Conservative party leader Pierre Poilievre accused Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of stoking the nation’s economic problems with his policy choices.

Speaking at a trucking facility in Mississauga, Ont., Poilievre compared Trudeau to an arsonist as he described the country’s economic difficulties. He said Trudeau’s tax and spending policies have caused inflation.
“Like an arsonist promising to put out a fire, Trudeau is vowing to fight inflation that he paid to ignite,” Poilievre said. “It is his approach of taxes and deficits that has set the fires burning. Every time you see Trudeau on TV making promises, know this: The money he is talking about will be drained from your paycheque, just like it has been for almost 10 years now.”
He laid out three demands of the federal budget the government is set to unveil April 16:
- Eliminate what Poilievre called “Trudeau’s tax on food and farming.”
- Make housing construction the priority over expanding government agencies.
- Introduce a law to match every dollar spent with one saved — which would reduce inflation and interest rates — criticized by economists as smoke-and-mirrors accounting.
He also called for passage of Bill C234, legislation that would amend the Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act to remove carbon taxes on activities including drying crops and driving tractors. That would ease financial strain on Canadians when they buy food, he said.

The politician’s second demand asks the government to make housing more affordable by requiring cities to increase housing completions by 15% annually in order to qualify for federal funding.
His third point laid out his proposed “dollar-for-dollar” law which seeks to keep rising costs for consumers down while also reducing government spending.
“We will cut wasteful administrative overhead, failed procurement processes and foreign aid that today goes to China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, terrorist organizations and global institutions,” he said. “We will redirect these funds into investments in our military capability.”
That spending would focus on frontline enhancements and the purchase of more equipment for service members. He also said the party would increase the number of reservists.
“We will train them not only for potential conflicts with foreign powers but also how to take their military skills into the civilian workforce,” Poilievre said.
During his speech Monday morning, with members of Rosedale Group’s trucking team standing behind him, Poilievre touched on several economic hardships Canadians face — such as a 78.5% increase in food bank use since 2019 and families forced to prioritize cost over nutrition.
He mentioned 50 military households in Oromocto that rely on food banks to feed their families despite having served Canada — because they can’t afford groceries otherwise. He blamed those problems on Trudeau and NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh’s policies.
Poilievre criticized Trudeau for expanding money supply through what he called manipulation of the Bank of Canada so it could print money to cover government expenses.
“The national debt expands demand and constricts supply,” he said. “When $600 billion is created out of thin air, you get inflation. That has been the result every time someone has done this throughout five millennia of human economic history.” Despite this, the bank of Canada has said that it did not print money to fund federal spending. It clarified in a series of tweets on August 25, 2022.
Last Updated on by Alshaar Ansari