‘Everything is Broken’: Poilievre Addresses Cost of Living, Foreign Interference Issues in Rare Press Conference

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre smiles as a reporter asks him questions during his opening remarks in the Foyer of the House of Commons in Ottawa Sept. 13, 2022. The Canadian Press/Adrian Wyld

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre gave a rare press conference on Nov. 9 where he discussed a range of issues, from the rising cost of living to foreign interference.

“It feels like everything is broken in this country right now,” he told reporters at Parthenon Market, a Greek grocery store in Vancouver.

Poilievre said rising prices are hurting Canadian families. He noted food prices have hit a 40-year high with an 11 percent increase due to inflation, and that in one month this year, 1.5 million Canadians had to use the food bank to feed their families.

The HungerCount 2022 report said there were nearly 1.5 million visits to Canadian food banks in March 2022. That’s the highest March usage in history—up 15 percent from 2021 and 35 percent from 2020.

Poilievre, who was elected the official leader of the opposition on Sept. 10, said fuel prices have “increased nearly 100 percent,” and home heating bills are projected to double going into winter.

He said the problems facing Canadians are numerous, including a “40-year high inflation,” and “35-year-olds living in their parents’ basements” due to housing prices in major cities such as Vancouver, which he called “the third most overpriced housing market on planet earth.”

He said the Conservatives if elected would cap government spending and the inflationary deficits, and cancel the plan by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh to “triple“ the carbon tax, which he said would only ”drive the cost of food, gas, and heat” higher.

‘Anti-Farming Policies’

Poilievre said a government led by him would remove red tape and other barriers that Ottawa imposes on farmers, and cancel tariffs and taxes on fuel and fertilizer so Canadian farmers can produce more affordable food.

“We live in one of the most agriculturally abundant nations on earth,” he said. “It should be easy for people to put food on the table in a country with so much farmland.”

He said the Liberal government’s “anti-farming policies” are contributing to food prices rising out of reach for the average Canadian.

Poilievre said he wants to get tougher on violent, repeat offenders with more jail time, and reinforce Canada’s borders to keep illegal drugs and guns out.

Citing successful abstinence-based treatment programs being used in Alberta, where he said drug overdoses have been cut in half, Poilievre said he would end “taxpayer-subsidized program[s] of paying for people to use dangerous narcotics and instead put that money in safe recovery programs to get addicts off the streets and rebuild their lives.”

He also responded to questions from reporters on why he had not previously held media scrums at Parliament Hill like other politicians.

“I remind you there are journalists right across the country, not just the parliamentary press gallery that gets to control the agenda. And I think that’s what’s going on here,” he said.

“We’re all too obsessed with Parliament Hill,” he added. “We need to be out in the real word ... talk to real people ... everyday people living their lives ... who can’t pay their bills, who see crime going wild on our streets, who can’t get children’s medicine in their local pharmacies.”

Poilievre said he gives interviews to all sorts of journalists, including holding press conferences with multicultural news agencies, because he wants to reach “new voices who are often shut out of debate on Parliament Hill.”

Foreign Interference in Elections

Poilievre said Trudeau needs to answer to allegations that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) interfered in the 2019 federal election.

The allegations stemmed from a report by Global News that intelligence officials warned Trudeau that they had detected “covert funding to influence election outcomes” and that at least 11 federal candidates, whose party affiliation wasn’t revealed, received funding from the CCP in the 2019 election.

“The prime minister has sat by and done nothing, resisted every opportunity to investigate this interference,” alleged Poilievre.

“We need a government that stands up for human rights and for freedoms, and protect Canada’s interests in an increasingly dangerous world.”

Reporters asked a number of questions about Poilievre’s views and support for the Freedom Convoy protest that took place in Ottawa earlier this year.

“I support those peaceful and law-abiding protesters who demonstrated for their livelihoods and liberty, while condemning any individual who broke laws, behaved badly, or blockaded critical infrastructure,” he said, adding he would reserve any further conclusions until the ongoing public inquiry into the use of the Emergencies Act to quell the protest releases its report.

Poilievre was also asked about his views on new Alberta Premier Danielle Smith’s viewpoint that provinces need to resist federal laws they don’t agree with.

He said that under Trudeau’s leadership, the federal government has “created divisions right across the country,” “turned west against east,” “turned provinces against the federal government,” and just yesterday caused a ‘’massive blowup” at meetings on health-care funding.

“[Canada needs] a prime minister that will respect provincial jurisdiction, allow our resources to be developed, get things done with premiers, rather than picking pointless fights and dividing Canadians for political agenda,” Poilievre said.

The next federal election is scheduled to occur in 2025.