Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre on Saturday became the first federal leader in this election to campaign in the Prairies, stopping in Winnipeg for a rally and an announcement as the campaign moved into its seventh day.
His priority for the day was to announce a plan to expand tax writeoffs for trades workers but during questioning from reporters, he also opened the door to trying to ship oil out of northern Manitoba.
“I think we need to come up with a plan to export our oil out of the Port of Churchill,” Poilievre said, responding to a question if he would honour the federal Liberal commitment made in February to work with Manitoba to finish restoring the rail line to Churchill and restore and upgrade infrastructure at the port itself.
Poilievre said he would honour those commitments but wants to go further.
The port is mainly used for grain shipments, but in 2024 began shipping critical minerals for the first time. It also handles supply ships for remote northern communities.
The notion of using the port to ship oil has been studied and abandoned in the past, but has been revived as an idea in recent months amid Canada’s escalating trade war with the United States and the desire to find new markets for Canadian energy.
Poilievre did not have any specifics for the pronouncement on Churchill, but did say oil will never ship from the town if the Liberal environmental review law known as Bill C-69 does not get repealed.
“Churchill will never be a big functioning port if the Liberals get a fourth term in power, because their radical environmental agenda will prevent anything from getting built after the lost Liberal decade,” Poilievre said.
He said shipping oil could be done by pipeline or by rail.
Any decision to ship oil through the northern port would require significant consultation with First Nations and local municipalities.
While in Winnipeg Poilievre visited a local pizza place, where he made pizzas with his three-year-old son, Cruz.
“Who is ready to make a Canada First pizza,” he said, referring to one of his campaign slogans.
Poilievre’s main announcement Saturday was to lift a $4,000 cap on how many travel expenses, like food, transportation and accommodation, trade workers can deduct from their taxes. He said he would allow workers to cover the full cost of food, transportation and accommodation.
A Conservative government would also eliminate the requirement for an overnight stay and reduce the minimum distance required for the tax relief to 120 kilometres from home, instead of the current 150 kilometres.
“We have a very simple principle in our income tax system. You get to write off the cost you incur to earn the income that’s being taxed. But (some workers) can’t do that,” Poilievre said
The Conservatives have been asked how much the change would cost.
Poilievre also said he would only permit businesses to write off the equivalent cost of commercial flights when they use a corporate jet for travel.
“CEOs, globalist bankers and other jet-setters ΓǪ can write off luxurious private jets that they don’t need to earn income,” he said.
Poilievre made the promise at Fast Air, a Manitoba company with a fleet of 20 aircraft and a private terminal near the Winnipeg airport.
Poilievre also continued his tough-on-crime messaging when asked about the ongoing search of a Winnipeg-area landfill for the victims of serial killer Jeremy Skibicki.
He pointed to current laws on bail, parole and other issues, and said a Conservative government would lock up repeat offenders “for good.”
Skibicki was not out on bail when he killed four First Nations women in 2022. He had been convicted in 2015 of assault of his common-law partner. In 2019, a woman obtained a protection order against him, alleging he stalked her and repeatedly sexually assaulted her while she was sleeping.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 29, 2025.
