Small sticks

Poilievre's housing bill would have had almost no effect on home construction. If it even worked.

Pierre Poilievre outside the West Block, last August. Photo: PW

I continue to be amused by the widespread belief that Pierre Poilievre has said almost nothing about how he would govern. Nothing but slogans, people say. In fact, for months the Conservative leader has been all but shovelling detailed policy proposals off the back of a truck. On Friday morning, for instance, he called for a 100% tariff on made-in-China EVs; a 50% tariff on semiconductors and solar cells; and a 25% tariff on steel, graphite, EV batteries “and ship-to-shore cranes.”

The whole thing is designed to match Joe Biden’s tariffs against China. Indeed, here’s a story about Biden’s crane tariff. This is yet another case of Poilievre importing U.S.-style politics from his pal… er, Joe Biden. It also may well be a case of an opposition leader demanding something the government could eventually deliver anyway. If so, the opposition leader gets to say “Well, finally.” So this isn’t rocket science. But it’s also more than slogans.

Since he’s kind enough to tell us, occasionally in detail, how he'd govern, I figure it’s only fair to listen. Readers will know I’ve been paying occasional attention to the housing bill Poilievre tabled in the House of Commons last year. This week I’ve been examining that bill even more closely, in an attempt to figure out how it was supposed to work.

I’m not sure it would. But even if a Poilievre government could deliver the city-level financial penalties that are the bill’s centrepiece, I’m quite sure it would have no measurable effect on home construction. Let’s take a look.