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    • 'Five-alarm fire': Conservatives to continue focus on cost of living in new year, Scheer says

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    Opposition House Leader Andrew Scheer says Conservative MPs will continue to focus on tackling the cost-of-living crisis and quashing the Liberals’ carbon tax in the new year.

    Making life more affordable for Canadians, he said, is the number one priority in 2023.

    “That's the five-alarm fire that Canadians are experiencing,†he told Glen McGregor on CTV’s Question Period in a year-end interview airing Sunday.

    Scheer said the cost of living is the main concern of his constituents, a problem he blames on the Liberals’ spending driving up inflation.

    “We're going to stay focused on fighting that inflation,†he said, adding scrapping the carbon tax would also make certain expenses, like home heating, more affordable for Canadians.

    Scheer said fighting back against the Liberals’ carbon price will also remain a top priority next year, as Conservative MPs repeat their calls for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to cancel his plans to “triple, triple, triple†the tax.

    In response to questions about a Conservative climate plan to replace the carbon pricing system, Scheer said despite Trudeau being prime minister for seven years, he doesn’t believe the Liberals have presented a credible climate plan.

    “He still doesn't have a climate plan, he's got a tax plan that has failed in reducing emissions,†Scheer said, repeating a Conservative Party criticism of the carbon tax. “It's succeeded in making the cost of everything go up, but it hasn't helped him hit a single target that he set for himself.â€

    “Our focus will be on reducing emissions through incentives, through investments in technology and in innovative ways to reduce our carbon footprint as a country, but not by raising the cost of everyday essentials,†he also said.

    Scheer also touched on other big stories of the year, including the trucker protest that gridlocked downtown Ottawa in January and February. Scheer was among several Conservative MPs who showed support for the protesters at the time, and he said he stands by that decision now, despite Nanos Research polling showing most Canadians would hold a negative view of a politician who supported the demonstrations.

    “Standing up for people's individual liberty and freedom is always the right thing to do,†Scheer said, adding he considers Trudeau’s and some provincial governments’ decision to renew pandemic measures as the catalyst for the trucker protests.

    “It doesn't matter to me what polls say about fighting for individual liberty and the rights of people to make their own health care decisions, the right to express themselves, and the right to peacefully protest,†Scheer also said. “I don't look at polls when it comes to supporting those individuals who are fighting for those freedoms. I do it because it's the right thing to do.â€

    While the Conservatives began 2022 under Erin O'Toole's leadership, another lost general election in late 2021 and disagreements within the party led to the third leader in five years being ousted by caucus and stepping down in February.

    Longtime MP Pierre Poilievre took over the top spot in a majority win on the first ballot in September after a six-month leadership contest marked by vitriol and personal attacks.

    During the race, candidates sold record memberships and the Conservative Party grew to become the largest party in Canadian history.

    Scheer commended Poilievre for uniting the party after his victory and helping thousands of Canadians engage with politics and the Conservative Party.

    “If you look at Pierre’s amazing leadership campaign, he has broken the mold on so much of leadership and politics,†he said. “[There was] massive new engagement in our party rallies that had thousand and thousands of people out there, many of whom had never been to a political event in their life.â€

    It’s unlikely however Poilievre will go head to head in a general election against Trudeau too soon. The Liberal-NDP supply-and-confidence agreement—struck in March—is intended to prop up the Trudeau government until 2025 in exchange for progress on certain policy priorities. But cracks in the deal may be starting to show, with NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh threatening this week he will pull his support if the healthcare crisis does not improve quickly.

    Scheer said he won’t wade into speculation as to how long the deal will last or whether it will end and there will be an election in the next two years.

    “I try not to spend too much time analyzing the stars, so to speak, and predict when that's going to be,†he said. “But I do know that if our party stays focused on talking about the real issues that are affecting Canadians, mortgage rates going up, food bank usage going up, students having to choose between eating and paying their tuition, those are the types of things I hear when I come back to my riding and visit with my constituents.â€

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    opinion Don Martin: How a beer break may have doomed the carbon tax hike

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    CTVNews.ca ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½

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    The province's public security minister said he was "shocked" Thursday amid reports that a body believed to be that of a 14-year-old boy was found this week near a Hells Angels hideout near Quebec City.

