Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre said Vineland Growers Co-Operative Ltd. was the perfect place for his visit to Niagara-on-the-Lake Thursday morning.

“People can’t afford food and I wanted to highlight a co-operative that is working hard to deliver affordable, nutritious food to Canadian families,” Poilievre told The Lake Report.

As part of his campaign for the upcoming federal election, Poilievre made stops across the Niagara region, including NOTL, St. Catharines, Welland and Stevensville, to speak about his “common sense Conservative plan.”

It wasn’t a public rally. Access to the tightly controlled event on East and West Line was invitation-only.

George Lepp, president of the co-operative, addressed the crowd and introduced Tory MP Tony Baldinelli, who in turn introduced the Conservative leader.

Baldinelli noted Poilievre “wants to bring back the country we knew and loved.”

Poilievre said his plan focuses on axing the carbon tax, building more homes, fixing the budget and stopping crime.

To a room of about two dozen NOTL voters and politicians, including deputy lord mayor Erwin Wiens, Poilievre explained how the Conservatives plan to make those ideas a reality.

He claimed the largest cost on homes in Canada today “is bureaucracy.”

“When you buy a new home, more of your payment goes to the bureaucrats than the carpenters, plumbers and electricians who actually built the place,” he said.

Poilievre’s plan is to build more homes and back the trades, along with requiring town governments to “speed up permits” and cut development taxes.

During his speech Poilivre also discussed “jail not bail,” an initiative that will mean anyone with a “long rap sheet of serious offences” will be ineligible for bail, parole or house arrest. 

He also promised increased border security with high-powered scanners, which will be purchased by cancelling Bill C-21, a policy enacted by the Liberal government to ban certain handguns.

Poilievre said a Conservative government would ban hard drugs, stop giving out “tax-funded opioids,” prohibit all MPs from any involvement in the World Economic Forum and repeal what he called censorship laws. 

“We will cut back on aid to terrorists, dictators and other multinational bureaucracies. That foreign aid should be brought home and put into our military,” he said. 

His speech was well-received by the Conservative-friendly crowd of around in attendance. It was followed by a photo-op with supporters.