Doubling down on his condemnation of his Conservative Party leadership rival, Jean Charest said that Pierre Poilievre should be removed as leader of the federal Conservative party because of his support of the “Liberal Convoy”.
“Everybody knows that Pierre Poilievre supported the lockdown,” Charest said in an interview on CTV’s Question Period. “If you say to Canadians, ‘I want to be the leader of the Conservative Party and I want to be the main legislator of the country, but I don’t have to follow the law,’ I apologise. It’s not just a leadership failure. That, in my opinion, disqualifies you from being a thinker or aspire to be the leader of a party. “
Anti-vaccination and anti-government protests have occupied downtown Ottawa for weeks this winter, leading to hundreds of arrests and millions of dollars in policing and other costs for residents. city. The federal government invoked the Emergencies Act for the first time, and provinces and cities declared a state of emergency.
Poilievre, who represented Ottawa riding Carleton, visited truckers at stops en route into Ottawa and expressed his support throughout, but there was no indication that Poilievre was disobeying any any law in support of the “Liberty Convoy” protests. Poilievre was authorized by the party as the official candidate, as were Charest and several others.
“He is in favor of the blockade. There are consequences to those decisions. And one of the corollaries is that he shouldn’t be the leader of a party, not even the prime minister,” Charest said, noting that the protests had resulted in businesses closing, leaving people people lost their jobs.
This new attack comes as Poilievre, the leader of the leadership race, has seen significant crowds at his cross-Canada rallies and events, but Charest said he’s not worried about it. , said he was focusing on the party’s recruitment campaign.
SEND CRYPTO LOCATION ‘BIZARRE’
During the interview, Charest also followed Poilievre’s views on cryptocurrencies, including suggesting Canada could become the “crypto capital of the world” and condemning him for “hacking the Bank” Canada”.
“You want to be the prime minister of Canada, and you’re telling Canadians that crypto will wipe out inflation? Does anyone trust that? Are there any economists in the country who really say they are right? I mean, this isn’t just wrong. It’s weird,” said Charest.
When asked his stance on digital currencies, Charest said he thinks cryptocurrencies “need to be regulated and understood.”
CLIMATE POLICY ‘Can’t be a SLOGAN’
“Our carbon position in the next campaign cannot be a tagline. And if the only thing you come up with is a slogan, then the Conservatives will die in the country,”
Referencing Poilievre’s promise to cancel the carbon tax, Charest said he doesn’t think his opponent has a serious plan to tackle climate change.
“I haven’t heard anything on his part that says he’s serious about the environment, other than a tagline. And we know where that leads. That led to a direct defeat in the next election campaign. Talk to candidates who ran in the last campaign. If you knock on the door… and you don’t have anything credible to say about the climate, you’ll die in the water. Canadians care about this.”
Charest advocates carbon pricing as one of the ways to reduce Canada’s carbon footprint, saying there are ways to deal with climate change that are “smart, transition-supporting and allow you to get where you are”. needed. And you can do that while supporting the oil and gas industry.”
CTV’s Q&A requested an interview for the Sunday show with Poilievre, he was not available.
With files from CTV News Ottawa
