Federal Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre brought his infamous “axe the tax” rallies to the Kootenays this week, making stops in Castlegar and Grand Forks to gather local support and share his vision for the future of Canada.
Poilievre has been touring through the South Okanagan–West Kootenay all week, stopping in Grand Forks and Castlegar on Wednesday for tours of local manufacturing facilities and to meet local tradespeople.
The riding will not have an incumbent in the 2025 federal election, as current NDP MP Richard Cannings announced he would not be seeking re-election last fall.
While in Castlegar, Poilievre spoke to over a dozen employees of Marwest Industries and other community members about his “common sense” plan to tackle concerns around housing, affordability, and crime.
“My purpose is to make the country work for the people who do the work—the people who take risks, who are up early in the morning to build our country from the ground up. We’re going to bring home the country that we knew and still love, a country where hard work earns a powerful paycheque and pension that buys affordable food and homes in safe neighbourhoods. We have a common-sense plan to make it happen.”
Poilievre spoke with Vista Radio after his tour of Marwest and shared his thoughts on some of the biggest challenges the region is facing, including housing, climate change, and the impacts of the American election.
Housing
The Conservatives unveiled their robust housing plan last week, which promises to “axe” the federal sales tax on all home purchases under $1 million—a move that Poilievre says will spark the development of 30,000 new homes per year and $2.1 billion in government revenue.
To fund the tax cut, he says a Conservative government would eliminate the Liberals’ Housing Accelerator Fund, which Poilievre refers to as an $8-billion bureaucratic burden.
“The two bureaucracies that I want to get rid of haven’t built a single house yet. He [Trudeau] creates a housing program, but then he has to hire all these bureaucrats to run it. And then those bureaucrats at the federal level transfer money to the provincial level, who transfer it to the municipal level, who transfer it to an agency, and by the time it goes through all those steps and everybody has a bite, nothing ends up getting built.”
Poilievre’s “common sense” plan is directed at home buyers and builders, saying that by cutting the tax, lowering the cost of government on new homes will put direct savings into the hands of people buying new homes and the builders.
He also vows to pressure provincial governments to remove PST on home sales within the million-dollar threshold, which he claims would result in $100,000 in savings for home buyers and stimulate tens of thousands in extra builds per year.
Environmental Protection and the Resource Industry
When asked what his government would do to balance local environmental concerns and the sustainability of local resource sectors, Poilievre says he wants to ensure Canada has the highest environmental standards in the world.
“What Trudeau and the NDP are doing right now is driving energy production to more polluting foreign jurisdictions rather than bringing home clean production to Canada. By axing the carbon tax, we bring home more affordable farm foods grown in Canadian soil with the highest environmental standards, rather than importing foreign foods from dirty corporate foreign farms.
By producing clean, green LNG in Canada, we can displace dirty coal-fired electricity in Asia, thus reducing the overall emissions of the world. I’d rather do that. Why not harness our massive energy potential to supply the world with clean, green, environmentally responsible energy that brings home paycheques for our people?”
American Election Results
Donald Trump’s win south of the border has left Poilievre concerned about Canada–U.S. relations on key economic issues, saying he fears the country is in ‘big trouble.’
“Trump wants our jobs, and Trudeau wants to give them over. Trump’s going to be cutting taxes for businesses and speeding up permits to build things south of the border. Meanwhile, Trudeau’s raising taxes. Our businesses are just going to leave to go south, and it’ll put a big smile on Trump’s face. But back here in Canada, we’re going to get poorer and weaker, and everything’s going to be more expensive.”
He says the country needs to stand strong against America’s “illegal and unjust” tariffs on softwood lumber, adding that the U.S. has “$9 billion of our money we want back.”
“What we need to do is cut taxes, eliminate red tape, speed up energy production, and make Canada the best place on earth to do business. I want to go to President Trump and say, ‘Listen, we want our money back, and we will sell you affordable lumber so you can build homes for your people if you get those tariffs off.’ It’ll be a win for all of us.”
B.C.’s “Blue Wave”
Reflecting on the recent B.C. election results, Poilievre noted that British Columbians seem to have concluded that the ‘NDP and Liberals are not worth the cost.’
“Trudeau and the provincial NDP have together doubled housing costs, given us the worst food price inflation in 40 years, unleashed a massive crime wave in our communities, and caused the worst drug overdose crisis in the world.
British Columbia has the worst drug overdose crisis in the world precisely because of the radical NDP–Liberal policies that bring drugs to our streets. British Columbians have had enough, and I think they’re ready for a common-sense Conservative government that will axe the tax, build the homes, fix the budget, and stop the crime.”
Poilievre’s “axe the tax” rally in Castlegar saw over 500 people in attendance.
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