Maxime Bernier says PPC would cut foreign aid to shrink government spending
Social Sharing
Maxime Bernier and the People's Party of Canada launched their official campaign from Saint-Georges, Que., on Monday, focused on slashing government spending while halting immigration.
"We need to stop that to preserve our culture, our standard of living, our economy," Bernier said.
The former Conservative MP for Beauce is pitching his party — which strongly opposed COVID-19 lockdowns — as the "real conservatives" in this federal election.
In a scorched-earth exit from the Conservative Party of Canada in 2018 to found the People's Party of Canada (PPC), Bernier accused his former party of being too "intellectually and morally corrupt" to be reformed.
Bernier outlined on Monday the four pillars of the PPC platform: pausing immigration, ending what he described as "woke" policies, boosting the economy by cutting spending and implementing policies related to national security.
"Our country is broken," Bernier said, noting that he would withdraw Canada from United Nations commitments, such as The Paris Agreement, the World Health Organization and the Global Compact for Migration.
"We won't fight in Ukraine. We will also cut foreign aid and bring that money home," the Saint-Georges native said.
Bernier devoted parts of his speech to take aim at Liberal Leader Mark Carney and Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre for changing their positions on carbon pricing and for supporting carbon capture and storage, which the PPC leader described as costly and "inefficient technology."
Cutting federal funding for CBC/Radio-Canada is another key element of Bernier's plan to reduce government spending, he said.
"If CBC is going bankrupt, that's OK. We're in a capitalist system," he said.
Abolishing diversity, equity and inclusion
Shortly before his departure from the Conservative Party, Bernier made controversial comments online, criticizing the Trudeau government for allegedly pursuing " extreme multiculturalism," statements which several commentators have called xenophobic and racist.
In 2019, he faced criticism for tweets describing then 16-year-old climate activist Greta Thunberg as "mentally unstable," although he later softened his comments.
Bernier vowed on Monday that his party would fight to ensure Canadian citizenship remains a "privilege."
He invoked the dog whistle"woke-ism" — a catch-all term used pejoratively to describe everything from support for anti-racist measures and progressive policies to virtue-signalling.
He said on Monday that his party would have "concrete policies" to fight the ambiguous notion but stopped short of explaining what those policies would be, beyond halting government spending related to diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.
"Diversity, equity and inclusion — it is not in line with our Western civilization values," Bernier said. "We need to promote unity, equalization of rights and meritocracy."
Bernier has been accused of courting far-right, conspiratorial racists, especially throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, and appeared on conspiracy theorist Alex Jones's podcast as recently as March 22.
The PPC has denied that people with " extreme views" are welcome in the party.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
National Observer
39 minutes ago
- National Observer
‘Harper's dreams coming true': MPs slam Carney's fast-tracking plan
Prime Minister Mark Carney's new bill to fast-track major projects will have to rely on Conservative votes to pass, with all other parties expressing major reservations. The legislation would allow the federal government to conditionally approve projects it deems 'in the national interest' before an environmental or impact assessment or other regulatory processes take place. Both the NDP and Greens have spoken out against it, while Patrick Bonin, Bloc Québécois environment and climate change critic, called Carney's plan to fast-track major projects 'highly problematic' at a French-language press conference on Monday. The federal government is seeking to give itself 'superpowers' to accelerate projects and weaken environmental protections, Bonin said. Some of the factors used to evaluate whether a project is in the national interest are vague, and there's no obligation for the government to adhere to it, he added. Then, there is the question of sovereignty and whether provinces can say no to projects in their jurisdiction. Last week, Carney said projects need consensus from provinces to move forward, but the legislation doesn't spell that out, leaving room for potential overreach on provincial jurisdiction, Bonin said. The Building Canada Act is part of an omnibus bill that also includes action to remove federal barriers to interprovincial trade, which is less controversial than the changes to major project approvals. On Monday, the Bloc Québécois called on the federal government to split the omnibus bill into two separate bills so the issues can be studied in the relevant federal committees. The federal Conservatives have not confirmed whether they will support the bill — Leader Pierre Poilievre said caucus will discuss it on Wednesday. For the Conservatives, the question is not whether legislation is perfect, but whether it is better than the way things are, Poilievre said on Friday. 'That's what we'll be looking at as we study this newly-introduced bill over the next few days.' 'We would vote in favour of accelerating even one project,' Poilievre said, indicating that he wants to see new pipelines in particular. 'Once a project is on that list, it's not a question of if it's going to move forward, but how,' Alexandre Boulerice, NDP critic for environment and climate change, said. 'It's like Stephen Harper's dreams coming true." Last week, BC Premier David Eby said he will not support Alberta Premier Danielle Smith's vision of building a new oil pipeline to BC's north coast. Poilievre made it clear he doesn't think provinces should get veto power over nationally important projects. 