Federal Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre says he doesn’t have a preference between the two provincial political parties who, like his own, want to eliminate the carbon tax.
Speaking at a campaign-style stop in Terrace May 17, Poilievre said he hoped British Columbians going to the provincial polls this fall will elect a “common sense government that will axe the tax, build the homes, fix the budget and stop the crime.”
”In terms of which party that’s up to British Columbians,” he said.
He stopped short of indicating whether voters should choose the provincial Conservative party or BC United.
“So obviously, I’m not going to interfere in the decision of the British Columbians,” Poilievre continued.
“They can decide for themselves which common sense government they elect to axe the tax, build the homes, fix the budget and stop the crime.”
Poilievre’s comments come at a time when opinion polling suggests the BC Conservative party is running ahead of the B.C. United party and has gained ground on the NDP.
A poll by Abacus Data suggests the NDP would still be re-elected by taking 40 per cent of the vote and the provincial Conservatives would collect 34 per cent of the vote with BC United trailing at 13 per cent.
Although Poilievre would not say whether he favoured either the provincial Conservatives or BC United, he had choice words for NDP premier David Eby.
Speaking in Terrace in March Eby called Poilievre’s campaign office a “clown factory” for its opposition to carbon taxes.
“This is from the guy who allowed people to smoke meth in hospital rooms and blow meth smoke into the face of nurses who couldn’t breastfeed their kids,” Poilievre said.
“I think that the NDP premier should look in the mirror if he wants to before he insults other people. I mean, he and Justin Trudeau allowed people to smoke crack in children’s parks,” he added referring to the now-cancelled experiment to permit consuming illegal drugs in public.
Poilievre and Ellis Ross, the BC United MLA for Skeena who won’t be running in this fall’s provincial election because he wants to be the federal Conservative MP for Skeena - Bulkley Valley when voters go to the federal polls in 2025 visited the Altagas Ridley Island Export Facility in Prince Rupert, Daybreak Farms in Terrace, Seaton Forest Products in the Hazeltons and All West Glass in Smithers as part of a Northwest B.C. tour.
In response to a question from Kieran McKeown from Daybreak Farms, Poilievre said a federal Conservative government would keep supply management of food products such as eggs.
That’s a policy whereby the quantity and pricing of certain food products are set so producers can expect a predictable income.
His visit to the northwest was the fourth in less than two years, a likely indication the federal Conservatives believe they have a chance of winning the riding in the 2025 federal election.
It is now held by New Democrat Taylor Bachrach who won the seat in the 2019 federal election after fellow New Democrat Nathan Cullen, now the provincial representative for Stikine, decided not to run again. Bachrach was re-elected in 2021.