Canadian Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre on Monday rolled out his “Canada First” response to President Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Canadian Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre on Monday rolled out his “Canada First” response to President Donald Trump’s tariffs, borrowing Trump’s branding strategy while insisting his tariffs on Canadian goods are “unjustified.”
Part of Poilievre’s strategy includes faulting the Liberal Party of outgoing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for doing “nothing” to make Canada less dependent upon the U.S. economy, even though the threat of Trump’s tariffs was painfully clear.
“They’ve left us helpless,” Poilievre complained before debuting his own strategy, blasting the Liberals for weakening the Canadian economy with high taxes and heavy regulations that pushed Canadian businesses across the border into the United States.
Poilievre succinctly summarized his “Canada First” plan as “axe the tax, build the homes, fix the budget, stop the crime.”
The first point referred to Trudeau’s steadily increasing carbon tax. The second point was a reference to Canada’s housing crisis, in which housing costs skyrocketed and banks began offering absurdly long mortgages under Trudeau’s policies. The Conservatives believe an important part of the answer lies in cutting red tape to increase new home construction.
Poilievre largely dismissed President Trump’s complaints about Canada’s weak border security and fentanyl smuggling, although he conceded that Trudeau’s Liberals “have not done enough on fentanyl,” which is killing huge numbers of Canadians as well as Americans.
Poilievre said Trump “stabbed America’s best friend in the back” with his tariffs.
