Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre was in Vancouver on Wednesday, reflecting on his election loss and what his party needs to do as the Opposition while also preparing for the byelection in the Alberta riding of Battle River-Crowfoot.
This was his first visit to B.C. following the election to thank candidates and volunteers.
In a one-on-one with Global News, Poilievre said he is calling on Ottawa to cancel a loan to BC Ferries for new vessels.
He called it a “terrible decision.”
“We, as today, the Conservatives, federal Conservatives, have called for the Federal Infrastructure Bank to cancel the billion-dollar loan,” he said.
“We shouldn’t be giving federal tax dollars to subsidize jobs overseas. The federal government should only be funding job creation in Canada. And so that’s why we said let’s end this loan. It doesn’t have any benefit for the Canadian people.”
The loan from the Canada Infrastructure Bank means that the ferries will be cheaper to build. If the loan is cancelled, building the new ships will cost the B.C. taxpayers more.
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“We need to unleash a free enterprise system in this province and country,” Poilievre said.
“That will allow us to make stuff that’s affordable again. It’s not good enough to drive business away with high taxes and heavy red tape and then turn around and say, ‘Well, I guess we have to buy from the rest of the world what we could be making here at home.’”
Earlier this week, the House of Commons transport committee agreed to launch a study into the $1 billion loan BC Ferries received from the bank to finance the purchase of four new electric-diesel ships from a Chinese shipbuilder.
BC Ferries opened bidding for its major vessel replacement project to pre-qualified shipyards last September, and in June, announced it had chosen China Merchants Industry Weihai Shipyards (CMI Weihai) following a due diligence process.
Poilievre will now be campaigning to win a seat in Alberta.
Voters will be casting their ballots in an upcoming byelection after Poilievre lost his Ottawa-area seat of Carleton in April.
Damien Kurek, the Conservative MP for the riding, officially resigned to allow Poilievre to run.
Election day will be Aug. 18.
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