The lives of Canadians would be safe and affordable again with a Conservative government in Ottawa, Pierre Poilievre told an overflowing and enthusiastic crowd in Cowichan on Jan. 10.
The leader of the federal Conservative Party told the standing-room only audience in Mellor Hall, located at the Cowichan Exhibition grounds, that Canada should be the most affordable place to live in the world.
“We have the best dirt to build homes on, the best dirt to grow food in and best dirt to hold resources that power our cars,” Poilievre said.
“But instead, after 10 years of Liberal/NDP government, we’re printing money just to pay bills, and the country’s deficit has doubled. This is not just putting our future at risk, but is driving up the costs of everything we buy right now. This is a direct attack on working-class people. We have to reverse it.”
The line started forming at Mellor Hall for Poilievre’s Town Hall on Affordability and Safety almost two hours before the event, which was also hosted by Cowichan-Malahat-Langford MP Jeff Kibble and Nanaimo-Ladysmith MP Tamara Kronis, even began.
After opening comments by Kibble and Kronis, Poilievre took to the stage as the crowd cheered him on.
“Who’s ready for an affordable and safe Canada; who’s ready for self reliance; and who’s ready for hope for the future of our country again?” he asked the audience.
“After 10 years of Liberal/NDP governments, people can’t afford to live anymore. We have 2.2 million people using food banks, which is double what it was, and we have 25 per cent of kids in this country having to skip meals because their families can’t afford it.”
Poilievre said that home ownership is increasingly out of reach for a growing number of Canadians.
“That means these people don’t have the opportunity to build equity in their homes, with many of them living in their parent’s basements, or having to pay rent that continues to rise,” he said.
Poilievre said excessive taxation is economically hurting Canadians and a Conservative government would cut taxes and bring down the costs of government.
“Taxes are costing Canadians more than their food and shelter expenses combined,” he said.
“We would also make major cuts to foreign aid and bring that money home for our people. Charity starts at home.”
Poilievre said crime and chaos is raging in Canada’s streets and that people in small towns didn’t even have to lock their doors years ago, but now they are afraid to go to the grocery store for fear they could be mugged or stabbed.
He blamed it on the laws set up by Liberal/NDP governments, and said they must be repealed.
He said a Conservative government would initiate a three-strikes-you’re-out policy that would require mandatory prison time for repeat offenders with no bail.
“We need to get rid of parole for repeat offenders,” he said.
“These criminals will be locked up and will serve their full sentences, and they will be released only after demonstrating flawless behaviour while in prison and have clean drug tests.”
Poilievre said he thinks it’s “madness” that more than 80 people had overdoses in Cowichan in just one day recently.
He said the policy of government handing out hard drugs to people is a radical experiment that has failed.
“Drug dealers are not just people on street corners, but are also pharmaceutical executives who invented Oxycodone,” Poilievre said.
“They said it was harmless and nonaddictive, but we’ve lost more than 50,000 people to overdoses, which is more than we lost in the Second World War. When I’m the prime minister, we’re going to sue these drug companies. Our plan is to treat them like the mass murderers that they are.”
Poilievre said a Conservative government would invest in treatment and recovery services to deal with addictions, counselling and transitional housing to help get them back on their feet.
“We would fund at least 50,000 treatment spaces, the same number as we lost to overdoses,” he said.
“We’ll transform despair into hope. We need to tell these people to hang on because help is on the way.”
Asked about the state of the forest industry in B.C. and the increasing number of mill closures, Poilievre said a Conservative government would be a strong negotiator that would defend the industry against unlawful American tariffs.
“We would also take all the taxes off home building,” he said.
Asked about the B.C. Supreme Court decision to recognize the Cowichan Nation’s Aboriginal title to historic village sites on the Fraser River in Richmond, Poilievre said the decision was disastrous for private property owners.
“Private property rights are the bedrock of a modern democracy and both senior levels of government refuse to fight for fee-simple land,” he said.
“All private property is in jeopardy with the governments’ failure to make the right arguments in court. My government will argue that fee-simple ownership takes priority and can’t be stripped away.”
Most of the audience booed a speaker who suggested Poilievre was an “elitist”, but he brushed it off and said he has heard a lot worse.
“I’m the son of two school teachers, and my mother was just 16,” he replied.
“I’m proud to live in a country where you can put your name on a ballot and be elected to Parliament. I feel blessed.”