LILLEY: Poilievre vows to make Canada richest nation on Earth

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Pierre Poilievre says he wants to make life more affordable for Canadians and he says that includes making each of us richer.

In announcing his election platform on Tuesday, Poilievre took time to talk about the standard of living in Canada and how it is falling for younger Canadians.

He pointed to a federal government report, one produced by the Privy Council Office that serves the prime minister, which predicted falling living standards over the next 15 years.

“They predict hardly anyone believes they can build a better life for themselves or their children through their own efforts,” Poilievre said, quoting the report from earlier this year. “And many worry about sliding down the social order. It forecasts more people may struggle to afford rent, bills and groceries, resulting stress could worsen mental-health challenges.

“The good news is it doesn’t have to be this way. We can choose change. We can choose hope. We can choose our future.”

With that, Poilievre detailed his plan that includes a 15% cut in personal income taxes for anything below $57,375, which he says will save the average worker $900 per year. It includes fully scrapping the carbon tax and not just the part Liberal Leader Mark Carney eliminated. It also includes cutting taxes and development charges on new builds to reduce the price of a home.

Poilievre also promised a series of measures that would make it easier to build resource projects to put Canadians to work and make all of us wealthier. He said that his policies would make Canada the wealthiest country in the world.

“And by the way, richest country in the world is not just bragging points,” Poilievre said. “It’s not just to be at the top of the list of some OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) or a G7 publication. It means that our kids will grow up to have beautiful homes, that we’ll be able to afford the best health-care treatments. That young children who are diagnosed with a rare disease will have the resources to treat that disease and save their lives.”

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He went on to talk about schools being funded better, less poverty in our streets and money to afford the solutions that will help break the addiction cycle for so many.

Poilievre’s plan also calls for much lower deficits including $31 billion in his first year as opposed to Carney’s projected $62-billion deficit – that’s $20 billion higher than the deficit project by the Justin Trudeau government last December. Still, Carney calls his plan prudent and describes Poilievre’s plan as drawn up “on a napkin.”

The thing is, the Conservative plan was reviewed by and endorsed as fiscally sound by Philip Cross, a former chief economic analyst at Statistics Canada, and Tim Sargent, a former associate deputy minister at Finance Canada. People can quibble with the numbers, but outside people have looked at them and said they are realistic.

Meanwhile, Carney bristled when asked about criticism of his platform by Trevor Tombe, an economist with the University of Calgary who has often been cited as a reliable source by the Liberal government in the past. He was asked to respond to Tombe’s comments that Carney’s fiscal plan was unsustainable and when hearing the criticism, Carney bristled and said he knows more.

“Obviously, yes, it’s easy for me. I have more experience than him. It must be said,” Carney said when asked if Tombe was wrong.

In a follow-up question, Carney attempted to cut the journalist off as they asked about Poilievre’s plan being more fiscally responsible than his own. In the end, his answer was only to brag about his resume and experience and he mentioned Donald Trump in what seemed to be an attempt to scare people.

Poilievre and his plan have been endorsed by some of the biggest business executives in the country who have looked at both plans and said that the Conservatives will get Canada moving again. Remarkably, Poilievre and the Conservatives have also been endorsed by construction and skilled trades unions across the country for the very same reason.

You can choose Carney’s fear campaign or you can choose hope and change and put Canada back to work while making us the wealthiest country on Earth.