Poilievre commits to Canada's oil and gas sector at campaign stop in St. John's

Abby Cole · CBC News

· Posted: Apr 01, 2025 11:02 AM EDT | Last Updated: 9 minutes ago

Federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre made commitments to boosting Canada's lipid and gas sector during a visit to St. John's connected Tuesday morning as portion of his Atlantic plaything connected the run trail.

Poilievre began his sojourn with a stop at Olympic Construction wherever helium focused his support on Newfoundland and Labrador's offshore.

"I enactment Newfoundland and Labrador's program to treble accumulation of lipid and gas," helium said, adding helium volition assistance accelerated permits to Placentia Bay's liquefied earthy state facility to vessel much lipid to Europe and "break European dependence connected [Vladimir] Putin." 

Poilievre he'll remove the vigor cap that, "will forestall our manufacture from increasing and adjacent unit it to shrink successful size."

In Newfoundland and Labrador, this includes boosting offshore lipid drilling, which helium claims Liberal Leader Mark Carney volition prevent. 

"He wants to support it successful the crushed and that includes nether the water floor," said Poilievre. "[Carney] will not let immoderate offshore improvement present successful in Newfoundland. To support it successful the ground, helium would person to artifact immoderate further projects from going ahead."

Energy assemblage CEOs called connected Ottawa successful March to usage exigency powers to velocity up cardinal projects. In a letter to the governmental leaders, the CEOs of 10 of the largest lipid and earthy state companies and the 4 largest pipeline companies outlined their program to fortify Canadian economical sovereignty.

The missive included a committedness to make firmer deadlines for task approvals, asking that projects beryllium approved wrong six months of application.

If elected, Poilievre said that's precisely what he'll do, calling it the "build Canada demand."

He besides said helium volition marque a much drastic chopped to the national c tax, pointing at the concern broadside of the tax rather than conscionable the user portion, which was dropped connected Tuesday and decreased state and diesel prices successful Newfoundland and Labrador by implicit 20 cents per litre.

"If you taxation the industrial backbone of the country, you taxation each azygous idiosyncratic who lives successful a modern economy," said Poilievre. 

Lastly, he committed to "unlocking the powerfulness of First Nations workers" with Indigenous indebtedness guarantees, and establishing the Canadian Indigenous Opportunities Corporation (CIOC). 

"I privation Indigenous radical to beryllium the richest radical successful the world, but that means allowing them the indebtedness guarantees to get their investments into these projects." Poilievre said.

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