Pierre Poilievre promises to scrap carbon tax at Saskatoon campaign stop

Ottawa-area MP Pierre Poilievre made a campaign stop in front of a Saskatoon gas station Thursday morning to announce his plan to curb inflation if he were to become prime minister.

Poilievre said a Conservative government under his leadership would eliminate the federal carbon tax on gas, heat and groceries.

“Scrapping the carbon tax will reduce the cost of living and will mean small businesses will have more money to hire workers and provide affordable goods for their people,” Poilievre said.

Inflation in Canada rose to 5.1 per cent in January, surpassing five per cent for the first time in more than 30 years, according to Statistics Canada.

Poilievre took aim at Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, blaming him for the cost of high living.

“Liberal Prime Minister Trudeau and former Liberal premier Jean Charest believe in higher taxes on consumers, both of them raised taxes and consumers to make life less affordable for everyday working people and to raise more money for politicians like them,” Poilievre said.

Poilievre says he would introduce plans in Saskatchewan to incentivize carbon-reducing technology that would help fight climate change.

“Carbon capture and storage, putting the carbon right back under the ground where it came from … my plan will allow provinces to pursue their own approach without forcing them to impose devastating taxes every day,” he said.

University of Saskatchewan policy professor Ken Coates says it’s not surprising Poilievre would visit the province, describing Saskatchewan as the “heart and soul” of the conservative movement in Canada.

“This is fertile ground for ‘small c’ Conservatives and I think the province could play a fairly significant role in the leadership campaign,” Coates told CTV News.

However, Coates said the leadership race is done by numerical count and Saskatchewan doesn’t have the numbers in comparison to Ontario, Quebec and Alberta.

“That’s where the election will be decided and particularly in the suburbs of Toronto and a lot of people in the suburbs of Toronto are not going to be very impressed by his support of the Freedom Convoy,” Coates said.

Coates says it’s “quite clear” Poilievre may well be marketable to the Conservative Party of Canada but whether the party can sell itself in a federal election is “up in the air.”

Candidates interested in running for the CPC leadership must sign up by April 19 and pay an entry fee of $200,000 on top of a non-refundable $10,000 deposit.

The final result of the race will be announced on Sept. 10.

Poilievre is expected to hold a campaign rally in Regina on Friday.