Matt Prokopchuk
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
TBnewswatch.com
THUNDER BAY — The federal Conservative leader says he would prioritize building more homes with Canadian lumber as a way to keep mills from shutting down.
Pierre Poilievre visited Domtar’s Thunder Bay sawmill on Tuesday, the same day President Donald Trump’s 10 per cent tariff on all wood and lumber comes into effect, adding to the existing duties on Canadian softwood lumber for a total of 45 per cent.
Poilievre toured the sawmill on Darrel Avenue and met with workers. He then addressed a full room where he outlined his priorities including decreasing the cost of living, reducing crime, slashing immigration and securing mill operations in the face of increasing U.S. tariffs on softwood lumber.
Speaking with reporters after his remarks, Poilievre was asked how his party would help people who have been put out of work due to mill closures, like Kap Paper in late September, and the indefinite idling of the AV Terrace Bay facility in early 2024.
“We’ll make sure that they get the EI and other benefits, but we have to fight to keep the jobs and keep our people working,” Poilievre said.
“Paychecks are the only way to sustain a family and support a brighter future for the country,” he continued.
“So, I would take emergency action to unlock hundreds of thousands of annual new homes being built every year with Canadian lumber so that we can take advantage of all that extra lumber we have to house our people who desperately need roofs over their heads.”
Poilievre said that would include eliminating “all taxes on homebuilding.”
“Imagine the building boom we’d have if you got rid of 200 thousand dollars of taxes on each home.”
In his speech, Poilievre told the crowd that building more homes would not only bring down housing prices, but also secure work for mills.
“If we were building 500 or 700 thousand homes a year, which is what we should be building, then you’d be selling a lot more of the lumber to stud those walls and to support those trusses.”
The Conservative leader, who won a byelection in the Alberta riding of Battle River-Crowfoot back in August to regain his seat in the House of Commons after losing his Ottawa-area riding in April’s federal election, also told the crowd he’d eliminate the industrial carbon tax.
“That tax is still in place, so it’s not on the pump anymore, but it’s still on your wood pellets, and that makes your source of electricity more uncompetitive and harder to get a good price back here,” he said.
“We need to get rid of that tax so that we can unlock the power of our industries.”
Poilievre also talked about lowering income tax and reducing the deficit “by cutting bureaucracy, consultants, corporate welfare, foreign aid.”
“We shouldn’t be sending money out of our own country — we got two million people lined up at a food bank,” he said.
Poilievre is scheduled to visit Sault Ste. Marie on Wednesday.
