44th Parl. 1st Sess.

March 19, 2024 10:00AM

Context: House Hansard - 291 - Mar/19/24

Hon. Pierre Poilievre (Leader of the Opposition, CPC)

Mar/19/24 12:23:56 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, while the common-sense Conservatives focus on their Conservative priorities, which are to axe the tax, build the homes, fix the budget and stop the crime, the Prime Minister is not worth the cost after eight years. After eight years of this Prime Minister, everything costs more. Two million Canadians now line up at food banks. A few days ago, Montreal police were forced to intervene when chaos broke out at a food bank that did not have enough food to feed all the hungry people. I would point out that these people are going hungry while living in Canada. After eight years of tax hikes and inflationary deficits, people can no longer pay their rent. The cost of housing has doubled. In the Prime Minister's hometown of Montreal, the cost of housing has tripled because of his inflationary policies, even as he has spent $89 billion on housing. After eight years of this Prime Minister, we are experiencing a crisis of crime, auto theft, extortion and violence caused by repeat offenders. After eight years, this Prime Minister is not worth the cost. He only wants to raise taxes on Quebeckers and other Canadians, and I would like to point out that he is doing that with the Bloc Québécois's support. The Bloc Québécois wants to drastically increase the tax on gas and diesel for Quebeckers in the regions. With the Bloc Québécois's support, the Prime Minister wants to destroy certain natural resource industries. On May 1, a decree will be issued to shut down the forestry sector for reasons that make no sense. This decree infringes on Quebec's jurisdiction. That is why the common-sense Conservative Party supports the member for Louis-Saint-Laurent's bill that would scrap the duplicate approval process for natural resource projects. We want Quebec to have the power to decide how it will protect the environment and jobs. We trust Quebeckers, while the Prime Minister and the centralizing Bloc Québécois are trying to concentrate all the power in Ottawa by destroying jobs in the Saguenay region and elsewhere in Quebec. We are the only party with common sense. When we say that the Prime Minister is not worth the cost, it is because he claims that the tax hike is intended to protect the environment. A headline in today's Journal de Montréal reads, “For the first time, Canada is the most polluted country in North America”. This comes on the heels of the news that Canada ranks 62nd out of 67 countries on fighting climate change. All these taxes, all the attacks on our natural resources, have done nothing to improve the environment. All they have done is make life harder for Canadians and Quebeckers. Fortunately, the Conservative Party has a common‑sense plan to axe the tax, build the homes, fix the budget and stop the crime. That is common sense. That is what we are going to offer.

517 words

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House Hansard - 291