The country's top Conservative was in town again this week, sharing pieces of what he calls his common sense plan.
Conservative Party of Canada leader Pierre Poilievre talked to a room full of supporters at the Senator Hotel in Timmins on July 25 as part of the Axe the Tax tour in Northern Ontario. It's the second time he's been in town this year and his fourth overall trip.
Today, he toured two local businesses — Steelworks and NPLH Drilling — before heading to Kapuskasing for a rally. He's also stopping in Sudbury, Sault Ste. Marie and North Bay on this tour.
During the rally, he talked about axing the carbon tax, housing, bail reform, the Ring of Fire, and more.
Phoenix Blain was also handed the mic.
Residents first came to know the teenager at the community safety town hall in June. At the end of that meeting, she made an emotional plea and talked about how people her age don't want to move back to Timmins because they don't feel safe.
RELATED: Emotional crowd packs Mac, pleads with council to make city safe
SEE: Timmins residents 'don't deserve to live like this': Poilievre
Poilievre said Blain stole the show that night.
At this week's rally, she echoed many of the sentiments from her original speech, talking about Timmins being a beautiful place.
"It’s really nice to be out here, but unfortunately we do have problems and it’s OK to say that, but unfortunately those problems have come to overwhelm everyone and now no one my age wants to come back to Timmins, so who’s going to work, who’s going to put money and hard work into Timmins if no one wants to come back,” she said.
The future she wants for the city, she told the crowd, is a place to raise her own children and feel safe.
"I mean I can’t even walk to school or walk to work or go to the movie theatre or mall without being afraid. I can’t even imagine being a mother letting my children going out. And that’s the Timmins that I want, I want a Timmins where I could raise children and feel happy raising children here,” she said.
Some of the "common sense" solutions Poilievre talked about include cutting income tax, and repealing anti-energy laws and approving Canadian pipelines.
“We’re going to approve mines in Northern Ontario that are going to bring massive economic opportunities to the next generation of young people,” he said.
For housing, he said the problem is "local government gatekeepers that prevent housing construction."
He said municipalities that don't speed up development and lower the cost of building permits would have federal grants withheld.
For bail reform. he's proposing an end to the so-called catch-and-release system.
“We’re going to bring in jail and not bail for the repeat offenders,” he said, adding he also wants mandatory jail time for serious violent offenders.
With Timmins-James Bay being represented by NDP Charlie Angus, Poilievre often took shots at Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and referred to the Liberal-NDP agreement propping up the current government.
Angus was prepared for it.
Ahead of Poilievre's Timmins top, the NDP sent out a news release pointing out the leader's voting record.
“Look, life is hard right now, but the hard-working people of Northern Ontario need someone who will actually fight for them in Ottawa, not just stop by with empty words,” said Angus in the release. “Poilievre isn’t who he says he is. When push comes to shove, he will deliver for his Bay Street buddies over the people of Northern Ontario."
The next federal election must be held on or before Oct. 20, 2025. With a minority government, Canadians could head to the polls at any time before then.
RELATED: Timmins riding lines redefined, MP cut from Northern Ontario
When an election is called, the Timmins riding will be much larger. Northern Ontario will also have one less representative.
The new riding will be Kapuskasing-Timmins-Mushkegowuk, which starts in the Kirkland Lake area, capturing communities along Highway 11 North and extending up to Peawanuck.
While there is no Conservative candidate for the riding yet, Gaétan Malette was at Poilievre's rally handing out cards announcing his intent to earn the local CPC nomination.
