With a snap federal election just 32 days away, Jamie Schmale, three-time MP and the Conservative candidate in the re-jigged Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes riding, said his party will prioritize investing in housing, natural resources, and the trades to bolster Canada’s economy.
With Liberal prime minister Mark Carney, on March 23, calling an election for April 28, Schmale said it’s been a whirlwind few days as he prepares to launch his re-election campaign. He was previously elected to office in 2015, 2019, and 2021.
As of press time, he’s the only declared candidate for the riding.
“I think it was a smart move for the Liberals to call an election in such a short period of time… I think Canadians have been wanting an election to help give some certainty dealing with the United States,” Schmale told The Highlander March 25.
Asked about the near $60 billion in tariffs the Liberal government has imposed on the U.S. as a response to president Donald Trump’s threats to impose additional 25 per cent charges on all Canadian imports, Schmale feels Canada is stuck between a rock and a hard place.
“We would like to see a normalization of this relationship. I think it’s damaged right now… it probably has been forever damaged,” Schmale said.
He believes the answer is breaking down inter-provincial trade barriers and developing new agreements with other countries, saying the Conservatives would like to revive the Northern Gateway and Energy East pipeline projects to ensure Canadian oil and gas can be sold and shipped to Europe and Asia.
‘Canada is never going to become 51st state’
Schmale said a Conservative government led by Pierre Poilievre would continue to stand up to Trump.
“For me, Canada is never going to become the 51st state. We will fight with everything we have to ensure that does not happen,” he said.
Election promises
With the Conservatives promising to reduce income tax rates for Canada’s lower and middle class, Schmale said the savings would equate to about $1,800 a year for most families.
If elected, he said a motion to reduce the lowest income tax bracket rate from 15 to 12.75 per cent would be tabled “as soon as we can get it out”, likely during 2026 budget deliberations. It will be funded through right-sizing government, he said, with the Conservatives planning a review of staffing levels across all departments.
Schmale added the Conservatives would “axe the [carbon] tax completely,” going one step above Carney, who last week said the Liberals would scrap consumer-facing charges but maintain taxes for industry.
He said housing has to be a priority, with the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation estimating 3.5 million homes need to be built by 2030 to restore affordability and address the current housing gap.
“We still have a housing crisis. We’ve had 10 years now where house prices have gotten out of control for many people… it’s beyond time for action. We have talked about selling off federal buildings to turn into affordable housing, about incentivizing municipalities to accelerate building permits, about removing the sales tax on the construction of new homes.
“Another side of this is looking at increasing our labour pool. We have a severe shortage in the skilled trades, so we need to put some focus there, on training more workers,” Schmale said.
Last week, Poilievre announced plans to offer apprenticeship grants up to $4,000, fund training halls for skills development for up to 350,000 workers over five years, and work with provinces to harmonize health and safety regulations to allow tradespeople to work anywhere in Canada.
Asked if he would support a trades school coming to Haliburton County, something Dysart mayor Murray Fearrey and others have long advocated for, Schmale said, “if there is demand to expand to Haliburton, absolutely, I would support that.”
In 2021, Schmale secured 52 per cent of the riding’s vote, ahead of Judi Forbes (Liberal, 23 per cent), Zac Miller (NDP, 14 per cent), Alison Davidson (People’s Party, seven per cent), Angel Godsoe (Greens, 2.5 per cent), and Gene Balfour (Libertarian, 0.68 per cent).
The Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes Liberal Association, NDP Canada, and Green Party of Canada did not respond to questions as of press time.
