Doubling down on his condemnation of his Conservative leadership rival, Jean Charest says that Pierre Poilievre should be disqualified from becoming leader of the federal Conservative party over his support of the 鈥淔reedom Convoy.鈥�
鈥淓veryone knows that Pierre Poilievre supported the blockade,鈥� Charest said in an interview on CTV鈥檚 Question Period. 鈥淚f you say to Canadians: 鈥業 want to be the leader of the Conservative Party and I want to be the chief legislator of the country, but I don't have to obey the laws,鈥� I'm sorry. That's not just a failure in leadership. It disqualifies you, as far as I'm concerned, as being someone who thinks or aspires to be a leader of a party.鈥�
The anti-vaccine and anti-government protests occupied downtown Ottawa for weeks this winter, leading to hundreds of arrests and millions of dollars in policing and other costs for the city. The federal government invoked the Emergencies Act for the first time ever, and the province and city declared states of emergency.
Poilievre, who represents the Ottawa riding of Carleton, visited the truckers at stops on their way into Ottawa and voiced his support throughout, but there is no indication that Poilievre disobeyed any laws in his support for the 鈥淔reedom Convoy鈥� protests. Poilievre has already been authorized as an official candidate by the party, as have Charest and a handful of others.
鈥淗e supported the blockade. There's consequences to those decisions. And one of the consequences is that he should not be a leader of a party, even less a prime minister,鈥� Charest said, noting that the protests led to businesses having to close, costing people their jobs.
This new line of attack comes as Poilievre, the leadership race鈥檚 perceived frontrunner has been seeing sizeable crowds at his cross-Canada rallies and events, but Charest said he鈥檚 not concerned about that, saying he鈥檚 focusing his campaign on recruiting party members.
CALLS CRYPTO POSITION 'BIZARRE'
In the interview, Charest also went after Poilievre鈥檚 position on cryptocurrency, which includes suggesting Canada could become the 鈥渃rypto capital of the world,鈥� and condemned him for 鈥渁ttacking the Bank of Canada.鈥�
鈥淵ou want to be prime minister of Canada, and you're telling Canadians that cryptocurrency is going to wipe out inflation? Does anyone credible believe that? Is there any economic person in the country who actually said that he was right? I mean, this is it's not just wrong. It's bizarre,鈥� Charest said.
Asked what his stance was on digital currencies, Charest said he thinks cryptocurrency 鈥渘eeds to be regulated and needs to be understood.鈥�
CLIMATE POLICY 'CANNOT BE A SLOGAN'
Referencing Poilievre鈥檚 promise to cancel the carbon tax, Charest said he doesn鈥檛 think his opponent has a serious plan to address climate change.
鈥淥ur carbon position going into the next campaign cannot be a slogan. And if the only thing you're offering is a slogan, the Conservatives will be dead in the water,鈥� Charest said.
鈥淚 haven't heard anything on his part that says he's serious about the environment, apart from a slogan. And we know where that leads. That leads to direct defeat in the next election campaign. Talk to the candidates who ran in the last campaign. If you knock on a door," said Charest. "And you don't have anything credible to say about climate, you're dead in the water. Canadians care about this issue.鈥�
Charest supports a price on carbon as one of the measures to reduce Canada鈥檚 carbon emissions, saying there are ways to tackle climate change 鈥渢hat are intelligent, that support the transition, and allow you to get to where you need to go. And you can do it while supporting the oil and gas industry.鈥�
CTV鈥檚 Question Period requested an interview for Sunday鈥檚 show with Poilievre, he was not available.
With files from 麻豆影视 Ottawa
