The leader of the Conservative Party said so on Monday afternoon during a press conference held at a Metcalfe Street complex in downtown Montreal during a mini Quebec tour.

At the same time, Québec Premier François Legault began his meetings with representatives of the four opposition parties to discuss the “challenges of Québec’s electrification” following the surprise resignation of Hydro-Quebec CEO Sophie Brochu.

Last fall, a very public dispute broke out between M^me Brochu and the CAQ Minister Pierre Fitzgibbon had examined the energy future of the state-owned company. More broadly, it is about hydroelectric power production and industrial development in Quebec.

For Pierre Poilievre, “we need to make these projects easier and faster to approve, to make batteries and provide hydroelectric power in sufficient quantities to power electric vehicles when they become the norm on our roads,” he decided on Monday.

“I met a businessman who told me he needed 300 permits to open a lithium mine here in Canada: if it takes 10 to 30 years to open a mine like this here but only two or three years elsewhere, we are rely on other countries to meet our mineral needs,” explained Pierre Poilievre at a press conference.

A conservative federal government would cut red tape and “bureaucracy” imposed on companies to make them more productive, Poilievre said.

Asked if he wants to reduce environmental study requirements for certain projects by cutting bureaucracy, the Conservative leader said he wants to emulate other countries that respect the environment, but faster than he didn’t say.

“You can protect the environment and at the same time make decisions faster,” he argued. We can protect the environment without studying for 25 years. What else do we learn in 25 years of study that we don’t know after the first two or three years of the process? »

courting Quebec

Quebec is the province where the CCP is least popular. In fact, according to a Léger poll last December, only 19% of Quebecers intend to vote for him in a future election. For comparison, elsewhere in the country, that rate ranges from 30% in the Atlantic provinces to 47% in Manitoba and Saskatchewan, averaging 26% of voting intentions.

Mr Poilievre used his speech to recall three promises his party will commit to keeping if it comes to power.

He first proposes a “$1 for $1 law” that would require all government spending to be followed by austerity in the state apparatus. “Canadians are suffering, we are facing some of the highest inflation rates in 40 years,” he said.

The Conservative leader has also promised to “make work pay” rather than punishing it, notably by cutting taxes and various government programs. “We must stop punishing the work of Quebecers, as the Trudeau government is doing, by raising taxes,” stressed Mr Poilievre. Rather, it should be rewarded. »

Finally, a conservative federal government would recognize the skills of foreign health workers within 60 days in order to relieve pressure on the health system, Mr Poilievre promised.

“Only 43% of immigrant doctors and 37% of immigrant nurses are allowed to practice,” said Poilievre. For these candidates, the training costs are not even considered. It would be sufficient to certify their skills based on what they can achieve in 60 days rather than relying on their country of origin. »

In the same breath, he would like recognition of prior learning to be accessible to candidates prior to their arrival in Canada, to shorten the process as much as possible. His government would also pledge to support 34,000 loans to as many immigrants settled in the country so they can resume their studies by Canadian standards.

In addition to hiring more doctors and nurses, the Conservative leader also proposes unburdening the health care system, reducing waiting lists and speeding up Canadian approvals of innovative treatments that have been proven in other developed countries.

After Montreal, Mr. Poilievre will travel to Trois-Rivières and Quebec.

With Marie-Eve Martel, The Canadian Press