Inside what ‘axe the tax’ means to Pierre Poilievre’s supporters: ‘He understands Canadians’

When Sarah Morin hears the phrase “axe the tax,” what enters her mind is “freedom.”

The 41-year-old is a stay-at-home mother of two who has been using a food bank amid cost-of-living pressures.

She was among those who packed into a crammed room at a convention centre near Ottawa’s airport on Sunday to listen to Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre speak.

His signature cause: The party’s long-standing vow to “axe” the Liberal government’s consumer carbon price.

With the price set to increase by $15 per tonne on April 1, Poilievre has spent the past month hosting rallies and releasing a new set of ads pressing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to “spike the hike.”

During his latest event, a clock projected on the wall ticked down the time remaining until the carbon price increases, as rallygoers waved “axe the tax” signs and Poilievre sported a T-shirt emblazoned with the slogan.

But what do those three words actually mean to those who chant them?

“Freedom,” Morin told The Canadian Press.

“Axing the tax — it means that I have a chance, that there’s a chance that my family and I are going to survive.”

Although she has identified as a Conservative supporter in the past, Morin said she wouldn’t have turned out for an event like Sunday’s if anyone other than Poilievre was at the helm.

“I feel like he understands Canadians,” she said.

For 53-year-old John James, who said he voted Liberal when he was younger, the phrase simply means that “everything is too expensive” and signals people cannot afford to live in their homes or pay their mortgages.

A woman named Alissa, who declined to provide her last name, said the slogan refers to her income-tax payments as a minimum-wage worker who puts in more than 40 hours a week.

Another young man quipped