Poilievre sticks with ‘axe the tax,’ adds policy details as election nears

OTTAWA — The Conservatives’ favourite slogan — “axe the tax” — has been a rallying cry for the better part of three years as frustrated Canadians looked for relief from the rising cost of living.

But now, with key Liberal leadership candidates backing away from the federal consumer carbon price, some have been asking whether the Tories need to axe their slogan as well.

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On Saturday, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre put the speculation to rest.

“After much reflection, I have concluded the carbon tax will be an even bigger issue in the coming election,” he told supporters at a rally in downtown Ottawa.

Here is a closer look at what Poilievre says he’ll do if his party forms the next government.

‘Axe the tax’

Poilievre has always said he would scrap the consumer carbon price. It’s not clear if he would keep the industrial carbon price, which is paid by big polluters.

“Axing the carbon tax is only the beginning,” he said at the party’s “Canada First” rally on Saturday.

“We will also go ahead with the biggest and most patriotic tax cut in Canada’s history — the ‘Bring it home’ tax cut. It will lower taxes on energy, work, homebuilding, investment and making stuff in Canada.”

‘Build the homes’

The Conservatives’ plan to get more homes built also involves a tax cut: lifting the GST on the construction of new homes with rental prices below market value and on new homes sold for less than $1 million.

In September, Poilievre announced plans to pass legislation he said would provide a “powerful carrot-and-stick incentive to speed up homebuilding.”

The legislation would require cities to increase the number of homes they build by 15 per cent per year or risk losing federal funding, and would pay bonuses to municipalities that exceed the target.

‘Fix the budget’

Poilievre said Saturday that his government would run its budget the same way Canadians run their household budgets. “We will be required to find $1 of savings for every new dollar of spending,” he said.

He pledged to cut “bureaucracy, consultants and corporate welfare.”

The Conservatives say they would also cut foreign aid. Poilievre has claimed that much of Canada’s annual $15 billion in aid and development funding goes to “dictators, terrorists and global bureaucracies.”

The Conservatives claim the savings would allow them to cut taxes and bring down the federal deficit, which stood at $62 billion as of December.

Poilievre told right-wing media personality and psychologist Jordan Peterson in a December interview that he will “bring back a monetary discipline to bring down inflation, (and) stop the money printing.”

‘Stop the crime’

Poilievre has pledged to end what he calls the Liberals’ “hug a thug” policies.

He announced on Feb. 5 a plan to impose mandatory life sentences for anyone convicted of producing or trafficking more than 40 mg of fentanyl, and mandatory sentences of 15 years in prison for people who produce or traffic more than 20 mg.

He also plans to repeal three laws: C-5, C-75 and C-83.

Bill C-5 amended the Criminal Code and the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act to end mandatory minimum sentences and allow conditional sentences or diversion programs for some offenders. It was passed after the Supreme Court of Canada struck down a number of mandatory minimum penalties in a 2016 decision, ruling they were unconstitutional.

Bill C-83, which came in after a 2019 appeal court ruling, changed the Corrections and Conditional Release Act to create “structured intervention units” as a replacement for solitary confinement in prisons, and ended the use of segregation as punishment.

Bill C-75 was passed in 2019 and made multiple changes that, among other things, modernized and clarified bail provisions for the first time since 1972.

Poilievre has pledged bail reform and told Peterson that “the biggest crackdown on crime in Canadian history” will mean “habitual offenders will not get out of jail anymore.”

Trump’s tariff threats

Poilievre has said he will match U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs on Canadian goods with retaliatory tariffs.

“We will carefully target American goods that we don’t need, can produce ourselves or we can get elsewhere to maximize the impact on Americans while minimizing the impact on ourselves,” he said Saturday, pledging also to return 100 per cent of the proceeds to businesses and workers, and to fund a tax cut.

Poilievre also said he will leverage the things Americans need, such as natural gas, minerals, radar surveillance and co-operation in continental defence through Norad.

On the border, he’s promised military surveillance and helicopters, along with 2,000 new border agents with expanded powers.

He also has said he will diversify Canadian trade, encourage more interprovincial trade and support a west-to-east pipeline project.

Immigration

Poilievre has promised to slow down the immigration intake and crack down on fraud in the international student and temporary foreign worker programs.

He has said the Conservatives would limit population growth so that it keeps pace with the number of new homes being built.

Poilievre told a Saskatchewan radio station in January that he would take a “last in, first out” approach to asylum claims, so that people who come to Canada as refugees have their claims assessed quickly and those who are ineligible to claim asylum are deported.

“It would signal to any false refugee claimant that if they come to Canada, they’re not going to be staying here for seven years while we pay for their lawyers, food, housing and other handouts,” he said in an interview with CKOM.

Indigenous affairs

On Saturday, Poilievre said he wants “the First Nations people of Canada to be the richest people in the world.”

He pledged to “incentivize” Indigenous leaders to support energy projects like pipelines, liquid natural gas plants and mining projects, including the Ring of Fire in Ontario, by “letting companies pay a share of their federal corporate taxes to local First Nations.”

“And by the way, that will allow First Nations to spend that on clean drinking water and a better future for their people,” he said.

Military and Arctic security

On Feb. 10 the Conservatives pledged to build a new permanent Arctic military base in Iqaluit, recruit another 2,000 Canadian Rangers and buy two new polar icebreakers as part of their plan to secure the region.

“Our military will be guided by a warrior culture and not a woke culture,” Poilievre said Saturday.

The Canadian Armed Forces is in the midst of a culture change that began in 2021, when a series of high-profile military leaders were removed from their jobs or resigned after being accused of sexual misconduct.

An external review of the forces’ culture made 48 recommendations to address sexual harassment and misconduct.

Statues and place names

Poilievre said Saturday that his government will make it official policy to build statues of Sir John A. Macdonald, the country’s first prime minister, and to reinstate his name in parks, public structures and “places of national importance.”

Macdonald’s name and likeness have been removed from streets and monuments across the country in recent years in acknowledgment of his role in creating the residential school system.

Poilievre has pledged to return to a version of the Canadian passport that features Terry Fox, the Bluenose and the Fathers of Confederation, and to introduce Criminal Code penalties for defacing or tearing down statues or monuments.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 17, 2025.

Sarah Ritchie, The Canadian Press