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Maxime Bernier says PPC would cut foreign aid to shrink government spending

Maxime Bernier says PPC would cut foreign aid to shrink government spending

CBC24-03-2025

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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.

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UK government hopes to regain political initiative as Treasury chief outlines spending plans
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"India is not a football which you kick around, it is an ally which you strive to embrace": Ex-Pentagon official Michael Rubin on India-Canada ties
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"India is not a football which you kick around, it is an ally which you strive to embrace": Ex-Pentagon official Michael Rubin on India-Canada ties

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'The grievances about Hardeep Singh Nijjar and the Khalistan movement were not real': Rubin said, accusing Trudeau of appeasing radical Sikh extremists in Canada and shifting blame to India rather than acknowledging domestic issues. Touching upon the issue of Khalistani extremism, Rubin stressed the importance of decisive measures from Canada. He said, 'It is so essential that India continued to press Canada to address the Khalistan movement head-on to designate the Khalistan movement and extremists as terrorists, to uproot terror finance and to stigmatize forever these groups that really have no popular legitimacy back home in Punjab or for that matter, among the larger peaceful Sikh community in Canada. It's time to stop allowing the loud, extreme voices to win and instead recognise that those same loud, extreme voices oftentimes deserve to be in prison for their involvement in terror, tax fraud and organised crime in Canada, in San Francisco and elsewhere.' 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In this context, Rubin has come out swinging against Khalistanis while praising Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's decision to accept Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney's invitation to the G7 Summit (from June 15 to 17) in Canada. He believes PM Modi's magnanimity in attending the summit shows 'India has nothing to hide.' Speaking to ANI on Wednesday, Rubin contrasted former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's approach with that of Carney's, saying Carney 'understands the importance of India' and wants to 'restore maturity to the relationship.' 'Canadian PM Mark Carney originally was a banker. He understands the importance of India. Justin Trudeau was a politician who peddled in image and imagination, and therefore it makes sense that Carney wants to restore maturity to the relationship,' Rubin told ANI. 'It makes sense for Prime Minister Modi to show that the problem was not Canada itself, but the immaturity and unprofessionalism of Justin Trudeau,' he added. Further, the American security expert highlighted that the Indian government is 'willing to have a serious dialogue, much like they had with the United States.' Rubin added that the problem with 'Justin Trudeau is that for his own domestic, political reasons and to assuage radical constituencies, he was shooting from the hip without any factual basis to support his accusations against India.' 'What Prime Minister Modi is showing is that India has nothing to hide. If you're going to have a serious law enforcement dialogue, it's got to be two-way. We've got to talk about illegal immigration into Canada, terror finance in Canada, radical Sikh mafias and how the Khalistan movement is tied to organised crime and terrorism,' he added. Rubin also raised concerns about the Khalistanis' movements, stating, 'When you give haven to any terror group. Ultimately, your interests are going to be subverted.' 'Justin Trudeau and frankly Pierre Trudeau before him, by embracing and tolerating the Khalistan movement in the face of some of the worst terrorist attacks in the 20th century, what they did is ultimately undermine Canada's moral authority and its strategic importance,' he added. (ANI)

"The grievances about Hardeep Singh Nijjar and the Khalistan movement were not real": Former Pentagon official slams Trudeau for amplifying exaggerated claims
"The grievances about Hardeep Singh Nijjar and the Khalistan movement were not real": Former Pentagon official slams Trudeau for amplifying exaggerated claims

Canada Standard

time2 hours ago

  • Canada Standard

"The grievances about Hardeep Singh Nijjar and the Khalistan movement were not real": Former Pentagon official slams Trudeau for amplifying exaggerated claims

