March 2024
Pierre Poilievre certainly can attract a crowd. Around three-thousand Conservative Party of Canada supporters packed the Toronto Congress Centre on 10 March to cheer on the leader of His Majesty’s Loyal Opposition in his fight against the Liberal government’s carbon tax, which is set to increase on 1 April.
“Life was not like this before Justin Trudeau, and it won’t be like this after he’s gone,” Poilievre said during his 40-minute speech, which lamented a bygone era that was safer, more affordable and more familiar.
The event kicked off with comments from Melissa Lantsman, Conservative Member of Parliament for Thornhill, followed by newly-elected MP for Durham Jamil Javani.
Next came Anaida Poilievre, who related her story as an immigrant, coming to Canada from Venezuela with her family at 8-years-old, providing an inspirational “Canadian dream” story, before introducing her husband Pierre.
“Canadians can no longer afford to pay after eight years of Trudeau,” Mr. Poilievre said. “The good news is, life was not like this before Justin Trudeau, and it won’t be like this after he’s gone.”
During his 40-minute speech, Poilievre, stated that he would repeal the tax if he is elected and led the crowd in chants of “Axe the tax!” and “Spike the hike!”
While many political opponents have been working hard to convince Canadians that Poilievre is the Canadian version of former and possibly future American President Donald Trump, his proposed policy overhaul has garnered support from an increasing number of former Liberal supporters. John Nunziata, a former Toronto-area MP and member of the infamous Liberal Party “Rat Pack” while serving in Parliament from 1982 to 1996 as a Liberal MP, then as an Independent MP from 1997-2000 after being kicked out of the party, also joined Mr. Poilievre onstage during the rally to express his support.
With seven premiers across Canada are urging Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to halt the April 1st carbon tax increase, and other provincial Liberals, like Liberal Party of Ontario leader Bonnie Crombie finally coming out against enacting a provincial carbon tax in the absence of a federal tax, backing away from this policy, it certainly appears that the tide is turning against the economically destructive fiscal policies of the federal government.
Combined with anger related to the other disastrous policies of the Justin Trudeau government, it would appear that the “Sunny Ways!” of 2015 are gone. The next federal election can’t come soon enough.
Sources: Poilievre’s anti-carbon-tax rally draws big crowd (thestar.com), Pierre Poilievre calls Justin Trudeau’s carbon tax hike a bad joke | Toronto Sun, Poilievre ‘Axe the Tax’ Rally Draws Thousands to Toronto Liberal Stronghold | The Epoch Times, Anaida Poilievre — a voice for conservative-leaning immigrants | National Post.https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/wilkinson-carbon-tax-provinces-1.7146585#:~:text=Seven%20premiers%20across%20Canada%20are,of%2Dliving%20crisis%20is%20problematic.
