Pierre Poilievre, the new leader of the Conservative Party of Canada, stepped onto the stage at the Economic Club of Canada. He was an articulate, passionate advocate for a market-driven paradigm in economic policymaking. He called on Ottawa to permit firms to ship Canadian oil and liquefied natural gas from the coast of British Columbia to Asian markets. Poilievre’s appearance was intended to underscore marquee proposals from his party’s supply-side recent election campaign. He champions markets but really emphasized a free-market ethos through the entire address.
Throughout his speech, Poilievre claimed that building new homes should be tax exempt. He lambasted the feds’ plan to waive the sales tax on some new builds to encourage first-time buyers. He maintained that the proposal misses the mark of what’s truly necessary. “When, in fact, we should do none of the above. We should get out of the way and off your back,” he declared, emphasizing his belief that government intervention stifles economic growth.
Poilievre continued to double down on his opposition to the industrial carbon price. He contended that these types of taxes and regulations raise costs for farmers and break the food supply chain. He stressed that Ottawa needs to remove the bureaucratic red tape. This will enable companies to safely and efficiently get Canadian resources to market.
As Poilievre was speaking to the business establishment in the city, his predecessor at the Bank of Canada, Mark Carney, was delivering his own vision for the upcoming federal budget. He accomplished this only a few blocks away at Canadian Club Toronto. Poilievre criticized Carney’s approach to debt and warned that Canada’s upcoming fiscal policies could lead to unprecedented costs for taxpayers. “This will be the most costly five years, if it is allowed to happen, in any of Canada’s history,” he claimed.
That was the Conservative leader’s party’s first big issue that set him apart from Carney’s then-Liberal provincial government. “What you really have as a difference between us, between the Carney Liberals and the Poilievre Conservatives, is this: They believe in adding new obstacles for all of you, and then asking you to go to them and ask for a handout to help you get over those same obstacles,” he stated.
In a further attempt to encourage this spirit of bipartisanship, Poilievre went so far as to praise the Liberal proposals. He thinks Canada specifically needs a regulatory framework for stablecoins. He stated that Conservatives would back any party in the House of Commons that seeks to implement a stablecoin system designed to enhance the efficiency of the Canadian financial sector.
While a commendably cooperative gesture, Poilievre’s speech highlighted deepening divides in Parliament. His address came as the House of Commons was preparing for a momentous vote. The only other party to share our vision was the Bloc Québécois, who introduced an amendment to reject the entire Liberal spending plan. It was disappointing that Conservatives voted with the Liberals to defeat this amendment.
In his acceptance speech, Poilievre attacked Carney for “sowing new bureaucracies” to address critical issues such as increasing homebuilding. Rather than fostering economic growth, he argued, these measures more often just make it harder. He cautioned that ongoing fiscal stimulus risks an increasing debt load. It could further erode Canada’s credit profile over the longer term.
Fitch Ratings recently indicated that “while Canada’s rating is broadly stable, persistent fiscal expansion and a rising debt burden have weakened its credit profile and could increase rating pressure over the medium term.” The agency warned that “this may be exacerbated by persistent economic underperformance caused by tariff risks and structural challenges, including low productivity.”