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    Canada

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    • Emergency crews in northern Ontario found the bodies of four people inside a home where a fire broke out Thursday night.

    • Since she was a young girl growing up in Vancouver, Ginny Lam says her mom Yat Hei Law made it very clear she favoured her son William, because he was her male heir.

    • A field trip aimed at educating Toronto students about the plight of a northern Ontario First Nation ended with them taking part in a protest where pro-Palestinian slogans were shouted.

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    • WATCH LIVE

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    Autos

    • An Ontario man says it is 'unfair' to pay a $1,500 insurance surcharge because his four-year-old SUV is at a higher risk of being stolen.

    • Video of a brazen daylight auto theft which shows a suspect running over a victim in a stolen luxury SUV has been released by police west of Toronto.

    Local Spotlight

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    • The Ford government is considering restricting Ontario municipalities from installing new bike lanes that would require the removal of lanes of traffic, a source confirms to CTV News Toronto.

    • For the last seven-and-half months, Toronto resident Heather McArthur has been living out what she describes as her 'worst nightmare.' On Feb. 7, her then three-year-old son Jacob along with his father Loc Phu 'Jay' Le departed for what was supposed to be a week-long visit to Vietnam to celebrate the Lunar New Year with family, McArthur says.

    • A field trip aimed at educating Toronto students about the plight of a northern Ontario First Nation ended with them taking part in a protest where pro-Palestinian slogans were shouted.

    • Defence counsel for accused murderer John-Christopher Arrizza argues he was in an “altered state of mind†due to days of drug and alcohol use, sleep deprivation and not eating, when he fatally stabbed a man at a Banff nightclub in 2022.

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    • Calgary pickleball players will soon have a dozen new courts to play on.

    • WATCH LIVE

      WATCH LIVE

      Agreement in principle has been reached to build a new NHL arena at LeBreton Flats has been reached between the Ottawa Senators and the National Capital Commission (NCC), sources tell CTV News Ottawa.

    • The Ottawa Police Service Arson Unit is seeking witnesses to a fire that happened early Friday morning in a two-storey commercial building in Little Italy.

    • Police say a man, 34, who was taken to hospital in critical condition after being shot Thursday night has died.

    • The Montreal couple from Mexico and their three children facing deportation have received a temporary residence permit.

    • The province's public security minister said he was "shocked" Thursday amid reports that a body believed to be that of a 14-year-old boy was found this week near a Hells Angels hideout near Quebec City.

    • A man who asserted his right to work in French has won his case before the Tribunal, invoking the new provisions of the province's French-language law (Bill 96) to that effect.

    • DEVELOPING

      DEVELOPING

      Edmonton police are warning about traffic disruptions on Friday near the headquarters of the Alberta Teachers' Association, where a protest against the inclusion of sexual orientation and gender identity in school curricula will be taking place.

    • Mounties say there was an increased police presence in the Emerald Hills area of Sherwood Park on Friday morning as officers searched for a man who is wanted by police.

    • A mother and daughter say they woke up to flames encroaching on their third-floor apartment near Commonwealth Stadium early Friday morning.

    • A Nova Scotia woman has applied for a medically assisted death, saying after years of battling to receive out-of-country surgery for an illness that causes "indescribable" pain, she struggles to maintain the will to live.

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    • Emergency crews in northern Ontario found the bodies of four people inside a home where a fire broke out Thursday night.

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    • The Municipality of Lakeshore is honouring long-serving members of the Lakeshore Fire Department.

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    • A Vulcan, Alta., man has been charged with a Lethbridge woman's murder after her body was found in the Oyen area.

    • A Lethbridge couple got a good reminder as to why you should keep your vehicle doors locked at all times.

    • Lethbridge residents who live near the police range can expect to hear plenty of shots fired Wednesday and Thursday.

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    • Three northern Ontario residents are charged with drug trafficking after the vehicle they were in got stuck along a bush road off Highway 17 on Monday.

    N.L.

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