Carbon pricing to cause economic ‘nuclear winter,’ Poilievre tells his MPs

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre signaled the Liberals’ carbon price and the economy will remain his prime target when Parliament resumes this week.

He painted a dystopian picture during a Sunday morning speech to his caucus, saying the Liberal government’s plans to increase the price would cause a “nuclear winter” for the economy.

He says further increases would cause widespread hunger and malnutrition and force seniors to turn down the heat in their homes just to stay afloat.

He argues inflation would also run rampant and cause a collapse of the domestic economy.

The Conservatives are the last of the major parties to have a fall strategy session after the Liberals, NDP and Bloc Québécois all met last week.

Poilievre has maintained his party’s commanding lead in the polls throughout the summer, and is preparing to make another push to topple the Liberal government as early as this week.

All parties are adjusting their autumn plans after NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh ended the agreement that was ensuring the Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government would stay in power.

Poilievre has promised to bring in a non-confidence motion at his first opportunity, and that could happen as early as Monday.

The Tories would likely need the support of both the NDP and the Bloc to pass the motion, which appears unlikely.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 15, 2024.