'We need a pipeline to the Pacific, and if the prime minister says he's going to wait till everyone agrees, then nothing will get done, which is what has been happening for the last decade,' Poilievre said at a press conference at Parliament Hill on Monday. If the Conservatives support Bill C-5, the Liberals will have the votes they need to get it through the House of Commons. The NDP says its members will vote against the bill, with one MP calling the major projects section 'really dangerous.' 'Once a project is on that list, it's not a question of if it's going to move forward, but how,' Alexandre Boulerice, NDP critic for environment and climate change, said in a phone interview with Canada's National Observer. 'It's like Stephen Harper's dreams coming true.' He said the NDP is currently exploring possible options to block the bill, but any action would likely require cooperation with the Bloc Québécois. Either way, Boulerice doesn't see how the federal government can rush the bill through by July 1, given that there are less than two weeks left before the House rises for the summer. 'It's a really capitalist logic that what we need to do is to provide certainty to investors and companies,' Boulerice said. Green Party Leader Elizabeth May also criticized the proposed legislation in a June 9 press release. 'Bill C-5 gives the federal Cabinet sweeping discretion to fast-track projects while weakening Indigenous rights and environmental protections,' May's statement reads. 'This is the first time in 40 years that Canadian environmental assessment law has been written to serve political deals first and environmental responsibility second.' Factors for determining national interest 'carefully worded' The bill lists some factors the government may consider when deciding whether a project will be listed for fast-tracking, one of which is whether it will 'contribute to clean growth and to meeting Canada's objectives with respect to climate change.' Another factor is whether it will 'advance the interests of Indigenous peoples.' Boulerice said these are nothing more than broad slogans. Mark Winfield, a professor of environmental governance at York University, was of the same mind. 'These are attempts to cover off points of potential vulnerability,' he said in a phone interview with C anada's National Observer. The bill does not have a clear definition of 'clean growth,' he said, which creates huge loopholes for approving projects or employing technologies that many Canadians wouldn't consider 'clean.' 'The government has been very liberal in its definition of 'clean' to include things like CCUS [carbon capture, utilisation and storage], critical minerals, [and] nuclear,' Winfield said. The bill raises serious questions about how the federal government will reconcile Canada's climate change obligations with all the talk of potential pipeline and fossil fuel export projects at the same time as northern Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Ontario are going up in smoke, he added. 'Everybody thinks that it's an open door for pipelines, in fact, for oil and gas,' Boulerice said. 'It's not about solving the housing crisis with a big project of building millions of homes. It's about energy.' Carney has made repeated references to both clean and conventional energy, the latter of which refers to fossil fuels like oil and gas. Carney has referenced 'decarbonized' oil and used the Pathways Alliance's proposed multi-billion dollar carbon capture project as an example of projects that could be considered for fast-tracking. 'Oil is carbon. There's no such thing as decarbonized oil,' Angela Carter, an associate professor of political science at Memorial University of Newfoundland, said in a phone interview. 'We need to be very, very careful about this definition of clean growth. If it's a project that contributes to sustaining and growing oil production, well, that's not clean growth. It's very, very, very simple.' Bloc Québécois House Leader Christine Normandin said it's too early to say whether her party will support the bill. First, they want the government to respond to their request to split the bill into two parts, one for interprovincial trade and one for major projects. 'In a sense, this is taking what Stephen Harper tried to do with C-38 and putting it on steroids … The problem with trying to take shortcuts is it has a tendency to backfire and to make the underlying conflicts worse than ever,' Winfield said. 'Look what happened: Northern Gateway died, Energy East went nowhere, it took extraordinary steps to get Trans Mountain done.' The biggest challenge for Carney's government will likely be navigating Indigenous opposition and constitutional rights, said Michael Wernick, former clerk of the Privy Council. Indigenous Peoples have the most 'legal ability' to slow things down, he said, adding that it is not unsolvable for the Carney government but will be a key hurdle. Assembly of First Nations National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak voiced her concerns with the bill on Friday and called an emergency meeting on it this week. Onlookers and experts who care about climate are looking on with 'considerable uncertainty' because the bill could allow for massive progress to be made on an east-west electricity grid or fast-tracking renewable energy infrastructure, but that may not be the case, James Rowe, an associate professor of environmental studies at the University of Victoria, said. 'Given the political economy of Canada as the fourth largest oil producer in the world … it's more likely those real powerful forces are going to get their way — and projects that might otherwise have been stopped by regulatory processes and consultations … are going to get fast-tracked,' he said.
