Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is launching a national campaign to stop what he calls Prime Minister Mark Carney’s law to end gas and diesel powered cars in Canada, warning it will drive up costs and end rural life.Speaking at a Prairie farm today, Poilievre said Conservatives will table motions in Parliament, stage events at dealerships, pressure Liberal MPs in their ridings, and circulate petitions. . “Put Canadians back in the driver’s seat,” said Poilievre, framing the plan as a fight for affordability and consumer choice..Most Canadians want proof before accepting unmarked indigenous graves at Kamloops residential school.Poilievre said the government’s mandate begins January 1 and would force 20% of new vehicle sales to be electric in 2026, rising each year until a full ban on new gas vehicles by 2035. Poilievre pointed out that any sale above a dealer’s quota would face a $20,000 levy, a cost he said would land on consumers. Poilievre also cited industry warnings about winter driving range loss of up to 40% and argued comparable EVs cost about $20,000 more than gas models..“Farmers, ranchers, and resource workers can’t run their lives on a battery in minus 40,” said Poilievre, adding the charging network and transmission upgrades would cost $300 billion. Poilievre said the policy would erase small towns and “crush” Canada’s auto sector.The Conservative leader tied the issue to broader economic anxieties, accusing Carney of being “weak” on Chinese trade actions against prairie canola, and criticizing a federal loan to BC Ferries to buy ships built in China. .EDITORIAL: Prairie backbone: Sask, Alberta say yes to freedom, rest of Canada says no.Poilievre also pledged to scrap what he called Carney’s “energy cap,” the industrial carbon tax, and federal laws he says block pipelines and mines, including C-69 and the northern BC oil tanker ban.“Canadians should pick the truck or car that works for them, not what Ottawa orders,” said Poilievre. He promised the Conservatives campaign would run through the fall sitting of the House of Commons.
