Prime Minister Mark Carney has come under fire for appointing the co-founder of a controversial mass immigration lobbying group to his council of advisors on Canada-U.S. relations.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said he “rejects” Century Initiative co-founder Mark Wiseman’s addition to the Council on Canada-U.S. Relations, calling him a “corporate elite” and saying it was a continuation of Liberal policies.
Wiseman is a co-founder of the Century Initiative, a lobbying group that advocates to increase the Canadian population to 100 million by 2100 through mass immigration and open border policies.
“It shows the Liberals would be no different in their fourth term than the first three,” Poilievre told reporters Friday.
“The Liberals destroyed our immigration system in their first three terms in power. They followed a radical globalist ideology of massive, uncontrolled population growth that put strain on our housing market, our health care and our job market.”
Wiseman is also the chairman of BlackRock Alternative Investors, a senior managing director and a global head of active equities at BlackRock Inc.
He is also a member of the World Economic Forum.
The council was established by former prime minister Justin Trudeau in Jan. to help draft a response to U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs and threats of annexation.
Its 18 members include former Quebec and Alberta premiers Jean Charest and Rachel Notley, businesswoman Arlene Dickinson and others.
Carney met with the council for the first time Wednesday, where he announced that he would be appointing Wiseman to join as an advisor.
Poilievre said he categorically rejects Carney’s appointment and Century Initiative’s goals to dramatically increase Canada’s immigration.
“Corporate elites like Mr. Wiseman and Mr. Carney loved it because it drives wages down,” said Poilievre, referring to mass immigration.
“It takes jobs away from our workers in numbers that we can’t replace by growth in the job market,” he said.”It’s terrible for our working class.”
Poilievre went on to say that by “bringing on Mr. Wiseman, it shows that Carney supports the Liberal Century Initiative to nearly triple our population to 100 million people.”
He said that the Conservatives “voted against the Century Initiative in the House of Commons” while the Liberals voted in support of it “unanimously.”
“That is the radical Liberal agenda on immigration,” said Poilievre. “We will get back to moderate, reasonable levels of immigration. Our country is built by common sense immigration.”
Poilievre said that a Conservative government would prioritize “growing the housing supply, healthcare and jobs faster than population growth.”
“I will reject the Century Initiative and get back to common sense immigration that brings people to Canada in numbers that we can hire, that we can house and that we can care for.”