of the economy cast a long shadow over discussions.

Keynote address

In a keynote address to delegates on Thursday, Harper said Conservatives must put ideology aside as they prepare to tackle issues related to the slowing economy.

"We will have to be tough and pragmatic, not unrealistic and ideological, in dealing with the complex economic challenges that confront us," Harper said.

Irving Gerstein, a Toronto businessman and one of the party's top fundraisers, told delegates Saturday the Conservatives were poised to become debt-free and have gathered a large war chest to fight the next election, whenever it comes.

"We have created complex, leading-edge fundraising techniques such as data-mining, segmentation, targeted marketing and relationship management — all in an effort to move our pool of identified supporters up the support pyramid from supporters to members to donors," Gerstein said Saturday morning, the last day of the three-day gathering.

The Conservatives will have their cash in hand once $10 million in Elections Canada rebates have been returned to the party. The party raised $14.8 million in direct donations during the first nine months of this year, compared with just $3.6 million for the opposition Liberals.

With files from the Canadian Press