Poilievre pledges to cancel Parliament's 'summer vacation' to pass three key bills

OTTAWA — MPs can say goodbye to their summer plans if Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre becomes prime minister on Monday. Poilievre is promising to implement fast change in the first 100 days if his party ends up forming government. That means passing three bills in priority — on affordability, on crime and on the economy — to reverse many of the Liberals’ decisions in the last decade. “We need a new Conservative government that will get busy on day one,” pledged Poilievre during his announcement in Saskatoon on Friday. “So, I have some good news and bad news. The good news is Canadians can elect a government that will bring change. The bad news for the politicians is your summer vacation is canceled.” “We are going to keep Parliament open all summer long to pass three laws to bring change,” he added. The first piece of legislation — called The Affordability–For a Change Act — would seek to implement many of his key platform promises, including cutting income taxes by 15 per cent, axing the federal sales tax on new homes up to $1.3 million, repealing the entire carbon tax law including the industrial levy and scrapping the single-use plastics ban. “We cannot afford more expensive food to meet radical Liberal eco-fanaticism,” said Poilievre. “Our priority is affordable food for Canadians.” The second bill — The Safe Streets–For a Change Act — would introduce a “three strikes, you’re out” rule which would see offenders face a mandatory minimum 10-year prison sentence after three serious offences and restore consecutive sentences for multiple murderers, which would see the Conservatives use the notwithstanding clause. Poilievre promised his crime bill — which he described as the “biggest crackdown on crime in Canadian history” — would also extend to auto theft, tent cities and drugs. “We’ll crack down on organized crime, auto theft, extortion, arson, fraud, with tough new laws that make no more excuses, that ensure that people stay behind bars. We will give the police the power to shut down tent cities and get people real help, so our children don’t have to step on dirty needles and crack pipes,” he enumerated. Finally, The Bring Home Jobs–For a Change Act would repeal C-69 and C-48 which the Tories have tagged as anti-resource development laws and a “one-stop-shop” to approve resource projects within one year. It would also bring in a Canada First Reinvestment Tax Cut, which would allow capital gains tax referral when proceeds are reinvested in Canada. “Until these laws are passed, Parliament will not shut down for summer vacation. We need change. Change can’t wait, but the politicians’ vacations will have to wait,” said Poilievre. As part of his 100-day sprint, the Conservative leader is also promising to call U.S. President Donald Trump to end the tariffs on Canadian goods in exchange for an earlier negotiation to replace CUSMA with a new deal on trade and security. And he intends to get Phase 2 of LNG Canada built to double the project’s natural gas production. Poilievre has been doubling down on his message of “change” — a word he repeated dozens of times on Friday — in the final days of the campaign. With most polls showing Liberals could be re-elected for a fourth mandate and even aspire to a majority, Poilievre is attempting to mark a clear contrast by focusing on the party’s record in the last 10 years. He said a fourth Liberal term would mean “skyrocketing costs and crime,” more difficulties in accessing home ownership and Liberals shutting down key industries such as oil and gas which he said would weaken Canada’s economy with the threats from abroad. “This Liberal path not only means more poverty and hunger and helplessness and homelessness, but it also means more divisions in our country. After the Lost liberal decade of rising costs, crime and division, we can’t afford a fourth Liberal term,” he said. “We need a change, a change that will bring home an affordable, safe life and a united and strong Canada,” he added. “That’s the change we’re running on, and that is the change we’re going to deliver in the first 100 days.” Poilievre was expected to travel to Alberta and British Columbia before heading back to Ontario this weekend. He is set to hold an event in his Ottawa-area riding of Carleton Sunday evening. National Post calevesque@postmedia.com Get more deep-dive National Post political coverage and analysis in your inbox with the Political Hack newsletter, where Ottawa bureau chief Stuart Thomson and political analyst Tasha Kheiriddin get at what’s really going on behind the scenes on Parliament Hill every Wednesday and Friday, exclusively for subscribers. Sign up here. Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark nationalpost.com and sign up for our newsletters here.