Press Release – Hon. Pierre Poilievre, P.C., M.P. (Battle River—Crowfoot)
As many of you know, I recently visited our neighbours to the south to fight for Canadian workers and businesses as part of my plan to make Canada stronger at home so we can have unbreakable leverage abroad, especially as we get closer to the upcoming CUSMA review.
Among many productive and eye-opening visits, one notable stop was the Houston Tank Terminal, where a Calgary-based company distributes Alberta crude oil far and wide. It’s there, in Texas, that the Keystone pipeline finally emerges from the ground. And if you were to crawl into that pipeline, and kept going until you surfaced, you’d emerge right here in Battle
River—Crowfoot: at the incredible Hardisty Tank Farm in the MD of Provost.
It seems hard to believe, but every year this remarkable community of just 600 people handles crude oil worth the GDP of many countries. So when I visited Houston, where Alberta crude is treated and shipped to the world, it was a moment of great pride—both as Leader of Canada’s Conservatives and as your local MP.
This partnership between Hardisty and Houston is just one of many ways that the generations-old friendship between Canada and the US benefits both our countries. But I didn’t just visit the Lone Star State. Earlier that week, I spent time in both Windsor and Detroit, where I met with industry leaders and lawmakers to pitch our Conservative plan for a new tariff-free auto pact and later that week I met with business leaders in New York to champion Canadian ingenuity.
Once I got back, our Conservative team introduced a motion in the House of Commons calling on the government to adopt this plan. Our logic was simple: Canada’s auto sector has been in decline under the Liberals, with production cut nearly in half since 2015. The Prime Minister’s failure to get a deal by July of 2025 has cost our automotive industry some $2 billion in tariffs. Thousands have found themselves out of work at plants across our country.
So what’s our strategy?
Our Conservative motion called for removing the GST on all Canadian-made vehicles and ending counterproductive Liberal EV mandates. We proposed a rule where, for every car produced in Canada, a manufacturer would get to sell a car in Canada – duty-free – from a CUSMA partner, boosting domestic production.
We sought to protect Canadians through a harmonized North American cybersecurity and data standard, banning vehicles using software connected to China or Russia. And we sought to align with North American partners on Chinese tariffs if they accept our proposal—creating leverage for the CUSMA renegotiations.
Unfortunately, the Liberals voted down this timely and forward-looking plan. But Conservatives will never stop fighting for Canadian workers. Instead of waging tariff wars against each other, I believe that Canada and the US should be promoting the principles of free trade among free nations. We can’t afford to treat the current (and very real) problems between our countries as a permanent end to our relationship.
They’re not. We’re always going to live next door to each other—that’s why 90 per cent of Canadian-made vehicles go to the United States—and we’re going to need friendly relations between our peoples regardless of who is in the White House.
I’ll always fight for our proud Canadian auto sector, for our incredible oil and gas workers, and for farmers in Alberta and across the land who feed our country and the world. Because by building strength at home for unbreakable leverage abroad, we can create a safe and prosperous future for our province and all of Canada.
If you have any questions or concerns regarding this column, or if you require assistance regarding a Federal Government program, you are encouraged to send an email to pierre.poilievre@parl.gc.ca or call 1-800-665-4358.
