Poilievre holds ‘Canada First’ rally in Surrey after Coquitlam visit
Posted March 28, 2025 6:46 am.
Last Updated March 28, 2025 4:45 pm.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre called Surrey one of the most welcoming places in the world as he kicked off his “Canada First” rally in that city Thursday evening.
The cost of living and crime took center stage as he addressed hundreds of attendees at the event.
“Life has never been more expensive, our streets have never been more dangerous, our economy has never been more vulnerable, and we have never been so much under the American thumb as we are after the ‘Lost Liberal Decade,'” Poilievre said.
This is a message being echoed by all the main party leaders, all pitching themselves as the best option to deal with Trump’s tariffs.
Poilievre promised attendees that a Conservative government would cut income tax by 15 per cent.
He says many people who build homes in Canada can’t afford to live in them.
“That is why we are going to cut back on the taxes and bureaucracy, starting with my leadership and the team of our Conservative Party, to eliminate the federal sales tax on homes under $1.3 million,” he said.
Poilievre is one of the first major party leaders to visit B.C. so far this campaign period, with his first stop at an event in Coquitlam earlier Thursday.
Poilievre spent the day speaking at the Western Forest Products mill in Nanaimo Friday.
He pledged to impose life sentences and reform some bail practices, adding that mandatory minimum sentences are needed to prevent criminals from repeat offences.
The party leader referred to some criminals as “monsters who kill our people and endanger our communities” who need to “go to jail for life.”
The Tories have repeatedly criticized the Liberals for removing some mandatory minimum sentences after courts had found some of those penalties to be unconstitutional.
Poilievre says he was glad to hear the prime minister spoke with the U.S. president Friday and hopes they had a successful conversation.
“Regardless of what was said. What is now clear is that it was a mistake, over the last lost Liberal decade, to weaken our economy and become more dependent on the Americans.”
