Federal Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre was in Iqaluit on Sept. 9 to visit a Nunavut Housing Corporation building site and speak to a rally of supporters at the Frobisher Inn.
He promised federal incentives to local communities that would literally pave the way for more housing, the shortage of which has long posed a crisis in Nunavut.
“There are massive local taxes that apply to homes that make it unsustainable to build them," he said. "My common-sense plan will require local governments to speed up permits, free up land and cut development charges as a condition of getting their federal funding. Local, smaller beneficiaries will not be subject to any penalties for failure to build, but they will be eligible for bonuses... I will give building bonuses to small, rural communities that speed up permits, free up land and cut development charges so we can build, build, build.”
He proposed an Indigenous and First Nations resource charge “that will allow businesses to pay a share of their corporate tax towards local, Indigenous governments, and territorial governments."
"We will be diverting federal corporate tax towards local communities, so there is an incentive for them to say yes, and a tangible economic and financial benefit that goes to the people to build... and provide clean drinking water, training and jobs for those local, Indigenous communities that will be benefitting richly from the development of resources on their ancestral lands.”
He also spoke about the cost of food in Northern communities, blaming high prices on inflation and the “monstrous, unprecedented deficits” of the Liberal government.
“The government creates more cash, and that’s where the inflation comes from. We need to cap government spending, and cut government waste to bring down deficits, interest rates, inflation and income taxes so people bring home more and, in return, retain the value of their hard-earned dollars.”
Arguing that the next federal election will be “the carbon tax election,” Poilievre maintains that a 61-cent per litre carbon tax would “grind our economy to a halt. “Nationwide. It would a be a nuclear winter,” he said. “Think of delivery costs for everything that comes here — they would go through the roof. The cost of transporting building materials, which come by ship, anything that comes here by plane will become vastly more expensive because everything relies on jet fuel. I worry that Northern communities will empty out, as it is simply impossible to pay the bills and to heat the homes."
Earlier in the day, speaking to gathered construction workers on Qulliq Court, Poilievre discussed his “boots, not suits” campaign to increase housing in the territory and encourage more trades education.
If elected prime minister, Poilievre said he plans to make trades training more accessible in high schools, "including getting some of the hours towards their recognized apprenticeship, so that they can get a trades certification two or three years sooner.
"Let’s get our kids started on the trades earlier on, so that we have more people to build homes,” he said.
He also promised tax reforms for travelling trades workers, committing that they “are going to be able to write off the full cost of their food, transportation and accommodation to go from one job site to another... We want more projects to occur.”
Poilievre also promised to repeal Ottawa's Impact Assessment Act, which applies to infrastructure and resource development. He referred to the legislation as “the unconstitutional, anti-resource bill.”
Nunavut MP blasts Conservatives
Nunavut MP Lori Idlout, a member of the NDP, issued a news release countering Poilievre’s promises, stating that his track record on housing is lacking.
“Poilievre built zero purpose-built rental housing units, zero cooperative housing units and zero non-profit and community housing — including when he was housing minister,” Idlout stated.
She also refuted his claims about supporting Indigenous peoples, referencing a 71-per-cent funding cut to Inuit organizations between 2012 and 2015 under a Conservative government led by Stephen Harper, and in which Poilievre oversaw multiple portfolios as minister.
“Poilievre has done nothing to lower grocery prices,” Idlout continued. “Poilievre refuses to stand up to NorthMart executives bringing in millions in bonuses while people can’t afford their groceries.
“Northerners expect more than just catchphrases and slogans,” she said.
