Ottawa, ON – Pierre Paul-Hus, Conservative Québec Lieutenant, and Michael Barrett, Conservative Shadow Minister for Ethics and Accountable Government, released the following statement:
“Carbon Tax Carney is trying to trick Canadians. During the French leadership debate, he spoke out of both sides of his mouth, hiding that he advised Justin Trudeau for the past five years as his top economic advisor and keeping Canadians in the dark over his plan.
“Carbon Tax Carney refused to say how he would balance the budget. In fact, he committed to keeping all of Justin Trudeau’s out-of-control spending, while massively increasing Canada’s debt. Despite this, Carney promised to balance the budget in just three years.
“Canadians understand that the math doesn’t add up. That’s because Carney has announced a sneaky accounting trick: cooking the books to take billions of dollars of new Liberal spending off the budget records. And we still don’t have any answers on how much Carney’s ‘shadow’ carbon tax will cost Canadians, and how much it will hurt our workers and businesses.
“On top of this, Mark Carney refused to give Canadians any information about his immigration plan. He only mentioned that he would place a ‘cap’ on immigration, without giving any details on what number that cap would be. Even after being pushed by the moderator to answer, Carney simply refused. Sneaky Carney is trying to keep Canadians in the dark.
“One thing we did learn tonight though: Carney promised to continue Trudeau’s disastrous housing record and policies. After nine years of the Carney-Trudeau Liberals, the cost of a home has doubled, yet Carney said he would expand the Liberal photo-op fund, saying it had been a success in Quebec City. But the numbers show that Carney is lying. Quebec City has had their second worst year for housing starts since 2017.
“Sneaky Carney also said he wants to strengthen the criminal code, after refusing to talk about this issue for the duration of his leadership campaign. But during the debate, Carney refused to commit to ending the Liberals’ insane catch-and-release policies that have caused violent crime to skyrocket by 50% over nine years. He also said nothing about the illegal guns coming across the border that are sowing death and despair in our once-safe communities.
“Carney also spoke out of both sides of his mouth on pipelines. Previously, Carney told English-language media that he would use federal emergency powers to build pipelines. But when he was asked the same question in French, Carney promised he would never build any pipelines against Quebec’s will. Now, he said provinces have to be respected, but that the federal government can act in the national interest.
“Enough is enough. Canadians don’t need another Just Like Justin Liberal. Carbon Tax Carney has one final chance to give Canadians clear answers tomorrow.”