Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre held a rousing rally in Ottawa on Saturday announcing he would change the face of Canadian energy if elected prime minister.
Noting Alberta oil has to go through the US to get to Quebec, he said if a full trade war breaks out, that oil could be cut off.
Poilievre announced with 60 days of taking office he would repeal Bill C-69, the no more pipeline law. He said he would get energy infrastructure built quickly.
He also said he supported a cross-Canada pipeline to carry Western Canadian oil to refineries in New Brunswick.
Poilievre noted the threat of Donald Trump's tariffs have united the country.
“Sometimes it does take a threat to remind us of what we have, what we could lose and what we could become,” he said.
“The unjustified threats of tariffs and 51st statehood from Donald Trump have united our people to defend the country we love.”
“You will turn a loyal friend into a resentful neighbour, forced to match tariff with tariff and to seek friends everywhere else, both our economies will weaken, leaving less money for defence and security, and our enemies will grow stronger."
He said the money from the new Canadian tariffs will go to the workers affected by American ones or to cut taxes, and not to the government.
"They will pay the price for the decision to punish our country," he said.
"Never confuse our kindness with weakness. We love our country and our flag. We are mild-mannered and made of steel."
"Let me be clear, we will never be the 51st state."
He blamed the Liberals for the country having to import oil despite the fact the country has the fourth larget reserves on Earth.
He said within 30 days of taking office he would host a First Minister's Conference to deal with things like inter-provincial trade barriers and the issue of foreign doctors' credentials.
The rally was held on the 60th anniversary of the Canadian flag.
Poilievre called the carbon tax the worst Liberal policy of all, adding an increased carbon tax in April, along with Trump tariffs, would decimated the economy.
Poilievre repeated his promised to axe the GST on new homes, a move he said would lead to the construction of 30,000 new homes.
He vowed to turn the Canadian Armed Forces into a "warrior" culture and not a "woke one."
He said American companies will need Canadian power to operate their proposed massive AI sites.
Poilievre noted it was Conservative leader John A. MacDonald who helped found Canada in 1867.
"That is the rich Conservative legacy to Canada," he said.
"If there was no John A. MacDonald, there would be no Canada," adding he will create new statues and buildings and name them after the first prime minister.
He said he will put Terry Fox and Vimy Ridge back to the Canadian passport after they were taken off by the Liberals.
...more to come