The Conservative Party of Canada’s (CPC) Leader Pierre Poilievre held a rally on Vancouver Island on Monday night.
The Leader of the Official Opposition drew around 2,000 people to Duncan’s Cowichan Exhibition Grounds, in an event which Poilievre staff told Vista Radio was one of the largest among their recent stops.
The evening was scheduled to have doors opened at 6 pm, but opened early because of the amount of people early to the venue. Poilievre took the stage at around 6:30 pm and stayed up there for about an hour, staying late afterwards to meet with supporters who lined up across the building.
In his speech, the Conservative leader touched on issues from affordable housing to the carbon tax. He evoked standing ovations from those in attendance on several occasions, some of the most thunderous were in reference to support for military veterans and those dealing with drug abuse, promoting natural health products.
Other ovations were given when Poilievre advocated for BC to remove its vaccine mandate for healthcare workers and his mention of a plan to prevent mandatory digital IDs and banning any of his potential ministers from involvement in the World Economic Forum should he be elected Prime Minister.
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In an interview with Vista Radio, Poilievre says he believes that current Prime Minister Justin Trudeau should be “fired” and that he’s waiting on the New Democratic Party (NDP) to help facilitate the next election cycle.
“[The next election will be] whenever the NDP agrees with us to vote out Trudeau,” he says. “Right now he’s staying in power with the help of the NDP [Members of Parliament (MPs)] from Vancouver Island. They’re keeping Trudeau in power. Our view is that Trudeau should be fired and that he’s doubled housing costs, given us the worst inflation and interest rate hikes in a generation, unleashed crime and chaos, drugs and disorder in our communities, and divided Canadians for his own power.”
He believes that NDP MPs are keeping their support for the Liberal Party because they want to keep their jobs.
“The NDP has sold out British Columbians and Vancouver Islanders for the chance to be part of the Trudeau government,” says Poilievre. “They want to be close to power, so they’ve been working for Trudeau rather than working for the people they represent.”
13 MINUTE EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH PIERRE POILIEVRE
The Trudeau government has been in power since the 2015 election and saw challengers in 2018 and 2021. Poilievre says he’s learned from the unsuccessful election campaigns run by Andrew Scheer and Erin O’Toole.
“We have to clearly define the choice between a costly coalition of the NDP and Liberals who take your money, tax your food, double your housing costs, and unleash crime and chaos in your community,” he says. “Or the common sense Conservatives who free you to earn a powerful paycheck that buys affordable food, gas, and homes in safe neighbourhoods.”
There was a new variable in the last Federal election. The People’s Party of Canada – formed by previous CPC leadership candidate Maxime Bernier – gained some traction and received 844,000 votes, which was about 5% of the vote.
“People who voted for the PPC are welcome in the Conservative Party,” he says. “We believe in freedom and common sense. That is why so many People’s Party supporters voted for me in the leadership and are going to vote Conservative in the next election.”
Poilievre’s thoughts on making housing affordable, balancing the budget, and if Canadians are truly polarized can be found in the interview recording above.
A Vancouver Island member of the NDP caucus has been approached for comment.
