Poilievre says costed platform is coming 'soon,' becoming last leader to release a plan
Conservative leader blasts Carney for big spending promises but hasn't released a plan of his own yet
With about a week left before election day and well over two million ballots cast so far, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre still hasn't released a costed platform outlining his vision for the country and how he'd pay for his multibillion-dollar commitments.
Conservative campaign sources told CBC News the platform is not expected to be released on Easter Sunday, even though advance voting ends Monday.
Speaking to reporters in Richmond, B.C., on Saturday, Poilievre said Canadians already know "95 per cent" of what a government led by him would do because he's been rolling out policies throughout the campaign.
He promised a platform would be released "soon," making him the last major party leader to put a plan before voters after Liberal Leader Mark Carney and NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh released their platforms over the weekend.
"We need a change and Conservatives will bring that change in our platform," he said.
Poilievre tore into Carney for promising billions of dollars in new spending for housing, infrastructure and military measures, among other commitments, saying the level of spending is "shocking."
But the Tory leader hasn't given many details about how he will pay for what he's pitching, including a sizable middle-class tax cut that will set the federal treasury back some $14 billion a year, according to early campaign estimates.
Poilievre's tax cut is more generous than what Carney has promised. The average worker will save some $900 a year as a result of the cut, according to a party backgrounder — but it's also a lot more expensive.
To fund his agenda, at least in part, Poilievre has promised to defund the CBC — while keeping its French-language service, Radio-Canada — but the savings from that commitment would be well less than $1 billion a year, given the parliamentary appropriation to fund both divisions was about $1.5 billion last fiscal year.
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He has also vowed to do away with some of Canada's foreign aid, which is a big ticket item.
According to the government's estimates, Ottawa allocated some $5.6 billion last year for what it calls "development, peace and security programming," among other budget line items that help fund projects and diplomacy abroad.
In total, about $12 billion a year is spent on some form of foreign and refugee resettlement, which is classified as aid, according to Global Affairs Canada data.
Poilievre also pledged to find $1 billion in new tax revenue by cracking down on Canadians holdings assets in off-shore tax havens.
Eliminating the English public broadcaster, targeting tax havens and stopping all foreign aid of any kind still wouldn't be enough to pay for Poilievre's tax cut — let alone his other commitments like boosting Canada's defence spending to two per cent of GDP by 2030 and eliminating the GST on new home purchases.
Poilievre's GST commitment is pricier than what Carney is promising because the Liberal plan knocks the sales tax off new homes purchased only by first-time homebuyers.
To address the budget shortfall, Poilievre said Saturday, like Carney, he will "cap" government spending.
He's also promised in the past to implement what he's calling a "dollar for dollar" law so that every new dollar spent by the federal government must be followed by a cut to spending elsewhere — but the details of what could get the axe are unknown.
"The choice here is do you want more Liberal debt, more taxes and more inflation on housing or do we want a Conservative government that will cut costs, cut spending and make life more affordable. That is the choice," he said.
Poilievre has blasted the Liberals for running huge deficits for much of the post-COVID period, with Carney likely to continue that phenomenon now that he says he needs to spend more to backstop the economy as the country stares down U.S. President Donald Trump and his trade war.
Poilievre has long promised to turn the page on that level of spending and "fix" the country's books by returning to a balanced budget.
But asked Saturday when he'd get Ottawa back to black, Poilievre was noncommittal, only saying, "we're going to bring the deficit down."
The Liberal platform includes $35.2 billion in new spending over the next year, and $129 billion in new measures — which include tax cuts — over the next four years.
The spending is heavily focused on building, including in defence, housing and trade infrastructure like ports and highways.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh released his own platform Saturday. The document forecasts a net increase to the federal deficit of $48 billion over four years, a tally that builds in large offsets from a new tax on the so-called "super rich."
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With files from The Canadian Press