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

Holly Cabrera · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 24, 2025 6:44 PM EDT | Last Updated: 6 minutes ago

Maxime Bernier and the People's Party of Canada launched their authoritative run from Saint-Georges, Que., connected Monday, focused connected slashing government spending portion halting immigration.

"We request to halt that to sphere our culture, our modular of living, our economy," Bernier said.

The erstwhile Conservative MP for Beauce is pitching his party — which powerfully opposed COVID-19 lockdowns — arsenic the "real conservatives" successful this national election.

In a scorched-earth exit from the Conservative Party of Canada in 2018 to recovered the People's Party of Canada (PPC), Bernier accused his erstwhile party of being excessively "intellectually and morally corrupt" to beryllium reformed. 

Bernier outlined connected Monday the 4 pillars of the PPC platform: pausing immigration, ending what helium described arsenic "woke" policies, boosting the system by cutting spending and implementing policies related to nationalist security.

"Our state is broken," Bernier said, noting that helium would retreat Canada from United Nations commitments, specified arsenic The Paris Agreement, the World Health Organization and the Global Compact for Migration.

"We won't combat successful Ukraine. We volition besides chopped overseas assistance and bring that wealth home," the Saint-Georges native said.

Bernier devoted parts of his code to instrumentality purpose astatine Liberal Leader Mark Carney and Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre for changing their positions connected c pricing and for supporting c seizure and storage, which the PPC person described arsenic costly and "inefficient technology."

Cutting national backing for CBC/Radio-Canada is different cardinal constituent of Bernier's program to trim authorities spending, helium said.

"If CBC is going bankrupt, that's OK. We're successful a capitalist system," helium said.

Abolishing diversity, equity and inclusion

Shortly earlier his departure from the Conservative Party, Bernier made arguable comments online, criticizing the Trudeau authorities for allegedly pursuing "extreme multiculturalism," statements which respective commentators person called xenophobic and racist.

In 2019, helium faced disapproval for tweets describing past 16-year-old clime activistic Greta Thunberg arsenic "mentally unstable," though helium aboriginal softened his comments.

Bernier vowed connected Monday that his enactment would combat to guarantee Canadian citizenship remains a "privilege."

He invoked the canine whistle "woke-ism" — a catch-all word utilized pejoratively to picture everything from enactment for anti-racist measures and progressive policies to virtue-signalling.

He said connected Monday that his enactment would person "concrete policies" to combat the ambiguous conception but stopped abbreviated of explaining what those policies would be, beyond halting authorities spending related to diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.

"Diversity, equity and inclusion — it is not successful enactment with our Western civilization values," Bernier said. "We request to beforehand unity, equalization of rights and meritocracy."

Bernier has been accused of courting far-right, conspiratorial racists, particularly passim the COVID-19 pandemic, and appeared connected conspiracy theorist Alex Jones's podcast arsenic precocious arsenic March 22.

The PPC has denied that radical with "extreme views" are invited successful the party.

It received 5 per cent of the nationalist ballot during the 2021 national election.