Poilievre says he worries for his family as political violence concerns grow in Canada, U.S.

capital of south dakota Poilievre says he worries for his fellowship as political force concerns farm in the U.S. And Canada followers the fatal shooting of an American right-wing activist — and the Conservative leader believes all of Canada's top politicians should have protection.

"I think all the political leaders and ministers who face real threats, according to the RCMP's assessment, they should have protection so that something like this does not happen on our turf."

Tyler Robinson, 22, was arrested Friday on suspicion of capital murder, weapons and obstruction offences in connection with the fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk at a university in Orem, Utah, on Sept. 10.

'We got him,' Utah governor says about Charlie Kirk shooting suspect

Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, a Republican, said officials had heard from those close to the suspect that he had grown more political recently and opposed Kirk's views.

Officers have not revealed the suspect's motive, but Kirk's death ushered in a wave of statements from politicians in the United States and Canada condemning political violence, including from Prime Minister Mark Carney and Poilievre.

The Conservative leader told host Catherine Cullen he knows "all the political leaders would share my view that this is unfortunately a risk that's out there, and we should do everything we can to mitigate it."

Poilievre concerned about his family’s security amid growing political threats

Poilievre said Kirk was killed "because he expressed a contrary point of view."

He said it's not acceptable in a democracy to censor or attack someone who disagrees with you.

"Disagreement and debate is necessary in a free and open democracy," Poilievre said. "We can't let the terrorist who carried out this assassination change that."

On Thursday, Carney announced the initial tranche of projects the federal government will help get off the ground quickly, including expanding liquefied natural gas production in B.C., upgrading the Port of Montreal and building a copper mine in Saskatchewan.

Poilievre criticized the announcement and said Carney has "now been prime minister for six months — hard to believe — and he hasn't delivered a permit for a single nation-building project."

"So far he's succeeded at setting up an office with one employee, and he sent a list of five projects that were already approved or almost approved before he got there," Poilievre said. "And now he's picking up the football in the end zone to spike it."

Despite the initial tranche of projects not including an oil and gas pipeline, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said on social media that "great progress" is in the works and that she feels "more optimistic than ever that the concerns of Albertans are finally being heard."

Poilievre took a more critical view of Smith's comments: "She's right. We have to be patient because of Mark Carney's snail's pace."

The Conservative leader said his party is proposing the Canadian Sovereignty Act, which repackages many Conservative campaign promises, including scrapping the West Coast oil-tanker ban, killing the industrial emissions cap and eliminating the industrial carbon tax.

Does Poilievre worry about climate change?

Asked whether he worries about the impact climate change is having on the planet, Poilievre said "sure."

"That's why I'm disappointed with the very problematic approach of the Liberal government, which has been to drive up energy costs and block projects from going ahead that help the environment," he said.

In response to a follow-up question on whether he considers himself an environmentalist, Poilievre said "you can call me whatever you like" and added the Liberal government is not meeting its own emissions target.

The Conservative leader also insisted Canada ramp up development of natural gas liquefaction plants to send "very clean" fuel to Asia to displace coal use.

Earlier this month, Poilievre demanded the federal government axe the temporary foreign worker program, claiming it flooded the market with cheap labour and made it harder for young Canadians to find work.

He defended his proposal during the interview and said Canada has hemorrhaged tens of thousands of jobs since Carney took office.

Canada's unemployment rate reached nearly its highest point since 2016 as the economy shed 66,000 jobs in August, according to the latest data from Statistics Canada.

Poilievre calls for temporary foreign worker program to be scrapped

When pushed on whether those job losses can also be attributed to U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs on Canadian goods, Poilievre retorted that Carney still has not reached a trade deal with the Americans.

"He promised to have a deal by July 21," Poilievre said, referring to Carney's self-imposed deadline to get an agreement with Trump. "Those are broken promises."

Poilievre said he isn't blaming temporary foreign workers for Canada's unemployment woes because they're "just doing what the Liberal government told them to do."

"A stronger take-home pay is one of my big priorities for this fall session, and that means ensuring that even though there aren't a lot of jobs in Canada right now, they should go to Canadians first."

Associate Producer

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