By MP Pierre Poilievre, Leader, Conservative Party of Canada
It is with hope and humility that I accept the endorsement of grassroots Conservatives at our party convention.
It was a vote for the hope of an affordable, safe and self-reliant country; and it is a win for the young couple skimping to start a family, the single mothers fighting to pay bills, the soldiers, police and border guards who beat danger to keep us safe and everyone else who overcomes hardship and setbacks and NEVER GIVES UP.
The message from our convention is that Canadians want to turn hope into results.
Our people want to return to a time when a trip to the grocery store was carefree and even fun. When they could have a full stomach, full fridge and full bank account ALL AT THE SAME TIME. They want crime-free streets, a self-reliant economy and military.
We are a country in crisis.
I wrote the Prime Minister offering to fast-track policies for an affordable, safe, self-reliant Canada. I have not heard back.
So, I am seeking an urgent meeting with the Prime Minister to discuss how Parliament can quickly reverse the food-price crisis, the crime crisis and the dependency crisis Liberals caused. I will bring practical solutions, an openness to hear other ideas and work together to fast-track results.
The time for judging the Prime Minister by his words is over. Time for results.
In our meeting, I will remind him that nearly a year after he took office, food costs are now rising twice as fast and are rising the fastest in the G7.
Fortunately, U.S. tariffs do not apply to food bought in Canada, so that is not the cause.
All the other G7 countries are paying tariffs, and their food inflation is lower than Canada’s. It is becoming an emergency, as 2.2 million people line up at food banks, which are running out of supplies.
Liberals have reintroduced a Trudeau-era rebate that most Canadians will not receive, and that will, at most, give families $10-a-week to pay for $300 weekly grocery bills. It is not much — it will add another $12 billion of inflationary debt — and it will not reduce grocery prices. Still, passing it quickly might allow some hungry people to survive until we can reverse the taxes and other costly Liberal policies causing the worst grocery inflation in the G7.
My message to Mr. Carney will be this: Sure, let’s pass the rebate this week, but let’s also eliminate all the hidden taxes and other costly government policies within the next sixty days, so Canadians can afford nutritious food by Canada Day. If he has better ideas, I am open to hearing them.
Next, crime is out of control. Liberal laws have released violent offenders into our streets, causing massive spikes in violence.
The Prime Minister has introduced a weak, watered-down bill that, while better than nothing, does not scrap Liberal bail. Fast-tracking it will allow us to start the conversation about repealing all the Liberal laws that caused the crime crisis in the first place.
I will share my proposals to end bail, parole, probation or house arrest for anyone with three serious violent offences. I ask the Prime Minister to work with me to fast-track this change.
The dependency crisis is also worsening, with more reliance on the U.S. and other countries than is safe or responsible.
Canada has had the worst economic growth and investment in the G7 under the Liberals.
And Bloomberg reports that our economy is now shrinking. The Prime Minister has not approved a single pipeline or eliminated a single anti-development law or bureaucracy since getting elected. He has added NEW agencies and laws.
We helped the Prime Minister pass Bill C-5, giving him the power to go around all rules and bureaucracies and to permit projects immediately.
Seven months later, he has not used it to approve a single project. He has not negotiated a single new trade deal, despite a lot of high-profile meetings and speeches. And he has broken his promise to get free trade between our provinces.
We do not need more signing ceremonies and announcements or speeches.
We need to fast-track results now.
My message to the Prime Minister is, CONSERVATIVES RENEW OUR OFFER TO HELP FIGHT US TARIFFS AND GET A TARIFF-FREE DEAL WITH THIS, OUR AMERICAN COUNTERPARTS. AND, let’s fast-track a bill to implement free-trade deals with the UK and Indonesia that had been negotiated before he took office but are still not law.
But we can’t rely on others.
So, let’s agree to fast-track passage of a Canadian Sovereignty Act so we can stand on our own feet.
That would give Canada the fastest permits in the world, greenlight a pipeline to the Pacific and end capital gains tax on reinvestments in Canada.
I am to add other ideas to the law that may come from other parties. And I encourage the Prime Minister to introduce the bill himself, so he can take the credit.
In fact, who cares who gets the credit? We don’t have time. We need to start getting results for people. NOW.
The good news is that if we start now, life can be dirt cheap in Canada because we have the most dirt in which to build homes, grow food and dig resources. It requires tax cuts, fast permits and low-cost energy.
By getting the government out of the way and unblocking these treasures in our ground, we will make Canada the world’s most affordable, safe and self-reliant country.
And we can deliver a Canada overflowing with hope, opportunity and optimism.
Because while some say this is as good as it gets. Canadians know the best is yet to come.
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