Poilievre pitches tax cuts, LNG exports in Saint John

Federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre’s first day of touring Atlantic Canada included a stop in Saint John, N.B., to “enjoy a beer,” with the backdrop used to pan an excise tax on alcohol.

“So, if the carbon tax is enough to drive you to drink, well you’ll pay more tax when you do that too,” said Poilievre, speaking outside the Moosehead Small Batch Brewery Friday afternoon.

The official opposition leader concentrated his criticisms of Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government on taxes and gun control legislation.

“It is not the hunter in Grand Falls that is shooting up downtown Toronto,” said Poilievre. “It is the gangster who does repeated offences and gets out through the revolving door.”

Poilievre also made a local link between economic development and how it could help an ailing health-care system.

“I’ll give an example of that right here in New Brunswick,” said Poilievre. “There’s a potential for natural gas. We’ve got the Repsol import terminal. It can be reversed and used to export natural gas from right across Canada, but eventually, from right here in New Brunswick. That could generate billions of dollars.”

Poilievre’s mention of exporting liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Saint John has also been pushed by the provincial Blaine Higgs’ Progressive Conservative government.

Poilievre was expected to make additional appearances this weekend in Nova Scotia, as well as Newfoundland and Labrador.

Don Desserud, a political scientist at the University of Prince Edward Island, said Poilievre is still in the introductory stage of his leadership role, which began this past September.

“A lot of this is basically logistics,” said Desserud, referencing potential Atlantic stops in the next federal election. “I also think the Conservatives are trying to figure out exactly how Pierre Poilievre is selling to the public.”

“He’s been getting good crowds in Ontario and out west, but what’s it like out here?”

Of the 32 federal electoral seats in Atlantic Canada right now, 24 are Liberal and eight are Conservative.