THUNDER BAY – The man who says he’s running to be Canada’s next prime minister stuck pretty much to his populist script during a visit to Thunder Bay on Sunday afternoon.
Pierre Poilievre, one of six candidates in the hunt for the federal Conservative Party’s leadership, received his loudest cheers from the crowd of 350 or so at the Da Vinci Centre when he reminded them he’d defund the CBC should he become the country’s leader.He got an equally raucous applause when he promised none of his cabinet ministers would be permitted to join or attend the World Economic Forum, an international organization that in conservative circles is trying to reset the global economy.
Former prime minister Stephen Harper, along with current PM Justin Trudeau, have attended WEF conferences in the past.Poilievre, who has until Friday to secure the party membership sales he’ll need to defeat fellow competitors Scott Aitchison, Roman Baber, Patrick Brown, Jean Charest and Leslyn Lewis, doubled down on economic promises to his supporters that included firing the current head of the Bank of Canada and selling off government assets to pay down the debt and address the country’s housing crisis.The Calgary-born politician, who earlier this year showed support for the Freedom Convoy and it’s anti-vaccination mandate stance, also reiterated he would end all vaccination mandates should he win the leadership bid and the next federal election.
He also questioned the country’s approach to housing affordability, along with the rising cost of living, from increased grocery expenses to the price at the pumps topping $2 a litre.
“Why is inflation at a 30-year-high of 6.8 per cent? Well, the cost of government is driving up the cost of living. Inflationary deficits have sent a half-trillion dollars out into the economy to bid up the price of goods. High taxes have increased the cost of businesses to make those goods,” said the 42-year-old politician, who was first elected in Nepean-Carleton in 2004.“The more government spends, the more things cost. It’s Justin-flation, isn’t it? So what are we going to do about it? We’re going to reverse those policies. We’re going to bring in common sense policies to restore the purchasing power of your paycheque in Canada.”First and foremost, he promised to bring back affordable government, promising to axe $100 billion in spending planned by the current Liberal government.
Secondly he said he’ll make companies that go over budget on government projects eat the costs of un-budgeted overages.
“And we’re going to save a billion dollars by defunding the CBC,” Poilievre said.“Defund them all,” a supporter shouted from the crowd.Poilievre said he’ll run the country’s finances like most people run their household budget.“If you bring in a dollar of new spending, you find a dollar savings to pay for it. That’s how households and small businesses work.”
The Ottawa-area leadership hopeful is already on record as saying he’ll fire Tiff Macklen, the Bank of Canada chair, for failing to keep inflation at bay.“The bank actually printed $400 billion of new cash to finance Justin Trudeau’s deficits. Instead of borrowing real money to pay for them because there wasn’t enough to fund the whole doubling of our national debt, he had the bank print all that,” Poilievre said, adding he’ll also order an audit of the Bank of Canada.Poilievre said he’ll repeal Bill C-69 and build pipelines to deliver Canadian oil and natural gas to markets around the world, which will reduce the global dependence on Russian natural resources.“We can exchange dollars for dictators into paycheques for our people,” Poilievre said.The deadline for candidates to sign up new members is Friday.
