Federal Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre hosted a rally with over 500 supporters at the Vancouver Island Conference Centre in Nanaimo Monday evening. (Ian Holmes/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By Ian Holmes

Making the rounds

Federal Conservative leader visits Nanaimo, unloads ‘axe the tax’ campaign

Apr 1, 2024 | 2:33 PM

NANAIMO — The federal Conservative Party of Canada leader honed in on the rising carbon tax across the country while reiterating a few key policy items during a campaign-style stop near Nanaimo.

The same day the tax federally on carbon emissions rose to $80 from $65 a tonne, Pierre Poilievre staged an afternoon news conference at a Cedar gas station.

On Monday, April 1 the carbon tax for a litre of gasoline rose to 17.6 cents a litre, an increase of 3.3 cents per litre.

Poilivere said there will be a “carbon tax election”.

“We will cap government spending and cut waste to balance the budget so we can bring down inflation and interest rates and your dollars will carry its purchasing power more into the future,” he said.

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The next federal election is scheduled for October 2025.

Poilievre told the media briefing that the carbon tax makes life more expensive for Canadians, pointing specifically to the cost of housing, food, and its impacts on industry.

“What I’m saying is a common sense Conservative government will axe the federal tax that will free British Columbians to elect a provincial government to do the same.”

The B.C. government implemented a carbon tax in 2008, which it collects on behalf of the federal government.

Federal Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre addressed reporters at a media briefing on Monday, April 1 south of Nanaimo at a gas station in Cedar. (Jordan Davidson/NanaimoNewsNOW)

When asked about his party’s specific carbon-reducing policies, Poilievre pointed to his support for hydroelectric dams, tidal wave power, small nuclear reactor projects, and carbon capture and storage.

Poilievre also focused on fiscal prudence, federal incentives to speed up new home construction and his “jail not bail” stance for repeat, violent offenders.

Poilievre also attended an evening rally and fundraising event at downtown Nanaimo’s Vancouver Island Conference Centre on Monday.

Roughly 1,000 people were in attendance at the event where Poilievre hit many of the same talking points as his other rallies and media availabilities.

Small protests were held outside the venue, including one by pro-Palestinian demonstrators calling for an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza strip.

The federal Conservative leader has made multiple visits to Vancouver Island in recent months, including in Nanaimo last September.

In the 2021 election NDP member of parliament Lisa Marie Barron narrowly defeated Conservative contender Tamara Kronis in the Nanaimo-Ladysmith riding.

Kronis returns as the Conservative candidate for the riding for the next federal vote.

– with files from Jordan Davidson

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ian@nanaimonewsnow.com

On Twitter: @reporterholmes