Poilievre promises to build more housing on Vancouver Island visit

The leader of the federal Conservative Party of Canada has wrapped up a two-day tour of Vancouver Island, trying to swing votes in an NDP stronghold well ahead of any mandated election in October 2025.

Pierre Poilievre spoke to a crowd of construction workers at View Royal’s WestUrban Developments site where they’re building 336 rental units on Erskine Lane.

“Here’s my common sense plan,” said Poilievre. “We’re going to bring home lower prices by axing the carbon tax. That’ll bring down gas, heat and indirectly grocery bills.”

Some of the builders at the event vented their frustration with housing affordability and availability in Greater Victoria.

Poilievre said if elected, part of his party’s strategy includes selling 6,000 federal buildings to free up acres of land to build on.

“I will require cities increase housing completions by 15 per cent with faster permits,” he said. “If they don’t meet that target, they’ll lose federal money. If they beat the target, they’ll get a bonus.”

WestUrban Developments said anything to speed up timelines on construction helps build more affordable products for the end user.

“We need to deal with the inflationary environment that we’re operating in and we need to get rid of the wait times, the permitting. All of those time restraints cost us in development at the end of the day,” said co-owner and COO Terry Hoff.

The Bank of Canada has steadily increased its key interest rate since March 2022 to try to curb inflation.

A political scientist from the University of Victoria says the Conservative leader seems to be gaining confidence as he tries to swing votes on Vancouver Island.

“The longer the numbers look bad for the Liberals, the longer they don’t rebound, the longer Mr. Poilievre looks like he’s on a roll: We’re going to see this informal campaigning through 2024,” said Michael Prince.

Poilievre said he plans to be back visiting the island many more times.

“Everywhere you turn you’re going to see the common sense Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre,” he said.