Tory leader Pierre Poilievre on Friday said he categorically rejects Prime Minister Mark Carney’s appointee Mark Wiseman’s Century Initiative that would open the floodgates of immigration.
Carney this week added the World Economic Forum’s Wiseman to his council of advisers on Canada-US relations.
Wiseman is the chairman of BlackRock Alternative Investors, Global Head of Active Equities at BlackRock Inc., and is co-founder of the Century Initiative, which would increase Canada’s population to 100 million by the end of the century.
“It shows the Liberals would be no different in their fourth term than the first three,” Poilievre told reporters.
“Liberals destroyed our immigration system in their first three terms in power. They followed a radical globalist ideology of massive, uncontrolled population growth that brought our housing market, health care and our job market down," said Poilievre.
“Corporate elites like Mr. Wiseman and Mr. Carney loved it because it drove wages down.”
“It’s terrible for our working class. It takes jobs away from our workers in numbers that we can't replace,” added Poilievre, noting the initiative would “nearly triple our population.”
“I will reject the Century Initiative.”
Poilievre instead promised to have a “common sense approach to immigration,” as governments prior to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberals always have.
Tories will “grow housing supply, healthcare and jobs faster than population growth,” he promised.
The Conservatives were the only party to vote against the Century Initiative unanimously, said Poilievre.
“That is the radical Liberal agenda on immigration.”
“We will get back to moderate, reasonable levels of immigration. Our country is built by common sense immigration.”
“Hiring Mr. Wiseman shows that Mr. Carney supports the same radical policies on immigration that Justin Trudeau and the Liberals supported during three terms. In three terms, they destroyed our immigration system, and now they want a fourth term of office to do exactly the same thing.”
“Obviously, Mr. Carney will continue with that radical policy. I reject it, and I clearly reject the initiative, the Century Initiative.”