While in Montreal on Tuesday, Pierre Poilievre presented the second part of his plan to combat car theft, which is on the rise in the country. If he became prime minister, the leader of the Conservative Party of Canada would equip federal ports, including the Port of Montreal, with equipment capable of detecting the presence of stolen cars in containers shipped abroad.
Pierre Poilievre accuses Justin Trudeau of having transformed federal ports into “parking lots for stolen vehicles which then disappear abroad”.
The Montreal Journal reported last October that the Port of Montreal only had five agents to inspect the 580,000 containers that leave the Port of Montreal each year. The Conservative leader proposes with his “common sense plan” to hire 75 additional agents, including around thirty in Montreal, and to equip ports with scanners to inspect containers.
He therefore suggests the purchase of 24 scanners for the four main federal ports, namely Montreal, Vancouver, Prince-Rupert and Halifax. “Each scanner will be capable of scanning 154 containers per hour. That means almost a million containers per year for each scanner. »
According to him, this plan will make it possible to more effectively intercept stolen cars before they go abroad. “If someone sees that their car is stolen, they should be able to call the police and tell them that their car is on its way to the Port of Montreal. Someone with a scanner should be able to find it and remove it before it’s sent outside. [du pays] “, he explained. “At the same time, the scanners will help us prevent weapons and drugs from entering Canada. »
To finance this plan, Pierre Poilievre would cut $165 million in federal spending on management consultants. “If you manage a department and you are not capable of managing and you need the consultants to tell you how to manage, you will be fired,” he said. An amount of 135 million would then be used for scanners and the hiring of workers in federal ports. “We will save a net total of 30 million. So we will spend less to do more. »
The day before, in Brampton, Ontario, Pierre Poilievre had promised to strengthen the penalties imposed on car thieves by putting repeat offenders behind bars, thus putting an end to house arrest as an option for people convicted of this type of crime. offense.
Incompetent mayors
Asked about the comments he made recently regarding Valérie Plante and Bruno Marcha, whom he described as “incompetent mayors” because they block housing construction projects, Pierre Poilievre retorted that the mayors of Montreal and Quebec weren’t the only ones he blamed. ” I have [qualifié] other mayors across the country, including in Vancouver, Calgary and Toronto, are incompetent,” he said.
“Justin Trudeau is paying these incompetent mayors money to prevent construction [de logements]. This is why after eight years of Trudeau, the cost of housing has doubled,” he said. A Conservative government would force municipalities to increase housing construction by 15% per year in order to receive federal funds, he said.
Last January, in the wake of Pierre Poilievre’s comments, Mayor Plante responded that in Quebec, federal housing funding must pass through the Quebec government before being paid to municipalities. “Common sense is also to understand the financing mechanisms specific to each province,” she said.
Bruno Marchand also condemned the comments of the conservative leader. “I don’t think it’s the testimony of a statesman […] nor a man who wants to be prime minister, he said.
Three weeks later, Pierre Poilievre persisted and signed. “It may be that politicians are offended, but for me, it’s more important and it’s sadder if a single mother and seniors can’t pay their bills. »