The leader of the federal Conservative party was in Nanaimo this morning meeting workers ahead of an 'axe the tax' rally in Powell River this evening.

Pierre Poilievre, leader of the Conservative Party of Canada, toured K2 Stone Manufacturing at Duke Point on Tuesday, Jan. 14, then made remarks to workers and guests.

British Columbia has its own carbon tax, but Poilievre warned of the impacts of a climbing federal carbon tax and its impacts on Canada's economy.

"The trucks that bring you your supplies or take your products to market would no longer afford to roll on our streets," he said. "And of course, they would get a phone call from Donald Trump telling them to leave Canada altogether along with many other businesses, and take the jobs and the growth down south where there is no carbon tax and where other taxes are falling."

Poilievre said axing the carbon tax would boost Canada's economic growth by $30 billion a year, and suggested Canadians would feel the effects of lower heating bills and grocery bills. For businesses like K2, he said, products would get to the yard more affordably and to market more affordably.

Speaking about related energy policy, the Conservative leader said his plan is to speed up and green-light natural gas projects including liquefied natural gas, saying B.C. would see the benefit from export business and be able to ship more quickly than U.S. Gulf Coast ports.

Poilievre also spoke on a few other topics, such as crime, promising tougher sentences for prolific offenders and drug traffickers, and plans to "rebuild" Canada's military as part of a vision for a "warrior culture, not a woke culture."