Pierre Poilievre made his final Conservative party leadership campaign stop in Regina Wednesday evening as part of a two-day trip across Saskatchewan before moving on to Manitoba..The event was at the Atlas Hotel, which included a meet and greet..Conservative party members could fill out their leadership race ballots at a voting station across from the hall where the event took place..On his third tour through Saskatchewan, Poilievre stopped in Battleford, Prince Albert, Weyburn, Estevan, and Regina..The last official Conservative leadership debate was held the same evening as Poilievre’s rally, as he choose not to attend and received $50,000 in fines..Poilievre said he would rather speak to supporters in the hall and through the Facebook live stream of the rally..“There’s no place I’d rather be right now,” said Poilievre..“I’m told that I could have, instead of being here with all of you in Saskatchewan, I could have been cooped up in a little hotel room around a small table listening to a defeated Liberal premier [Jean Charest] drone on about his latest carbon tax idea.”.Poilievre said he would “rather be out here talking to real people” than at the Ottawa debate..Poilievre criticized Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his policies, especially towards the western provinces and territories..In his speech, he talked about supporting the energy sector, inflation, free speech, carbon tax, and eliminating gatekeepers..After the speech, former Conservative leader and Regina Qu’Appelle MP Andrew Scheer took questions emailed in by people across the country and asked Poilievre the questions in a fireside chat style..In Poilievre's answers, he said he plans to defund the CBC and get rid of the ArriveCAN app..After the fireside chat, Poilievre had a meet and greet with the attendees..The rally was not as big as past events where thousands showed up, but they packed the room full and it was much larger than Leslyn Lewis had the previous week in Regina at the Sandman Hotel..On Thursday, Poilievre’s first stop in Manitoba is in Brandon for a meet and greet at the Victoria Inn followed on Friday at the Morris Multiplex in Morris.
