In focus: budget, immigration and housing. Pierre Poilievre’s round table with the ethnic media

Yuri Bilinsky, New Pathway – Ukrainian News.

On the verge of the Liberal government submitting their 2023 budget on Tuesday, March 28, Pierre Poilievre, Leader of the Conservative Party of Canada, provided some insights into the Conservatives’ plan to tackle the budget deficit and the resulting inflation.

At the ethnic media roundtable in Markham, ON, on March 25, he said that to bring down both interest rates and the cost of living he, as Prime Minister, would get rid of the inflationary deficits and carbon taxes.

To get rid of the deficit, Poilievre promised to introduce a “pay-as-you-go” law that requires government dollar savings for every new dollar of spending.

Instead of the carbon tax and making oil and gas products more expensive, Poilievre promised to make carbon-free energy more affordable by supplying more nuclear energy, incentivizing more hydro electricity, and investing in carbon capture and storage. “This will bring down the cost of green energy rather than bringing up the cost of the energy that we still need to power our vehicles and heat our homes,” said Poilievre.

To increase individual incomes, Poilievre promised to reform the tax system so that people do not lose money to “clawbacks and taxes”. He promised “a massive overhaul of our taxes and programs to make work pay.”

At the round table, Poilievre also singled out two other policy proposals. He spoke about making it possible for immigrants to earn more by getting rid of the limitations for trained-abroad professionals to get into their professions. He announced a policy to establish a nationwide “Blue Seal” test and standard for every profession, that would allow internationally trained professionals to take an exam proving that they are qualified. This system would be similar to the Read Seal Program which sets common standards for tradespeople in Canada.

Poilievre also singled out his plans to solve the housing crisis. He promised to remove the blocks for new construction: “a Poilievre government will punish big city politicians who block housing construction and reward those that get out of the way to allow more homes to get built. I will link the number of federal infrastructure dollars that a big city gets to the number of houses that actually get completed. And I'll require every federally funded transit station to have apartments built around and even on top of them, so our young people and seniors can live next to the bus and train.” He also announced a plan to sell off 15% of federally owned buildings and turn them into apartments; and bring in more trades people from abroad through a special immigration track to help build more houses. “We're going to build millions of homes so that young people can have the dream of homeownership restored,” said Poilievre.

With regard to Canada’s role on the global stage on the background of the Russian aggression in Ukraine and such countries as China and Russia forming alliances, Poilievre said that he would strengthen Canada’s position in two major spheres, energy and defense.

As Prime Minister, he would focus on reinforcing Canada’s position in the global oil and gas market by enhancing the energy infrastructure to bring Canada’s energy products to the world and substitute oil and gas from authoritarian jurisdictions. He specifically mentioned the need to develop Canada’s LNG exporting projects to help Europe and Asia get rid of Russian natural gas. Earlier, in his interview for NP-UN, he said that, as Prime Minister, he would remove the “anti-energy” Bill C-69 and also incentivize Canadian energy companies to produce oil and gas more efficiently and with less emissions, particularly through carbon storage.

Poilievre also stressed the need to develop the Canadian military to make sure that the country is protected from growing global military threats. He also mentioned the need to strengthen Canada against foreign security interference by hostile actors signified, in particular, by the situation around allegations of foreign election interference from China.

In reaction to Budget 2023, Pierre Poilievre had the following statement on the Conservative Party’s website:  

“After eight years, Justin Trudeau’s inflationary taxes and spending have created a cost-of-living crisis that is hurting the hard-working people of this country. Conservatives demanded that this budget must work for the people who work. We had three clear demands: 

1. Bring home lower prices by ending the inflationary deficits and spending. 
2. Bring home powerful paycheques with lower taxes and scrap the carbon tax so hard work pays off again. 
3. Bring homes people can afford by removing government gatekeepers to free up land and speed up building permits. 

“This budget meets none of these demands. It is a $43 billion bonanza of new inflation, debt and taxes. All that Justin Trudeau has delivered for Canadians is more debt, more inflation and more costs on the backs of the hard-working and beleaguered people of this country.

“During last year’s budget, Minister Freeland said she was ‘absolutely determined that our debt-to-GDP ratio must continue to decline. Our deficits must continue to be reduced…This is our fiscal anchor. This is a line we shall not cross. It will ensure that our finances remain sustainable.’ Here we are. A year later, Justin Trudeau has crossed that red line. 

“Trudeau’s war on work continues. Canadians are living in desperation, skipping meals, living in their parent’s basements, unable to drive to work, falling into depression, and even considering suicide because they cannot afford the pressure and the bills that this Prime Minister has imposed after eight long years. This budget makes all of those pressures, all of those pains, and all those costs even worse.”

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