The Conservatives on Sunday announced a list of new recommended measures to tackle rising diesel costs at the pump for consumers and corporations in Canada.

Party leader Pierre Poilievre announced during the Tories’ “Emergency Fuel Relief Action Plan” during press conference in Ottawa. The plan outlines a number of measures which aim of making Canada’s diesel supplies self-reliant within five years. 

As global conflicts in Iran and Ukraine put immense stress on global energy supplies, diesel prices in Canada have skyrocketed, and eclipsed rising costs in the United States. 

Diesel costs per litre rose to $2.74 last week, marking a nearly 80 per cent increase from last fall.. Beyond international crises, failures in domestic policy are contributing to high costs, outpacing those of the U.S., Poilievre said. 

Breaking down interprovincial trade barriers is a key step in the Conservatives plan to solve climbing diesel costs for consumers, Poilievre said, answering a question from iPolitics. 

Transportation regulations across the provinces and territories present a key obstacle to moving fuel across the country, he said. 

“I think that we should have national trucking regulations that are signed on to by all provinces to simplify the movement of those goods,” Poilievre told iPolitics. 

In June, the Liberal government announced the signing of a memorandum of understanding on cross-province trucking, which aims to create regulations which can be uniform across the country on issues such as training and weight permits.

However, the Conservatives have said June’s MOU on trucking doesn’t go far enough, arguing for national trucking regulation ratified by each province and territory in the country. 

The opposition leader also called on the government to take a more assertive role in the development of pipeline infrastructure across provinces in the country, calling on Ottawa to step in and push forward with projects despite disagreements between provincial governments.

“The federal government should use its constitutional power to permit pipelines, even if provincial gatekeepers stand in the way,” the Conservative leader said, answering a question asked by iPolitics. 

Governing infrastructure projects that cross provincial lines is exclusively under the jurisdiction of Ottawa, a responsibility which Poilievre said he would take on if the Conservatives held government. 

“It’s in the constitution. Interprovincial projects have been exclusively the domain of the federal government,” he said. “I would exercise that power.” 

Poilievre also called for the elimination of all taxes on diesel, calling for the excise tax cut to be extended until July 1, 2027. The plan also calls for the removal of all GST from fuel purchases. 

Canada is “facing a diesel price emergency,” and international factors do not explain the discrepancy between what Canadians and those in the U.S. are paying at the pump, Poilievre said. 

“The reason why Canada is paying more is because of policies here at home,” he said. 

High diesel prices impact all Canadians, the Conservative leader said, pointing to the fact that diesel fuel is used in a wide range of forms of transportation across the country from roads to railways to farming equipment. 

“If you got it, a truck or train brought it,” Poilievre said. “And, those trucks or trains are all powered by diesel.”