In his latest speech, Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre has laid out a clear set of demands for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his government’s upcoming economic update.
The demands focus on three key areas Poilievre wants Trudeau’s government to address on Tuesday: cancelling the carbon tax increase, balancing the budget to combat inflation and high interest rates, and promoting home building over bureaucratic expansion.
Poilievre claimed that Trudeau plans to quadruple the carbon tax in the coming years.
“Until such time as we can have a carbon tax election, that I will win, I propose a compromise,” said Poilievre.
For the compromise, the Conservative leader urged Trudeau to stop raising the carbon tax completely.
A year ago, Trudeau promised a balanced budget by 2028, said Poilievre. Trudeau has since walked back on that promise. Poilievre added that all the extra spending piled on by Trudeau’s government has caused inflation to rise and forced the Bank of Canada to keep interest rates high.
“We have $900 billion of mortgages set to renew into these higher rates over the next three years. We have an emergency on our hands to bring rates down before those mortgages renew,” said Poilievre.
In his second demand, Poilievre called on Trudeau to balance the budget to bring down inflation and interest rates.
Poilievre’s third and last demand for Trudeau was for the Prime Minister to adopt the Conservative leader’s plan to build homes, not bureaucracy.
“Justin Trudeau has a gigantic photo op fund where he sends his minister on a travelling circus, giving out grants to local politicians in exchange for them giving him credit for housing that was already going to be built,” said Poilievre.
During his speech, Poilievre briefly summarized his housing plan, which would require municipalities to build 15% more homes annually to get federal money. Those who beat the target should receive a bonus, and those who miss it should get a fine, Poilievre clarified.
“After eight years of Trudeau, we have the fewest homes per capita in the G7, even though we have the most land to build on,” said Poilievre.
Immediately following his speech, Poilievre addressed a letter to Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland. The letter outlined various damning statistics during Trudeau’s tenure, to prove Poilievre’s claim that “Trudeau is not worth the cost.” The letter listed the Conservatives three demands.
“Conservatives will only consider supporting your fall economic statement if you agree to the above three conditions,” the letter read.
