Around 1,000 people came to cheer on Conservative leadership candidate Pierre Poilievre at a rally at Rio Banquet Hall in Calgary. .“If I was starting a new political party, I would call it the Mind Your Own Damn Business Party,” said Poilievre at the Saturday event. .Poilievre said he has helped the Conservatives become the largest political party in Canada. He said people are voting for him because they are “tired of big bossy governments.” .He condemned Western University in London, ON, for enacting a COVID-19 booster policy. COVID-19 restrictions would be eliminated if he becomes prime minister. .Poilievre spoke about how inflation has led to single mothers skipping meals, workers not being able to travel to visit dying family members, and young people living in their parents' basements. He said he would fire the Bank of Canada governor and hire one who would stop printing money. .Poilievre went on to say he would fight inflation by cutting spending. The Canada Infrastructure Bank would be eliminated to save $35 billion. .He said he would ax the Canada Infrastructure Bank because “it has not completed a single solitary project in five years, even though it has paid out bonuses to executives.”.He promised to defund the CBC, which was met with loud applause. .Poilievre said he would enact a pay as you go law, requiring the Canadian government to find one dollar in savings for every dollar in spending. There would be exceptions for emergencies. .He said “local government gatekeepers stand in the way of housing with slow and expensive building permits that limit the ability of builders to build.” Under his leadership, infrastructure funding to local governments will be based on the number of houses they build. .He said he will require every federally-funded transit project have high-density housing built nearby. The Canadian government will sell off 15% of federal buildings to be converted into housing, and he joked one of them will be the CBC. .Poilievre said Canada has advantages when it comes to producing natural gas. Natural gas has to be liquified by being chilled to be shipped, and Canada has a ton of cold weather. .The Conservative leadership candidate said he would approve environmentally responsible liquified natural gas projects. This natural gas will be shipped to Europe to address its energy crisis. .He added he would repeal Bill C-48 and C-69 and scrap the carbon tax to expand oil and gas development. According to him, these pro-oil and gas policies will make it reasonable for the Canadian government to ban importing foreign oil within five years. .He concluded his rally by speaking about how former prime minister John Diefenbaker said Canada loves freedom. .“It was this freedom that Canada was built on,” he said. .“I will fight for Canada’s heritage of freedom.” .Conservative MP Stephanie Kusie (Calgary-Midnapore) introduced Poilievre when the rally started. .“He is fighting for freedom,” said Kusie. .“He is standing up to the gatekeepers.” .Poilievre’s rally at Spruce Meadows in Calgary in April saw 5,000 people attend. .READ MORE: Poilievre gets rock star welcome in Calgary.This rally was his most attended since he began campaigning..Cars were backed up for two kilometres on the highway leading to Spruce Meadows.
