Pierre Poilievre wants to make Canada the blockchain capital of the world

Conservative leadership candidate Pierre Poilievre is committing to a blockchain economy as leader and Prime Minister. Speaking in London, Ontario Monday, Poilievre said, "Canada needs less financial control for politicians and bankers and more financial freedom for the people."

"That includes the freedom to own and use crypto, tokens, smart contracts, and decentralized finance," he said.

The blockchain relates to the network of digital currency, such as Bitcoin, Ethereum and others. It is a decentralized form of finance, unburdened by government control or inflation. Cryptocurrency is already important to the Canadian story as Vitalik Buterin, the co-founder of Ethereum is Canadian.

One of Poilievre's top concerns is inflation. "The Trudeau government is ruining Canada's money with American-style money printing that has inflated the assets of the rich and the cost of living for everyone else. This is Justinflation," Poilievre said.

"After creating over $400 billion in cash out of thin air since 2020, Canada's inflation rate has hit a 30-year high and housing inflation is hitting all-time records," he continued. "Canada's housing bubble is the second-worst in the world. Since Trudeau took office, the Canadian dollar has lost half its purchasing power for buying homes, as real estate prices have doubled."

"Across western economies, governments have fueled inflation and created dangerous bubbles and a growing wealth gap," he continued lambasting Trudeau's treatment of the Canadian economy.

"Government is ruining the Canadian dollar, so Canadians should have the freedom to use other money, such as Bitcoin," he said.

"The Blockchain economy is about more than new forms of cash. It's also about decentralizing control of our economic decisions. A Poilievre government would welcome this new, decentralized, bottom-up economy and allow people to take control of their money from bankers and politicians," Poilievre continued.

"It would expand choice and lower the costs of financial products, and create thousands of jobs for engineers, programmers, coders, and other entrepreneurs."

Poilievre is a vocal proponent of freedom in all of its forms and Cryptocurrency is perceived to be the freest form of economics. As such, numerous authoritarian countries have banned Cryptocurrency altogether. These include Egypt, Iraq, Qatar, Oman, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Bangladesh, and China.

Canada may be no exception to the above, as the Trudeau Liberal government vocalized its opposition to Cryptocurrency during the Freedom Convoy. With this in mind, Poilievre is committing to rejecting a China-style crackdown by ensuring cryptocurrencies remain legal for payment among two agreeing parties.

In addition to keeping Cryptocurrency free, Poilievre will simplify the tax treatment for crypto and make it easier for buyers and sellers to comply. He will also apply the principle of treating "like-things-like" so that laws, taxes, and regulations treat crypto assets the same as their equivalents in the traditional economy.

"Choice and competition can give Canadians better money and financial products. Not only that, but it can also let Canadians opt-out of inflation with the ability to opt-in to cryptocurrencies," Poilievre said. "It's time for Canadians to take back control of their money and their lives by making Canada the freest country on earth."