Poilievre defends economic growth projections in Conservative platform as ’essential’

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Growing the economy is key to staving off a trade-fuelled recession, the leader of Canada’s Conservative Party says.

Reacting during a Wednesday press conference in Hamilton to questions about the Tory platform not taking into account a potential recession, Pierre Poilievre said the fact that Canada’s economy hasn’t seen any recent growth suggests a recession has already arrived — and he blamed both Justin Trudeau and Mark Carney for the problem.

“They are the reckless ones, and now what is ultimately the most reckless of all is that in a period of uncertainty. Mark Carney says he wants to keep all of the spending that Justin Trudeau planned, and then stack $130 billion of more spending on top of that, for a total of a quarter of a trillion dollars of extra inflationary debt that will drive up the cost of food and fuel,” Poilievre said, questioning the reporter on why he’s being criticized for campaigning on economic growth.

“It’s not only wise, it’s essential for a change that we grow our economy.”

What would be reckless, he said, would be continuing with Liberal economic policy that’s done little but tank Canada’s economy over the past decade.

“What is actually responsible is to unleash our resources by repealing the no-development law C-69, getting rid of the Liberal energy cap, bringing in the shovel-ready zones that are pre-permitted for construction, incentivizing 2.3 million home builds,” Poilievre said.

The Conservatives unveiled their costed platform on Tuesday, with the aim to cut Canada’s deficit by 70%, lower taxes and eliminate wasteful spending and bureaucracy.

bpassifiume@postmedia.com