U.S. needs Canada to help fight continent's real foes: Poilievre
"Yes, you'll do damage to us in the short term, but we will fight back and we will build back," Poilievre said
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OTTAWA — Knock it off.
That’s was Pierre Poilievre’s message Thursday to U.S. President Donald Trump, reacting to America’s latest salvo in their trade war against Canada.
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“Here he goes again, attacking his closest neighbour, and America’s best friend,” the Conservative Leader said to reporters at a press conference in Coquitlam, B.C.
“My message to President Trump is knock it off. Stop attacking America’s friends, start trading so that we can both become richer, stronger and more secure on both sides of the border.”
Only by working together, Poilievre said, can both nations best protect themselves from North America’s real enemies.
“We will never be the 51st state, but we can once again be friends with the United States if the President reverses course on these disastrous tariff threats.”
If Trump continues down this road, Poilievre said, he’ll need to understand the consequences of his actions.
“Yes, you’ll do damage to us in the short term, but we will fight back and we will build back,” Poilievre said.
Within four years of being elected, Poilievre promised, Canada’s economy will be rebuilt.
“We will not be reliant on the U.S. anymore, and the Americans will have lost the greatest trading partner and friend they’ve ever had,” he said.
“A Conservative government will build pipelines, LNG (liquefied natural gas) plants, aggressively promote mines and other resource infrastructure that’s been blocked for the past 10 years. We’ll have new overseas trading partners, we will knock down interprovincial trading barriers to that we can trade with ourselves.”
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On Thursday, Poilievre announced, if elected, he would increase annual contribution limits to Tax Free Savings Accounts (TFSA) by $5,000, to a total of $13,000 per year — but only on investments made in Canadian companies.
The Tories say that will reward Canadians for investing their money in Canadian businesses to help bolster Canada’s economy.
Introduced during the Stephen Harper government, former PM Justin Trudeau reduced annual TFSA limits from $10,000 to $5,000 during his first year in office before tying the contribution limit to inflation.
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