Poilievre pledges to renew, reshape Canada at Ottawa rally

Pierre Poilievre used a mix of familiar ideas and new proposals to reveal what a Conservative government would look like.

Source: Facebook

Author: Clayton DeMaine

From boosting Canada’s stagnant energy sector to restoring historic figures to places of honour, Pierre Poilievre used a mix of familiar ideas and new proposals to reveal what a Conservative government would look like.

He pledged to expand the Cadet Corps and Junior Rangers, offering youth across the country Canadian Armed Forces mentorship. He proposed exchange programs that would see teens join the Arctic Patrol and learn from Inuit rangers.

The pledge builds on Poilievre’s plan last week to boost Canada’s military: hiring 2,000 new rangers, building four heavy icebreakers, and establishing Canada’s first Arctic Military base since the Cold War in Iqaluit, NU.

To pay for the increased defence spend, Poilievre would cut foreign aid, including de-funding UNRWA (which has been linked to Hamas) and the Asian Infrastructure Bank, a Chinese state-run bank.

Using the backdrop of a “Canada First” rally on the 60th birthday of the Maple Leaf flag, Poilievre also vowed to “end cancel culture and stop the war on our history.” He would restore Sir John A. Macdonald’s statues and use his name in public places. He would also create a “long-overdue” monument commemorating Canadians who fought in Afghanistan, and would strengthen penalties for destroying or damaging statues and monuments.

“We will restore Terry Fox, Vimy Ridge, the Famous Five, the Bluenose, the Fathers of Confederation, Indigenous people and our military heroes to our passport.”

In a bid to unite Canadians, Poilievre proposed adding new words to the citizenship oath: “I pledge gratitude to those who worked, sacrificed, and gave their lives to defend the freedom I now enjoy and to build the country of Canada I now call home. Like them, I pledge to fulfil my duties as a Canadian citizen.”

To promote energy production, Poilievre would encourage Indigenous leaders to support energy projects by using corporate tax revenue to pay for “clean drinking water, schools, and job training and more,. Poilievre said. “These projects will make First Nations the richest people in the world, while we get things approved and make Canada more self-reliant.”

He vowed to repeal Liberal taxes and anti-resource laws like the “no new pipelines” law C-69, which “killed Energy East, Northern Gateway and countless other projects.” He also backed new LNG plants, pipelines and mines and “green-light” federal permits for the “Ring of Fire” in Northern Ontario to harvest critical ores and minerals, as well as west-to-east pipeline to boost Canada’s energy self-reliance. And he paired his pro-development agenda with tax cuts for working Canadians and a national effort to break down interprovincial trade barriers.

On the crime front, Poilievre restated his vow to repeal “catch and release” bills such as C-5 and C-75, and renewed his commitment to give mandatory life sentences for fentanyl traffickers and fund addiction recovery programs.