REGINA - Federal Conservative House Leader Andrew Scheer made clear that he is not expecting much to change after Justin Trudeau announced he will be stepping down as Prime Minister.
“Unfortunately for Canadians, today's announcement really won't change anything, and that is because Liberals support everything that Justin Trudeau has done,” said Scheer to reporters Monday at his constituency office in Regina.
“All the policies that have inflicted so much misery on Canadians have all been supported by Liberal MPs, Liberal leadership contenders. So, that's why we have been calling for a carbon tax election to allow Canadians to elect a new government that will put an end to the hiking of the carbon tax, the doubling of housing costs, and the prioritization of the rights of criminals ahead of the rights of law-abiding Canadians.”
Trudeau announced Monday he will step down as Liberal leader once a new Leader is chosen. He also prorogued the House until March 24, bringing a halt for the time 小蓝视频 to Conservative efforts to force a new non-confidence vote and a federal election.
Scheer, MP for Regina- Qu’Appelle, made it known he thought Trudeau should have called an election “a long time ago.”
“He promised to, you know, going into the 2019 election, he promised the carbon tax wouldn't go up. He's since been raising it. He's raised taxes on small businesses, on farmers. He promised to keep the deficit to an already insane $40 billion and then blew past that economic guardrail. So, he's continuing to inflict damage on Canadians. Canadians still have to suffer.”
Scheer pointed to Canadians lining up at food banks and “moving out of their homes into tents and into their cars” because of Trudeau housing policies. He also pointed to concerns about safety.
“Our communities are much less safe because he's let dangerous and repeat offenders out onto the streets,” said Scheer.
Scheer said that is what needs to change, saying it is “not about which face will be on election posters going into the next election.”
“It's not as if Canadians have soured on Justin Trudeau because they've got tired of looking at him. It's because of his policies. They're tired of going to food banks. They're tired of having to pick up a roast of beef and put it back on the shelf because they can't afford it. Their paycheques used to be able to afford nutritious, high-quality food for themselves and their families. And that's changed because of Justin Trudeau's inflationary policies. Canadians are tired of turning the thermostat down because they can't afford their home heating costs because of the carbon tax. Farmers are tired of all the pressures that Trudeau has added onto their lives with the carbon tax and with capital gains tax hikes.
“So, that's why they're upset with this Liberal government. And a new Liberal leader who supports all those same policies won't change anything for them. So, we're optimistic that we're on the side of Canadians, that we're offering real change.”
Scheer also took aim at potential leadership hopeful Mark Carney, or as he calls him, “Mark Carbon Tax Carney.”
“He loves the carbon tax. He loves running massive deficits and believing that he can spend Canadians' money better than they themselves can.”
As for what the Conservatives will do to counter the attention the Liberals will receive during their leadership race, Scheer said all they have to do is “point out that every single leadership contender, whose name has been floated today, all support Justin Trudeau's policies.”
“They were there clapping and applauding and voting in favour of legislation that hiked the carbon tax. They were there voting in favour of budgets that ran massive deficits that pushed up inflation and interest rates. They were there gladly voting in favour of bills that let dangerous and repeat offenders out onto the streets with easy bail conditions.”
As for federal NDP leader Jagmeet Singh telling reporters Monday that he will pull the plug on the Liberal government when Parliament gets back, Scheer said Singh “has put his pension before Canadians now for months.”
“He had a big theatrical display back in September where he pretended to rip up the coalition deal. Then he voted with Justin Trudeau to prop him up eight times. So, we'll see. We're hopeful that he has suddenly found some integrity and that he's not going to swallow himself whole as he did in the fall. But one thing that we've been consistent about is Canadians have the right to choose for themselves a new government, a different direction where we can restore the promise of Canada.”
As for the suggestion from Trudeau that the reason he was proroguing Parliament was due to the paralysis in Ottawa, Scheer responded it was “just completely false.”
“Justin Trudeau has chosen to grind Parliament to a halt with his refusal to comply with a lawful order to hand over documents concerning his corruption scandal. $400 million of Canadians taxpayers money funneled to Liberal insiders and he has chosen to keep Parliament seized with that scandal. This is nothing more than putting himself and his own political interests ahead of the country. We'll see what happens when the House comes back. We'll have more to say on the prorogation aspect as the days continue into the week.”
