SAINT JOHN, N.B. — The Conservative campaign moved to the East Coast on Monday with a promise to create a pre-approved national energy corridor to speed up infrastructure projects.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said that if his party forms government, it will fast-track approvals for projects such as transmission lines, railways, pipelines and other critical infrastructure.
He said companies don’t have an incentive to build pipelines in Canada “even as pipeline construction is booming all over the world because pipelines are, of course, so wildly profitable.”
A Conservative government would repeal Bill C-69, the law that enacts the Impact Assessment Act and the Canadian Energy Regulator Act, which Poilievre calls the “no new pipelines law.”
Under his energy corridor proposal, all levels of government would provide legally binding commitments to approve projects within the corridor, a route that would be agreed upon in a First Ministers’ meeting.
First Nations would also be involved, ensuring that economic benefits flow to them and that their approval is secured before any money is spent, Poilievre said.
In a video released by the party on Monday morning, the Conservative leader speaks to a bust of Sir John A. Macdonald, asking the former prime minister, “What do you think, could you get the railway built today?” Poilievre said building an east-west project today would be impossible.
Poilievre said the proposed corridor would help speed construction of infrastructure needed to sell Canadian natural resources in new markets and would result in billions of dollars in new investment.
He has blamed the Liberals for the death of the Energy East pipeline project, a proposal that would have sent Alberta bitumen to New Brunswick to be shipped overseas. The project, which faced stiff opposition in Quebec, was cancelled in 2017 by TransCanada, which cited regulatory and environmental hurdles as well as the price of oil.
While polls -- and the Quebec premier -- suggest Quebec residents may be coming around to the idea of an east-west pipeline as a result of U.S. tariffs, the Bloc Quebecois is still staunchly opposed, saying it would not help the Quebec economy.
“There’s no project, there’s no promoter, there’s nothing on the table,” said Bloc Leader Yves-Francois Blanchet at a press conference in La Pocatiere, Que., on Monday.
“The only thing that there is on the table is the intention of the two main leaders, (Liberal Leader Mark Carney) and Mr. Poilievre, to get some votes in Western Canada.”
Blanchet said there is “nothing serious” in the idea of a pipeline.
“Europe does not want it. It could not be built in less than eight to 10 years,” he said.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said his version of a nation-building energy project is not a pipeline but “an east-west energy grid where we connect and electrify our country, where we bring low-cost affordable electricity, lower people’s electricity bills.”
The Liberals have pledged to launch a $5-billion fund for a trade diversification corridor, which they said would “accelerate nation-building projects at ports, railroads, inland terminals, airports and highways.” The campaign promise does not mention pipelines.
In Saint John, Poilievre said Liberal policies like the industrial carbon price will limit investment in Canada’s energy sector.
“Less competition from Canada means globalist elites like him get richer and fatter,” he said.
Poilievre held a rally in Fredericton, N.B. on Monday night.
At the rally, Poilievre criticized Carney’s new housing announcement.
“He announced that the solution to the Liberal housing crisis is to create a $35-billion dollar bureaucracy in Ottawa,” Poilievre said. “Have you ever seen bureaucrats building homes?”
A few dozen protestors stood outside the event space, holding signs with messages like “wrap it up, PP” and “If Poilievre wins, billionaires win and all of us lose.”
Poilievre has been dogged by reports that Conservatives inside and outside the campaign are frustrated by the campaign’s reluctance to refocus its messaging on Trump’s tariffs.
Multiple polls have suggested the trade war with the U.S. has become the top ballot question for Canadian voters, though at least one national poll put the question of affordability above the Trump factor.
Poilievre has been campaigning on affordability issues for the better part of two years. Frustration with the rising cost of living and with Justin Trudeau’s government propelled the Tories to a 25-point lead in the polls a year ago.
Since the election began, however, all major national pollsters have tracked the Liberals in the lead.
While the Liberal and NDP campaigns adjusted course last week to focus on tariff relief for the auto sector, the Conservative leader has continued to make policy announcements on schedule, including one about increasing the contribution limit for tax-free savings accounts and deferring capital gains tax as a means to spur the economy.
Poilievre was asked Monday about his plan to turn things around and whether he intends to make changes to his leadership team, which is led by national campaign director Jenni Byrne.
He didn’t address the question about leadership and instead argued that the Conservative campaign’s focus on “restoring Canada’s promise” after the “lost Liberal decade” is exactly what’s needed to stand up to the Americans.
“The unjustified threats by President Trump further strengthen the argument in favour of the ‘Canada First’ agenda that I’ve been fighting for my whole life,” he said.
Poilievre said that if he were prime minister, he would present U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration with a choice: pursue tariffs against Canada and weaken both economies, or increase trade and co-operation across the border.
He said he believes “in the end, they will be forced to reverse these disastrous tariff policies.”
“We can’t rely on the Americans to determine our economic destiny,” he said, adding that Saint John and New Brunswick are dependent on the U.S. as a result of the “lost Liberal decade.”
-- With files from Sarah Ritchie in Ottawa.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 31, 2025.
