Federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre visited Penticton on March 8 to meet and speak with workers at local businesses.

One of his stops was at Peter Bros. Paving, one of the larger construction companies in Penticton. He was touring the local businesses ahead of a public meet-and-greet on March 9.

The Penticton Western News spoke with Poilievre about issues affecting residents just before his speech to the workers.

sa国际传媒淓verything costs more, work doesnsa国际传媒檛 pay, housing costs have doubled, crime, chaos, drugs and disorder are common in our streets and Isa国际传媒檓 here to share our common sense plan to axe the tax, build homes, fix the budget and stop the crime,sa国际传媒� said Poilievre. sa国际传媒淭hese workers they pour their hearts out for the country every day. Itsa国际传媒檚 time there was a reward, a time they had bigger paychecks at the end of the day with lower taxes and thatsa国际传媒檚 what Isa国际传媒檓 going to deliver.sa国际传媒�

Although an election is still distant, with it required to be held by 2025, the Conservative Party leader has been to the Okanagan several times in recent years, with a previous rally in Oliver in 2023 drawing hundreds.

Outgoing MLA Dan Ashton has also announced that he would be running for the riding currently held by NDP MP Richard Cannings, who will be retiring at the next election. The federal NDP have not yet announced who will be their candidate for the riding.

The riding is also changing for the next election due to B.C.sa国际传媒檚 growing population, which means that the entire Similkameen to Princeton will be voting for the same candidates as Penticton, Osoyoos and Grand Forks.

Many of those residents, particularly in Penticton and Keremeos, are seniors. Poilievre said a Conservative government would go after government spending as a way of targeting inflation to help support those on fixed incomes.

sa国际传媒淔irst of all, wesa国际传媒檙e calling on the [federal] NDP, the provincial NDP and the federal Liberals to cancel their planned April 1st carbon tax hike,sa国际传媒� said Poilievre. sa国际传媒淭hat tax is really going to hit seniors hard because their heat, their food, their gas will become much more expensive on route to the quadrupling of the tax over the next five years.sa国际传媒�

Poilievre also reiterated his promises of cutting government red tape to speed up construction, and tying federal infrastructure money to the amount of permits issued by municipalities with more going those that beat federally set targets.