Poilievre pitches change, federal tax exemptions for vehicles in Halifax West

CITYnews halifax / By Natasha O’Neill

The Conservative leader was in Halifax West this morning for a brief stop before jetting off to Saskatoon, Sask., as the campaign comes to a close.

Pierre Poilievre started off by mentioning the need for change in parliament and how Canadians “cannot afford another four years under a Liberal government.”

He addressed his party’s platform with a reliance on economic growth. That plan promises to reduce the federal deficit to $14 billion in four years. It also banks on billions of dollars in unrealized revenues from cutting “red tape” and getting new projects built over that horizon.

Poilievre said he would end Liberal laws that he claims are holding back economic growth and the ability to get resources to market. He also attacked the spending levels in Liberal Leader Mark Carney’s campaign platform

He said his government would scrap a tax that he claims would add $20,000 to gas-powered vehicles starting next year. Poilievre said this is because of the Liberal plan to ban new gas vehicles by 2035, something set to start next year with a goal of having 20 per cent of zero-emission vehicles.

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This, the Tory leader said, will impact the auto industry and plants, like the one he held the Halifax press conference in on Thursday.

“Let me be clear I have nothing against electric cars, if you want one, buy one, free choice,” Poilievre said.

He then promised that if elected, his party would cut the federal sales tax on any vehicles made in Canada.

Liberals lead in Atlantic Canada

This comes as the latest polls from Maritimers show a “decisive” lead for the Liberals across Canada’s east coast.

According to Narrative Research, east coast Canadians are “firm” in their intentions to stay with the Liberal Party. The data is showing that the Liberals hold 66 per cent of the vote just before the election, one-quarter plan on voting Conservative while 6 per cent of people are supporting the NDP.

These results are from an online survey of 1,325 Atlantic Canadians conducted April 21 and 22. It has a margin or sampling error of ± 2.7 percentage points, 95 out of 100 times.