Poilievre draws roaring crowd at ‘Axe the Tax’ rally in Winnipeg

Hours after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced a date for the Elmwood-Transcona byelection, Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre took to the stage in front of a jam-packed crowd at Canad Inns Club Regent in Winnipeg on Sunday afternoon.

“Who’s ready to axe the tax, who’s ready to build the homes, who’s going to fix the budget, and who’s ready to stop the crime?” Poilievre asked the hundreds of supporters in attendance.

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The event advertised as an ‘Axe the Tax’ rally through a series of robocalls and automated text messages, served as a campaign launch for Colin Reynolds, the Conservative candidate in the riding.

Reynolds, a construction electrician, said the current federal government doesn’t represent union workers.

“Being an electrician requires hard work, diligence and accountability, because if you don't do the job right, the lights go out, or worse,” Reynolds said to the crowd. “Most of all, being an electrician requires common sense, just like the next job I hope to do for you as your Member of Parliament.”

The federal byelection, set for Sept. 16, comes after NDP MP Daniel Blaikie resigned from his seat to work alongside Premier Wab Kinew.

Transcona BIZ executive director Leila Dance (NDP), former teacher and Manitoba Teachers’ Society president Ian MacIntyre (Liberal), and Nic Geddert (Green Party) will join Reynolds on the ballot.

Poilievre described the upcoming byelection as a “mini carbon tax referendum.”

“[Reynolds] understands that protecting our environment is about technology, not taxes,” Poilievre said.

Poilievre spoke emphatically and, at times, candidly to his raucous supporters, who were waving signs emblazoned with slogans like ‘Stop the Crime’ and ‘Common Sense.’

During his 45-minute speech, the Conservative leader touched on topics such as housing, bureaucracy, crime, and affordability.

“Instead of creating more cash, we’re going to create more of what cash buys, grow more food, build more homes, and produce more Canadian energy and resources here in this country,” he said.

Poilievre promised, if elected, he‘d create a tax reform task force within 60 days of taking office with a goal of lowering taxes for working-class Canadians. He also vowed to repeal Bill C-69 to make way for more pipelines and mines, as well as build the Port of Churchill.

Poilievre also spoke about investing in trade schools, implementing a “blue seal” endorsement – akin to the red seal bestowed on tradespeople – for doctors and nurses, and introducing tax write-offs for travelling tradespeople.

“If a CEO can write off his private jet, then a welder or an electrician should be able to write off the cost of getting to work too,” Poilievre exclaimed.

On the housing front, Poilievre pledged his government would build more homes by streamlining permit processes and setting build targets for municipal governments. He added they would sell off 6,000 federal buildings and thousands of acres of federal land.

“It used to be if you had a decent job out of high school, by your mid-20s, you’d be able to afford a house,” he said.

He also spoke at length about drugs and crime – vowing to end what he called the ‘catch and release’ criminal justice system.

“My common sense plan will make anybody with a long rap sheet ineligible for bail, parole, house arrest, or any other free ride.”

Poilievre took moments throughout his address to champion right-wing rhetoric, including plans to defund the CBC, repeal censorship laws, and squash COVID-19 vaccine mandates, saying, “Enough is enough.”

He ended the speech by likening Canada’s current state of affairs to the 1930s, and harkened back to the generation who lived through the Great Depression and Second World War as the framework for his vision.

“They simply went from the battlefields to the farm fields and the factories, and in the three decades that followed, they paid off our entire national debt and handed the highest standard of living to our country that the world has ever seen,” Poilieve told the roaring audience. “The hardest roads lead to the best destinations, and we have the best destination in store.”