Washington, DC [US], June 11 (ANI): Former Pentagon official and senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, Michael Rubin, has strongly criticised former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for amplifying what he called exaggerated claims around Hardeep Singh Nijjar and the Khalistan movement. He also praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi's strategic diplomacy and called for firm action against Khalistani extremism. 'The grievances about Hardeep Singh Nijjar and the Khalistan movement were not real': Rubin said, accusing Trudeau of appeasing radical Sikh extremists in Canada and shifting blame to India rather than acknowledging domestic issues. Rubin further elaborated on Prime Minister Modi's leadership, saying, 'Even Prime Minister Narendra Modi's critics will acknowledge that he has grown tremendously in office and he's now one of the most influential statesmen not only in Asia but in the world. The fact of the matter is that this magnanimity is strategic and it also forces the Canadians to recognise that the problem all along was in Canada and not with India. So, kudos to Prime Minister Modi for this strategy and for rejoining and agreeing to go to Alberta and the fact of the matter is that a strong relationship between India and all of North America is within everybody's interests, especially given the rise of China.' Touching upon the issue of Khalistani extremism, Rubin stressed the importance of decisive measures from Canada. He said, 'It is so essential that India continued to press Canada to address the Khalistan movement head-on to designate the Khalistan movement and extremists as terrorists, to uproot terror finance and to stigmatize forever these groups that really have no popular legitimacy back home in Punjab or for that matter, among the larger peaceful Sikh community in Canada. It's time to stop allowing the loud, extreme voices to win and instead recognise that those same loud, extreme voices oftentimes deserve to be in prison for their involvement in terror, tax fraud and organised crime in Canada, in San Francisco and elsewhere.' Reiterating his criticism of Trudeau, Rubin again dismissed the narrative around Nijjar and the Khalistan movement. He said, 'The grievances about Hardeep Singh Nijjar and the Khalistan movement were not real. They were exaggerations that Justin Trudeau Trudeau may have wanted so much to appease radical Sikh extremists in various constituencies that he was willing to take an organised crime hit between various Sikh groups and mafias and blame an outside power for it, rather than acknowledge the problem and the fault was Canada's alone. That is Justin Trudeau's problem. But now that Justin Trudeau is gone and likely will never return to power, Prime Minister Carney is taking a sober approach and recognising that he is not going to be tied to Justin Trudeau's fictions...' In this context, Rubin has come out swinging against Khalistanis while praising Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's decision to accept Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney's invitation to the G7 Summit (from June 15 to 17) in Canada. He believes PM Modi's magnanimity in attending the summit shows 'India has nothing to hide.' Speaking to ANI on Wednesday, Rubin contrasted former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's approach with that of Carney's, saying Carney 'understands the importance of India' and wants to 'restore maturity to the relationship.' 'Canadian PM Mark Carney originally is a banker. He understands the importance of India. Justin Trudeau was a politician who peddled in image and imagination, and therefore it makes sense that Carney wants to restore maturity to the relationship,' Rubin told ANI. 'It actually makes sense for Prime Minister Modi to show that the problem was not Canada itself, but the immaturity and unprofessionalism of Justin Trudeau,' he added. Further, the American security expert highlighted that the Indian government is 'willing to have a serious dialogue, much like they had with the United States.' Rubin added that the problem with 'Justin Trudeau is that for his own domestic, political reasons and to assuage radical constituencies, he was basically shooting from the hip without any factual basis to support his accusations against India.' 'What Prime Minister Modi is showing is that India has nothing to hide. If you're going to have a serious law enforcement dialogue, it's got to be two-way. We've got to talk about illegal immigration into Canada, terror finance in Canada, radical Sikh mafias and how the Khalistan movement is tied to organised crime and terrorism,' he added. Rubin also raised concerns about the Khalistanis' movements, stating, 'when you give safe haven to any terror group. Ultimately, your own interests are going to be subverted.' 'Justin Trudeau and frankly Pierre Trudeau before him, by embracing and tolerating the Khalistan movement in the face of some of the worst terrorist attacks in the 20th century, what they did is ultimately undermine Canada's moral authority and its strategic importance,' he added. (ANI)

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