By Richard Wright | The Lake Report
Federal Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre was in Niagara-on-the-Lake Thursday, August 8, making a stump speech at a local food co-operative as part of a campaign-like stop in the community.
The hopeful next prime minister of Canada spoke to a Conservative-friendly crowd of about two dozen people at Vineland Growers, addressing his party’s “common sense” platform, which includes topics such as tax reform, his axe-the-carbon-tax stance, a cap on government spending, crime, gun control and battling inflation.
In a one-on-one interview with The Lake Report following his address, Poilievre was asked about issues that reflect some of the current concerns of many residents of Niagara-on-the-Lake.
Those include things such as the skyrocketing prices of homes, particularly worries about next-generation affordability, overuse of land by home developers and the enhancement of human rights protections for migrant farmworkers by providing them with the ability to become a bigger part of the local economy and Canadian culture, by granting them permanent resident status.
With many people in the Niagara region concerned about affordability and the rapid pace of development in the community, Poilievre solution is to ramp up construction and reduce red tape.
“Build the homes by getting rid of bureaucracy, speeding up permits, cutting development taxes so people can put an affordable roof over head,” he said, adding that when compared to other places, Canada has the slowest building permits application process and the most land restrictions.
He also said that municipalities will pay a big price if they do not follow his plans to address the housing-crunch.
“They will have to do it or they won’t get their federal infrastructure money,” he said.
In Niagara-on-the-Lake, calls for a pushback on development for residential use is heard loudest in communities such as St. Davids and Queenston, where many homeowners in those areas are directly blaming over-development and a lack of infrastructure spending and upgrades as the cause of recent flooding.
Migrant workers
Advocates for migrant workers in Niagara-on-the-Lake and around the province have long been calling for enhanced human rights for the people they believe are among the most precarious of all members of this region’s workforce.
Migrant workers do not have the ability to apply for permanent residency in this country, which is a right that advocates argue would grant them more freedom, security, mobility and job opportunities.
In turn, that would further stimulate local economies and strengthen communities, they say.
As a permanent resident, but not a Canadian citizen, migrants can receive benefits like health coverage, they can live, work or study anywhere in Canada and are granted protection under Canadian law and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
As migrant workers with no permanent status, they face restrictions such as being bound to one employer for the duration of their stay in Canada, they cannot apply for regular employment insurance benefits and up until this year, proper internet and laundry services weren’t required in employer-provided housing.
Poilievre said he will consider permanent status for migrant workers under some specific conditions.
“I am open to it for people who have come legally, who have worked the entire time that they have been here (and) who have, or are learning one of the two official languages,” he said.
“In principle, I have no problem with the idea of temporary foreign workers who have proven themselves to be strong, net contributors to our country staying permanently and becoming members of the Canadian family,” he added.
While in Niagara, Poilievre also made campaign-style stops in St. Catharines, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Welland and Stevensville.
The next federal election must be held no later than Oct. 20, 2025.
