On Thursday, while speaking in Saskatchewan, Conservative MP and PM hopeful Pierre Poilievre announced that he will scrap the federal carbon tax when elected Prime Minister to address out-of-control inflation.
“And that is why I’m announcing today that a Poilievre government will make life more affordable by eliminating the federal carbon tax on gas, heat, and groceries,” Poilievre said while speaking outside a gas station selling gas for $1.56 per litre.
At the beginning of his speech, Poilievre addressed many of the issues facing Canadians, today, “We’ve seen that the price of housing has risen from about $450,000 for the average home up to $836,000, which means that we have 35-year-old men and women living in their Mom and Dad’s basements because they can’t afford a house.”
“Single mothers have their hearts miss a beat while they walk down the grocery aisle trying to pay the price of a nutritious basket of groceries for their kids. You have almost half of Canadians saying they struggle to buy groceries. Four-in-five have said that they have reduced the quantity or quality of their diet because food has become so expensive.”
Regarding food prices, it appears that Pierre got this data from a recent survey released by the Angus Reid Institute.
After polling 5,002 randomly selected Canadians, the survey found that 45 per cent of Canadians say it is difficult to feed their household, while 82 per cent say that the increase in living costs has outpaced any income growth they’ve experienced.
Meanwhile, debt is a concern for 66 per cent of Canadians, 62 per cent say they are eating out less, 46 per cent are purchasing cheaper brands, and 39 per cent say they are worse off than they were last year.
As the Angus Reid Institute explains, “It is perhaps unsurprising then that two-in-five (39%) Canadians say they are worse off now financially than last year. This represents the highest number of Canadians who feel this way in ARI’s polling dating back to 2010. More than two-in-five (44%) say their finances have held steady through 2021, but this represents the fewest Canadians who have said so dating back to 2010. Few (16%) feel like they are in a better financial position than last year.”
Moreover, according to Statistics Canada data released on February 16, 2022, inflation has reached 5.1 per cent for the first time in 30 years.
Pierre continues, gesturing towards the price sign of the gas station behind him.
“And then, of course, there’s the price of gas. You [can] see here: a-buck-56 a litre. Some experts believe that could rise to $2.00 a litre.”
According to Poilievre, the rise in costs are a consequence of Trudeau’s additional deficits and taxes, specifically the carbon tax, which has directly contributed to the record-breaking gas prices, today. He also says that addressing climate change isn’t about taxing everyday Canadians to death but utilizing new technology, such as carbon capture and storage, to reduce and redistribute carbon back into the ground.
