Roaring crowd welcomes Pierre Poilievre for first election visit to P.E.I.

Tuesday night was a roaring welcome to P.E.I. for Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, who was met by hundreds of people packed shoulder to shoulder for a rally in Borden-Carleton.

It was the first official visit by a party leader during the campaign running up to the April 28 federal election, and the crowd cheered Poilievre repeatedly during his nearly 50-minute speech at MacDougall Steel Erectors.

The party estimates roughly 1,700 people were in attendance, including all four Island Conservative candidates were there.

Some in the crowd said they had never seen a political rally this big on P.E.I.

"Thank you, Prince Edward Island," Poilievre said on stage, greeting the crowd. "Who's ready for change in Canada? Who's ready to get rid of those terrible tolls on the [Confederation] Bridge? Who's ready to axe some taxes?"

Poilievre covered a range of topics in his speech, such as the economy, fishing, farming, defence, immigration and energy.

He also spoke of his plan to reduce overall government spending and reduce income taxes by 15 per cent, while increasing spending in departments like defence and introducing programs to cover costs for people in the trades. 

Poilievre took no questions from the media or the public and made no new announcements specific to P.E.I, other than repeating his commitment to get rid of Confederation Bridge tolls and make life more affordable for Island families. 

Unaffordable homes, younger generations a primary focus

Throughout his speech, Poilievre took aim at the Liberal government's nearly 10-year tenure — calling it a "lost Liberal decade," and pointing to rising food prices, housing costs and younger generations struggling to make a living as primary concerns.

"An entire generation is blocked from the dream of home ownership after this lost Liberal decade," he said. 

"We see despair in the faces of our young people who don't know how they'll move forward with their plans to enjoy a family, and build equity in a future home. We have people giving up on the future of this country."

He also spoke about how his government would be better suited to tackle tariffs and trade disputes with the Trump administration, by working to cut trade barriers within Canada, build eastern pipelines and create an economy that is less reliant on trade with America.

"My friends, the question in the election is very simple: After the lost Liberal decade of costs and crime up, and our economy down under Trump's thumb, are we going to give the Liberals a fourth term in power?" he asked, before the crowd booed and shouted: "No!"

"Or is it time to put Canada first for a change?"

Poilievre ended the evening by saying that under a Conservative government, better days would be coming for all Canadians.

"Hope and change are on the way," he said. "A brighter future is coming."