Cision Canada
an hour ago
- Cision Canada
Fraser Institute News Release: AI can help mitigate shrinking labour force by increasing productivity of existing workers and adding new ones
VANCOUVER, BC, June 10, 2025 /CNW/ - As Canada's labour force shrinks due to aging and slowing rates of immigration, artificial intelligence (AI) can help by increasing the number of available workers and improving worker productivity, finds a new study published today by the Fraser Institute, an independent, non-partisan Canadian public policy think-tank. "While there's a common perception that AI will eventually lead to mass unemployment, it actually opens the door to the labour market for people who may have been on the outside looking in," said Morley Gunderson, professor emeritus of economics at the University of Toronto and author of Can AI Mitigate Our Labour Force Problems? For example, AI can facilitate more effective job-matching between employers and job seekers including retirees who want to return to work, students who want part-time jobs, and new immigrants. AI can also improve employment prospects for people with disabilities by equipping employees with assistive technologies (screen readers, speech recognition software, etc.) and helping make driverless vehicles, "smart" wheelchairs and other AI-powered resources more widely available. At the same time, AI can help increase productivity growth, which has stagnated in Canada. For example, AI can help connect small and dispersed geographical markets with larger commercial centres, facilitate trade (within Canada and internationally), help small firms grow, and increase the ability of scientists and engineers to develop innovations that fuel productivity growth. "Rather than unduly fearing AI, Canadians should welcome the promise of AI to increase our ability to produce goods and services and improve our living standards," said Steven Globerman, senior fellow at the Fraser Institute. The Fraser Institute is an independent Canadian public policy research and educational organization with offices in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Montreal, and Halifax and ties to a global network of think-tanks in 87 countries. Its mission is to improve the quality of life for Canadians, their families and future generations by studying, measuring and broadly communicating the effects of government policies, entrepreneurship and choice on their well-being. To protect the Institute's independence, it does not accept grants from governments or contracts for research. Visit SOURCE The Fraser Institute
Winnipeg Free Press
an hour ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
‘When our mates need help, Australia is there'; Canada gets help fighting wildfires
As wildfires continue to burn from northwest Ontario to British Columbia, Canada is getting help from near and far, and very far. Southern Highlands – New South Wales Rural Fire Service in Australia says a 96-personnel-strong Australian contingent of firefighters and specialists have deployed to Canada for five weeks. The service says the deployment is in response to a request from the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says in a tweet that, 'When our mates need help, Australia is there.' A post on social media platform X from the official account for the Australian High Commissioner to Canada, Kate Logan, says the crews 'are on their way to support their Canadian colleagues battle wildfires in Alberta.' In Manitoba alone, the number of evacuees from fires has reached 21,000, and crews have come from other provinces and the United States. 'Thank you to our brave Aussie firefighters heading to help battle the Alberta wildfires in Canada. Stay safe and thank you for your service,' Albanese said on the social media platform X on Monday. Australia also sent firefighters to Canada in 2024 to help fight a massive blaze that forced the evacuation of Jasper National Park, as well as other fires earlier that month in British Columbia. The Yukon government, meanwhile, says it is sending 20 sustained-action firefighters to fight wildfires in Alberta and will be there for nearly three weeks. Thousands also remained out of their homes in Saskatchewan and Alberta, including between 10,000 and 15,000 in Saskatchewan alone. In British Columbia, the provincial wildfire service said Monday that crews were preparing for 'extreme fire behaviour' in the province's northeast as a second dry cold front was forecast to move through. This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 10, 2025.
