Open in full screen mode Pierre Poilievre took advantage of his caucus to announce his four priorities during the next parliamentary session, namely “cut taxes, build housing, repair the budget and stop crime”. The Canadian Press The Conservative leader on Sunday ridiculed the national summit on car thefts occurring in most major Canadian cities, as announced a week ago by the Liberal government. The good news is that Justin Trudeau is organizing a summit, a big summit. There's going to be another meeting. Thank goodness: politicians, bureaucrats, and lobbyists will all get together and send you the bill for their hotel rooms. Don't worry: a summit is underway, he said during a speech to his caucus. In fact, Poilievre said, Canadians don't need another summit. We need a common sense plan to put an end to theft and to put an end to crime, he said. And that’s what the conservatives will do. He also pledged to strengthen borders and that shipping containers be inspected and scanned. He had just told stories intended to demonstrate how insane the car thefts and the authorities' response had become. In one case, a businessman was fined for approaching the container where his stolen car was located, according to a tracking system. He therefore lost his car and paid a fine for trying to recover it, he summarized.
The York Police Department, of Peel and the City of Toronto reported record numbers of car thefts in 2023. (File photo)
In another case, a man on the phone with a 911 officer after having his car parked in front of his home stolen and after seeing that thieves were trying to take his second car allegedly makes answer: Let them take the car after talking about confronting the thieves.
Auto thefts have become an increasingly serious problem across the country. According to industry data, the rate of auto theft increased by 50% in Quebec and 48.3% in Ontario in 2022. Greater Toronto Police Services say they have seen a 104% increase in carjackings from 2021 to 2022.
In his speech, Mr. Poilievre also announced his four priorities for the next parliamentary session: Cut taxes, build housing, fix the budget and stop crime.
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In English, on the other hand, his first priority was to scrap the carbon tax. This is a synonym for tax cuts, according to his team.
As he does regularly, Mr. Poilievre rattled off a host of statistics to support his assertions about the lives of Canadians after eight years of Justin Trudeau, a life where everything costs more and where crime and chaos reign in the streets.
Canadians do not have to live like this and do not have to forgo affordable food and housing in safe neighborhoods…because of someone's incompetence and ego single man.
We can do better, he insisted to his troops.
For months, Pierre Poilievre has been putting before the idea that the next elections should focus on the abolition of the carbon tax. (Archive photo)
[In French], Mr. Poilievre also attacked the Bloc Québécois, judging that it carries the odiousness of keeping the Liberals in power through a so-called costly coalition.
In the English version of his speech, he rather attacked the coalition with the New Democratic Party (NDP), in reference to the agreement concluded almost two years ago which allows the Liberals to remain in power in exchange for key elements, including a national program dental care.
In recent days, Justin Trudeau has focused his attacks on the Conservative leader . In a speech to his own caucus, he accused it of spreading conspiracy theories about climate change and voting against free trade with Ukraine to appease pro-government supporters. Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Pierre Poilievre and his team voted against the Canada Child Benefit and the Canada Dental Benefit, Mr. Trudeau said. They voted against $10-a-day daycare and programs for seniors.
While Parliamentary work is due to resume on Monday in the House of Commons, the Liberals are still well behind in voting intentions nationally. The Conservatives are ahead of them by 13 points and would be well placed to form a majority government, according to the most recent projections from polling aggregator Canada338.