Ahead of his by-election in Battle River-Crowfoot on Monday, Pierre Poilievre made a stop at Sixteen Grains, a family-owned farm just outside of Saskatoon.
With eager producers and rural residents smiling in the background, he announced that the Conservatives are launching a nation-wide campaign to challenge Prime Minister Mark Carney’s gas vehicle tax and eventual ban.
“Starting in just a few months, on January 1st, the Carney ban on your gas vehicle will begin to be phased in. It will require 20 per cent of dealership sales to be electric, and any car sold above that quota will pay a $20,000 tax.” He adds that in 2035, Carney’s plan is to ban gas vehicles altogether.
He says the campaign will include motions in parliament, pressure campaigns, press conferences and events at Canadian car dealerships, and petitions to end the ban. Poilievre adds that the ban “will kill jobs, balloon costs, and grind rural communities to a halt…because EVs don’t work over long distances and in cold weather.”
Poilievre also touched on China’s recent 75 per cent canola seed tariff, saying that Carney is actually supporting the nation taxing Saskatchewan $43 billion canola industry.
“Carney continues to provide a billion-dollar taxpayer-backed loan for BC ferry companies to buy Chinese-made vessels. Can you imagine that? The sign of weakness that Carney is sending to the dictatorship in Beijing. ‘You tax and tariff our farmers, and we’ll give you a billion-dollar loan to create jobs in your country,’” he mocked.
Poilievre believes the Prairies are being treated unfairly, as the heavily-tariffed forestry industry just received $1.2 billion in financial aid last week, however, support for canola farmers has yet to be seen.
He also noted that Carney hasn’t spoke about canola since the tariffs were announced on Tuesday, yet he had time to tweet about International Cat Day.
When asked if removing the tariffs on Chinese EVs is in store to settle the trade dispute, Poilievre said China has been targeting Canada before those tariffs were event in place.
“It already targeted our beef producers before there were any electric vehicle tariffs imposed on them. The Chinese government has mistreated our economy for many years. My belief, the first thing we should do is cancel the billion-dollar loan that Mark Carney is extending to BC ferries to have them buy Chinese ships.”
When it comes to the Battle River- Crowfoot by-election, Poilievre says he and his team are going to work hard through until Monday, and he encourages locals to vote in favour of defending all things western Canada.
