Ottawa, ON – The Hon. Pierre Poilievre, Leader of the Conservative Party of Canada and the Official Opposition, released the following statement:

“These multiple and unequivocal violations of our national sovereignty should be a wake-up call for the Trudeau Liberals who have failed to combat growing threats, particularly from the Communist Party in Beijing. Shooting down the balloons was the right thing to do. But after 8 years of Justin Trudeau, Canada cannot defend itself.

“Due to Liberal mismanagement of national defence, Canada lacks effective Early Warning Systems to detect this type of incursion into our airspace. With his failure to counter foreign interference and properly resource our military over 8 years, the Prime Minister has made us more vulnerable to foreign aggression. His cancellation of the F-35 jets wasted years and billions of dollars that could have gone into our forces. Had Canada possessed these jets today, we would not be so vulnerable and unprepared for danger. 

“Conservatives will call for strong action to counter these threats with stronger military, intelligence and alliances with fellow democracies.”