Canadian Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre pledged to build an ¡°east-west economy¡± with oil and gas pipelines stretching from Alberta to the Maritime provinces as part of a sweeping plan to respond to U.S. tariff threats.

In a major speech Saturday, the opposition leader aimed to persuade Canadians that he¡¯s the best candidate to lead the country in a looming tariff war with its largest trading partner. He promised to hit back hard against any levies imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump, while revamping the natural-resources sector to fortify the country¡¯s economy against threats from its southern neighbor.

¡°We have to be prepared for the worst,¡± Poilievre told a crowd of nearly 2,000 supporters in Ottawa, many draped in red and white. ¡°We can no longer depend on the Americans alone for our trade. We can no longer think of them as our back-up defense. These threats, my friends, are a wake-up call.¡±