Despite ‘legitimate frustrations’ Poilievre touts united Canada ahead of referendum

Posted on October 15, 2026 by Ryan Dahlman

By Brendan Miller
Southern Alberta Newspapers

The leader of the Conservative Party of Canada says he believes in a stronger province of Alberta within a united country, while visiting Medicine Hat on Oct. 1 about two weeks before Albertans will hit polls Oct. 19.

While speaking to approximately 300 residents at a town hall event held at Medicine Hat College, Pierre Poilievre says his party is committed to fight for Albertans in Ottawa and believes the country is stronger standing united rather than apart.

“There are legitimate frustrations and grievances that Alberta has with the country, not with the country so much as with the federal government,” said Poilievre. “The reality is, a country is more than a government. Every country in the world, at various times has a terrible government, but that doesn’t mean you break up the country.

“A country is a flag, a people, a land, a history and a promise. I believe that Alberta can have even more independence within this big, massive landmass and territory that we call Canada by working with, trading with, collaborating with Canadians, millions of fellow Canadians across the country, than it would have alone and isolated.”

His speech in the Hat was among others he’s given in the province in recent days as part of efforts to convince conservative voters the country is stronger united and the solution is not an independent Alberta.

He said conservative efforts need to be focused on fighting for better trade among Canadian provinces, more international oil, gas and petroleum markets and reducing federal taxes, including on fuel.

“What we need to do is restore the promise of this country,” he said. “Where hard work gets you a great life, home ownership, a bright future, judgement based on merit and opportunity for all. A country where the government is the servant and the people are master. A country where the federal government is small and focused and provinces make their own decision.”

Cost of living

Poilievre suggests current day is one of the most expensive periods in Canadian history with rising costs of food, living expenses and transportation.

“The cost of food has gone up so much that we’ve doubled the food bank lineups across the country in the last seven years alone.”

Citing an average cost to own a home and rising expenses for small and medium businesses, Poilievre says Ottawa needs to cut spending and cautioned that a weaker Canadian dollar is at inflationary risks as the country’s money supply expands.

“Things have gotten so much worse because we have destroyed the purchasing power of our money. What we have to do is stop government money printing,” he said. “They’re printing the money for out of control government spending. They run these big deficits and people don’t realize we’re not just piling up debt for future generations, we’re expanding the money supply to pay for excess government spending, and that causes inflation in real time.”

Trade war

Poilievre says that while speaking to counterparts south of the border there is a general consensus that many Americans are opposed to the “tariff war” started by the Trump administration, and says he supports all efforts to end the ongoing dispute.

“I think the greatest asset we have in ending this tariff war is the immense goodwill that we have with the American people,” he said.

On the other side of the coin, Poilievre says the federal government needs to increase efforts to find and secure other international trade partnerships and says Canadian products are desirable on the international market.

“The Germans and all of Europe really are begging for our oil and gas, begging for it literally,” he said.

“The problem is not that foreign countries will not let our good in, it’s that we can’t get our good out … The Germans, the French, the Japanese, they all want our oil and gas. They’re begging for it, we just have to get out of the way and permit the projects and then we can sell gas for 10 times the price over there that it goes for over here,” said Poilievre.

He also spoke about a need to rescue domestic trade barriers and called for mutual recognition of provincial safety approvals across all provinces.

Justice system

Poilievre says conservatives have a plan to crack down on repeat offenders within the justice system and criticized the current bail system, calling Liberal policies “soft on crime.”

He says stricter bail rules are needed and mandatory sentences must be given for repeat offenders who are found guilty.

Poilievre says he believes in and supports a “three strike” rule.

“Very simply, anyone who’s been convicted three times is ineligible for bail, parole, probation or house arrest. They have a mandatory 10-year prison sentence,” he said. “They have to earn their release while they’re in prison.”

Poilievre says inmates would also have to undergo mandatory drug testing while in prison.

“And outside of prison, we need a mechanism in the Criminal Code to arrest people who’ve lost their faculties and are hopelessly addicted to drugs and put them into mandatory treatment where they can get their lives back.”