Pierre Poilievre unpacks parcel of promises during Yellowknife stop

It was billed as an Axe the Tax rally, and Conservative Opposition Leader Pierre Poilievre gleefully chopped away at the ruling Liberal Party’s record on Sunday, just days after the NDP pulled its support for the minority government.

In addition to promising to kill the maligned Carbon Tax — which has increased heating and transportation costs in the NWT — Poilievre told a cheering packed hall of more than 250 people of his plans to “make common sense common again.”

Sporting a blue Axe the Tax T-shirt and jeans, an energetic Poilievre offered a stump speech apparently adapted for the North, with the crowd applauding his promise to undo the Liberals’ gun control policies, which he said target law-abiding firearm owners.

“Justin Trudeau told us that if he banned licensed, law abiding, trained and tested farmers, hunters and sport shooters, that it would make us all safe. Well, gun crime is up 125 per cent because it turns out that grandpa Joe’s hunting rifle was never the problem. Grandpa Joe in Yellowknife is not shooting up downtown Toronto.

“But the good news is we’re going to win. We’re going to respect your right to keep your hunting rifle, protect your traditional way of life and go after the real criminals instead and protect your hunting. We need to protect our freedom again, bring home freedom to this country which has come under relentless attack.”

As recently selected NWT candidate Kimberly Fairman watched from the front row, Poilievre also said a Conservative government would:

• Speed up permits, free up land, and cut development taxes to increase housing supply.
• Reduce barriers that prevent immigrant doctors and nurses from helping ease health-care woes.
• Create a “blue seal” for all licensed professions to quickly integrate foreign-trained professionals.
• Crack down on repeat criminal offenders, especially when it coms to bail and parole.
• Further criminalize hard drugs and invest in detox, treatment, and recovery programs.

While all of those are hot-button issues in the NWT, it was noted by some in the audience that Poilievre did not utter the term Indigenous, and also he could have offered his insights on outstanding land claims and major infrastructure projects such as the Mackenzie Valley Highway.

Meanwhile, Poilievre vowed to empower the military to protect the North and stake the strongest claim ever on the three Canadian territories. This would follow recent projects and programs to increase the military presence announced by the Liberal government in Yellowknife and Inuvik.

“We consider it unacceptable that Chinese and Russian vessels swim around in our cold Northern waters, slowly but surely, invading our territory, attempting to claim it for themselves. We will never let those aggressive, hostile countries onto our continent.

“We will lock arms with our American neighbours to protect the Arctic and you, the northern people, are at the forefront through your very presence in this place to sending the message to the world that the North belongs to Canada and we will never surrender it to anyone.”

When NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh announced on Wednesday the end of the supply and confidence agreement with the Liberal government, the prospect of a snap election this year is a real possibility.

When Singh was recently in Yellowknife — touring with NWT candidate Kelvin Kotchilea — he told CBC that, if elected, his party is “open to a different approach” to the carbon tax for the Northwest Territories.

After meeting with Premier R.J. Simpson — who has called for a blanket carbon-tax exemption — for the Northwest Territories, CBC reported that Singh said he would like to see different approaches to emissions reduction for different jurisdictions in the country.

Meanwhile, NWT Liberal MP Michael McLeod has announced he will not run again, with no word yet on his successor.