Conservative Party Proposals on Tariff Response

I have been following very closely the coverage of President Trump’s threats of the imposition of tariffs on Canada, and the response from the Government of Canada, over the past few days. I am sure many of you have been doing the same and so I do not intend to rehash what has been widely communicated in legacy media and online, other than to say we can all breathe a sigh of momentarily relief at the announcement of a 30-day reprieve. 

What I did want to share in this email is the response and proposals that our Leader, Pierre Poilievre, has made over the last few days. His comments have gotten far less media time and so I wanted to make sure they were made available to you.

  • We believe that if tariffs are put on Canadian goods, the government should retaliate dollar for dollar. What the tariff is applied to should be done carefully – to maximize the challenges felt by American business, while minimizing the pain experienced by the Canadian consumer. That means targeting US products that we can do without or can buy elsewhere, or best of all, that we can make here at home.
  • One example would be steel and aluminum. We make the best and cleanest steel and aluminum here in Canada. This situation is an opportunity to see more Canadian projects using Canadian steel and aluminum. 
  • Another example is energy. We must immediately repeal Liberal anti-energy laws such as Bill C-69 and green light job-creating projects now. That includes LNG plants, pipelines, mines, factories, port expansions, so that we can get our products to overseas markets without going through the United States. 
  • None of the money from the tariffs should stay in government coffers or be spent on unrelated government priorities. All of it should go back to the workers and businesses that are affected, and most of it should go back in the form of a tax cut. The first tax cuts should be to the carbon tax and to the capital gains increase.
  • We need to knock down interprovincial trade barriers to have truly free trade across our country. Part of the reason we are in this state because we sell twice as much to the Americans as we sell to ourselves. This can and should be easily changed. 
  • Any actions the Government takes should be debated and voted on by representatives of the people. Parliament should be immediately recalled to deal with this crisis. 

You can watch Pierre’s availability discussing these points here

One key issue President Trump has identified as a partial rationale for the tariffs is border security. We are proposing that the government should: 

  • Call up Canadian Forces troops to the border along with military helicopters and surveillance now.
  • Add at least 2000 border agents and extend CBSA powers along the entire border, not just crossings.
  • Install border surveillance towers as well as truck-mounted drone systems to spot border incursions.
  • Install high-powered scanners at all major land crossings and shipping ports. These scanners can see through walls of containers or vehicles to spot drugs, guns and stolen cars.
  • Track departures so government officials know which deportees are in Canada illegally.

You can watch Pierre’s availability on border security here

Your comments and feedback continue to be welcomed. I am, and will continue to be, aggregating the feedback I am hearing to share with caucus and with our leader.  

I will close by noting that we have all heard calls in the media to “buy Canadian” in the wake of this situation – calls which can be difficult to heed at times. One thing that I have been trying to do in the past several days is to “cancel American”. Consider reviewing subscriptions you have or other products that you are receiving but perhaps no longer really need that come from US companies. If you aren’t using your Netflix subscription right now, consider cancelling it and telling the company why. In my case, I have cancelled some personal US periodical subscriptions I have. When asked the reason for cancellation, you can imagine what I put. Small actions like this do indeed make a marked difference when done to scale. 

Thank you for taking the time to read my note and for your continued support. I believe that Canada will come through this a stronger, and more resilient country.

Ron Liepert, MP

Calgary Signal Hill