The main priorities of a Poilievre government

(Ottawa) What would be the main priorities of a future Conservative government led by Pierre Poilievre? What programs implemented by the Trudeau government are at risk of being put through the mill? A review of the Conservative leader’s statements provides insight into his ambitions if his party forms the next government.

Eliminate the deficit

Restoring a balanced budget is one of Pierre Poilievre’s main commitments. He wants to pass a law that would force the cabinet to find a dollar of savings for every dollar of new spending. Since coming to power, Justin Trudeau’s Liberals have never presented a balanced budget. Besides the abolition of funding for the CBC, the elimination of contracts awarded to consultants and the abolition of the Canada Infrastructure Bank, the Conservative leader did not specify which path he was going to take to restore balance. budgetary.

He says he wants to know the state of public finances before giving more details. At the same time, Pierre Poilievre wants to reduce the tax burden on taxpayers and intends to set up a working group on tax reform. To stimulate housing construction, he promises to eliminate the GST on new residences costing less than $1 million.

Attending the World Economic Forum in Davos or sending a minister there if he takes power is out of the question. In addition, he promised to fire Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem on the grounds that he mismanaged the inflation crisis.

Criminal justice

“Stop crime”. This is one of the four priorities that Pierre Poilievre systematically states in the preamble to his press conferences. How ? By doing what no government in Ottawa had dared to do until now: by using the notwithstanding clause to tighten the parole system, reinstate mandatory minimum sentences and successive prison sentences. Stephen Harper has failed on these issues.

The chief opened his game before the Canadian Police Association last spring. The liberal outcry immediately followed: what will happen to the right to abortion? The Conservative government “will never use this article of the Constitution in connection with this issue,” assured a spokesperson for Pierre Poilievre.

Social and health programs

Since 2015, the Trudeau government has increased investments to expand the social safety net in the country. Examples of this include the National Child Care Program and the National Dental Care Program. These programs are popular with Canadians. Pierre Poilievre indicated that he intended to maintain the national daycare program. But he maintains uncertainty about the future of the national dental care program and the drug insurance program, maintaining that these two measures only exist on paper.

Furthermore, he rules out the idea of ​​expanding medical assistance in dying to people suffering from dementia, as the Quebec government wishes. When it comes to the opioid crisis and other drug use, a Conservative government would focus on treating individuals struggling with addiction and scrap supervised consumption sites — the solution before by Ottawa to prevent accidental overdoses and reduce the spread of infectious diseases such as HIV/AIDS.

Environment

Pierre Poilievre made it a slogan that appealed to his troops: Axe the Tax. Crippling carbon pricing will undoubtedly be one of the first measures implemented by a Conservative government. Pierre Poilievre also wants the next electoral campaign to be a referendum on this “tax”, introduced by the Trudeau government as part of a national plan to fight climate change. In doing so, it will also end the Canadian carbon rebate for individuals.

For the moment, the Conservative plan to combat climate change essentially focuses on the development and adoption of new technologies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. We do not know whether Pierre Poilievre would endorse the target established by the Trudeau government, namely reducing GHG emissions by 40% to 45% by 2030, compared to the 2005 level. A Conservative government also promises a single environmental study for a natural resource development project in a province and will do everything possible to facilitate the construction of new pipelines.

Relations Québec-Ottawa

At this time, the Conservative Party has not presented a specific program for Quebec, as former Conservative leader Erin O’Toole did during the last election campaign. But Pierre Poilievre affirmed that a conservative government would intervene in the matter of Law on State Secularism (“Bill 21”), which he opposes in Quebec if the case ends up before the Supreme Court of Canada — which will certainly be the case one day. Faithful to its principles, a Conservative government would not intervene in areas of provincial jurisdiction.

Foreign Affairs and National Defense

We can expect the return of an immutable bias in favor of the Jewish state under the leadership of Pierre Poilievre: abolition of financial aid to the UN agency for the Palestinians (UNRWA) and unconditional support to Israel within the UN bodies. The opposition leader even went so far as to ask Israel to offer a “gift to humanity” by bombing Iranian nuclear sites.

On the issue of Canadian-American relations, Pierre Poilievre promises to be firm in the event of the imposition of customs tariffs of 25%, saying in particular that he intends to “fight fire with fire”, without giving further details.

The Conservative Party has bridges to rebuild with Ukraine after voting against the Canada-Ukraine free trade agreement, which sparked the ire of the Ukrainian diaspora in the country.

Facing China, a hard line is on the menu. “It has become obvious that we must oppose the communist government in Beijing,” declared Pierre Poilievre in June 2023, at 34^e anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre.

The Conservative leader is careful not to formally commit to reaching the NATO target of 2% of GDP devoted to defense. “I make promises that I can keep, and right now, our country is broke,” pleaded the leader last July.

Immigration

The Conservative position on immigration remained unclear for a long time after the arrival of Pierre Poilievre. But since the fall, he has added the immigration system to the list of things that have been “broken” by Justin Trudeau. The Conservative targets have not been defined, but on October 24, when the government announced a reduction in permanent immigration targets, it stated this at a press briefing in Toronto: “We will have a mathematical formula that will allow ensure that population growth never exceeds the availability of jobs, housing and health care. »

The leader, who wishes to reconquer urban communities with a high proportion of newcomers lost to the hands of the Liberals in recent years, also suggested last August during an interview with - that he would “massively” reduce the number of temporary immigrants, whose influx is, according to him, “out of control”.

Culture and society

At conservative gatherings, it’s THE promise that always triggers thunderous applause: cutting off funding to the CBC network. Although he stated that - would be spared, Pierre Poilievre did not explain how he would go about it — the English and French services share a number of material, human and financial resources.

Bills adopted under the Liberals would go by the wayside. This fate awaits C-11, the law on online broadcasting which grants too much power to a “woke” CRTC, says Pierre Poilievre. Bill C-63 on online hate, if passed, would also be repealed.

Exit, too, aid programs for written media in the form of tax credits. “Conservatives do not believe that Canadian taxpayers’ money should go to media organizations,” the Conservative leader said last February.

In terms of workers’ rights, a Poilievre government would maintain the anti-scab law, it was indicated when the bill was adopted last June.