Poilievre to broaden his base, support free trade with U.S.

During a fireside chat, Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre addressed a crowd of hundreds of people, remarking on lessons learned from the last election.

During a fireside chat, Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre addressed a crowd of hundreds of people, remarking on lessons learned from the last election, his opinions on how Canada should deal with its largest trading partner, and how he would manage Canada’s economy better than the Liberals.

During an Economic Club of Canada event at the Hilton in Toronto, Ontario, Poilievre delivered a keynote speech, “unpacking” the federal budget and spoke about the importance of cutting red tape, shrinking bureaucracy, eliminating taxes, developing Canada’s resources, and getting government out of the way of free enterprise.

While discussing the potential for an early election with Michael Liebrock, the managing director of the Stonach Group, Poilievre noted that he can’t see why the Bloc Québécois or NDP would vote against the budget as it aligns with the two parties’ “big spending” ambitions.

“I would not be surprised to see them vote for all of that spending. It’s what they favour. It’s their ideological predisposition,” Poilievre said. “Our approach had been to demand an affordable budget so people can afford their lives. We didn’t get that, and so that’s why we are planning to vote against it.”

The Federal budget released Tuesday revealed that Carney plans a $78.3 billion deficit and approved $141 billion in new spending over the next five years.

Liebrock asked Poilievre what he believes went wrong in the last election. Poilievre initially noted all of the success his party had made during that election. He noted that Conservatives gained the highest share of votes since 1988 for the party, adding 2.5 million votes and winning 25 extra seats.

“The lesson learned is that where we thought that getting 40% of the voters, even 39 per cent… would guarantee a majority government; we can’t rely on that anymore,” he said. “We need to reach more people, broaden our base even more.”

He said his party plans to broaden its base by going on more platforms—online, social media, and even traditional media—and “showcase our incredible and highly professional team as a government in waiting.” He also noted that they would have to “reinforce” the points where the Conservative message resonated with voters.

“We won working-class communities and youth that have never voted Conservative before by focusing relentlessly on affordability, fighting crime, and harvesting resources,” Poilievre said. “We do need to double down on an extremely popular policy agenda that got us the gains that we won.”

When asked how Canada should interact with its largest trading partner—the U.S.—Poilievre said instead of trying to fight U.S. President Donald Trump, Canada should focus on securing a free trade deal with its neighbour and opening pipelines to trade with Asia and Europe.

“Look, 75 per cent of our exports go to the United States. We can’t ignore the fact that American capitalism is the most powerful economic force in the history of the world, and they’re right next door,” he said. “Our goal should be to come to some sort of a deal that will eliminate these tariffs, and in exchange for which we offer a security partnership that will make both of our countries more safe and secure while protecting our sovereignty.”

He said Carney was wrong to claim that he could “handle Trump” when Trump could not “be controlled.”

“Think we can all agree that it’s been very much the reverse since he took office. We need to work with our American friends to get that deal,” Poilievre said. “My offer to them would be, you trade with us more, we build a greater military that unburdens the Americans of our defence and ensures their northern flank is always more secure from threats by China, Russia, North Korea, Iran, or whomever else. Both our countries will be more secure, stable and prosperous if we work together.”

He said the U.S. holds most of the cards in trade talks, as, due to Liberal government policies, the U.S. holds a monopoly on Canada’s energy market.

He said that to strengthen Canada, regulations and taxes that prevent development and investment in Canada need to be removed. The first thing he said he would scrap is the capital gains tax, which increasingly penalizes Canadians and investors the more successful and productive they are.

Poilievre said the five years of deficits planned in the federal budget need to be restricted by law, which requires the government to find a dollar of savings for each dollar it spends, adding that the government pays for its spending through taxation, money printing and debt, all of which harm the Canadian economy and make life less affordable.