Make Life Affordable Again: Fighting for Action Over Rhetoric

By Pierre Poilievre
Battle River-Crowfoot MP

After a decade of Liberal waste and mismanagement, Canadians are struggling to get by. Many of you here in Battle River–Crowfoot already feel this, as you sit down at the kitchen table and make hard choices to balance your family’s books.

If that’s what you’re going through, you’re not alone. 41 per cent of Canadians now say they are $200 or less away from bankruptcy, while the MNP Consumer Debt Index found that 71 per cent expect the cost of living to worsen.

Unfortunately, their fears are well-founded. As the Prime Minister himself said, last year saw 2.2 million visits to Canadian food banks in a single month. We already have the highest food inflation in the entire G7 and, at double the rate of our neighbours to the south, this is sadly a “made in Canada” problem.

I know that many of you have heard about the Liberals’ recent GST rebate, and while Conservatives will not stand in its way, we believe that Canadians need more than temporary stop-gaps that will not even apply to most people in Battle River-Crowfoot. They need real change to make life more affordable.

Canada has the potential to be the most affordable and richest country in the world, because we have the most land, resources and coastline. And we have hard working, resilient communities like those here in Battle River–Crowfoot.

That’s why we put forward real solutions, calling on the government to introduce a Canadian Sovereignty Act that would slash red tape, and get Ottawa out of the way, so Canadians don’t just survive, but thrive: with good-paying jobs that allow our workers to afford safe homes and put nutritious food on the table.

The Act would make Canada a truly competitive resource-producing nation by repealing anti-development laws and unleashing our economic potential.

This includes scrapping the clean fuel standard that drives up expenses for our farmers and is expected to cost the average household almost $600 a year by 2030. It would also mean getting Alberta’s natural resources to the world, by ending the oil tanker moratorium and other growth-killing policies that punish our province.

Because when we export more, and we build more, incomes go up and life becomes more affordable for Canadians.

While the Liberals defeated our motion, Conservatives won’t stop fighting to bring you a better life. Because we need a government that does things, and doesn’t just say them. “Canada Strong” can no longer be a slogan, nor “True North Strong and Free” just a motto.

If you have any questions or concerns regarding this column, or if you require assistance regarding a Federal Government program, you are encouraged to send an email to pierre.poilievre@parl.gc.ca or call 1-800-665-4358.