Maxime Bernier lashes out at Conservative Party in attempt to win over Manitoba voters

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OTTAWA – Maxime Bernier says he’s ready to “fight” to become the first member of Parliament for the People’s Party of Canada, and has already thrown some punches by accusing the Conservative Party led by Pierre Poilievre of steering “to the left” to please voters.

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Bernier announced on Friday he is running to be the next MP in Portage-Lisgar, in Manitoba. The Trudeau government is expected to announce shortly the date of the byelection in the riding to replace former Conservative MP Candice Bergen, who stepped down in February.

“Together, we will redefine what it means to be a conservative in Canada. One more or less CPC MP will not make a difference. But one People’s Party member of Parliament would offer more opposition against the radical left than the entire so-called Conservative Party,” he said.

Conservative House leader and former leadership opponent Andrew Scheer shot back at Bernier on Twitter, saying that the former MP has “always been an opportunist” and that he would “go anywhere, say anything and take any position just to bask in a spotlight”.

“I know from experience: he is always more focused on his own self-promotion than on any the issues he claims to care about,” wrote Scheer.

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In a speech to his supporters, Bernier came out with all guns blazing against his former party, accusing it of steering to the left in order to gain votes in urban areas.

“Whether it is gender ideology, mass immigration, climate hysteria, the cult of diversity or abortion, the CPC has refused to fight the necessary cultural battles. They are too scared of negative coverage from the mainstream media and being called bigots,” he said.

“They have sat on their hands as the radical left has taken over our society.”

Speaking to reporters, Bernier accused Poilievre of having disavowed some of his conservative convictions that he displayed during the leadership contest in order to win more seats in the Greater Toronto and Vancouver areas to win the next federal election.

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“Poilievre is going to the left, and it’s only the beginning,” he said.

Bernier mentioned immigration, LGBTQ issues, climate change and immigration as areas where his party and the Conservatives do not agree.

On abortion, Bernier blasted Conservative MPs for having largely avoided the annual March for Life in Ottawa the day before. “For me, (abortion) is a murder. And we need to have that discussion. We need to reopen that debate, like the climate change debate,” he said.

Bernier stepped down from the Conservative Party in 2018, after having narrowly lost the leadership race to Scheer. Bernier then went on to create his own party, the People’s Party of Canada, but lost his seat in 2019 in the Quebec riding of Beauce.

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The PPC did not manage to win any ridings in 2021, despite winning over 820,000 votes and five per cent of the popular vote in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The PPC’s best result was in the riding of Portage-Lisgar, with 22 per cent of the vote. Bergen still managed to easily get re-elected with over 50 per cent of the vote.

Bernier predicted this byelection will once again be a “two-horse race” between the Conservative Party and the People’s Party, but he will have some competition.

The Conservative candidate running to replace Bergen is her former campaign director, Branden Leslie, who managed to defeat former Manitoba Health Minister Cameron Friesen for the party nomination. Leslie is also unequivocally against vaccine mandates and lockdowns.

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In fact, Leslie early on depicted Friesen as having a “record of lockdowns” and held him responsible for having closed businesses and churches as health minister.

Bernier reminded his supporters that it was just outside of the southern Manitoba riding that he was arrested nearly two years ago for attending a rally against COVID-19 restrictions, and said he would be in court next Tuesday to fight the charges against him.

In this riding I am reminded of Beauce … Beauce is a rural riding with the same values, like you, here in Manitoba.

“I was the only leader of a national party that was ready to fight for freedom. And that’s why, you know, I was handcuffed and put in jail for a non-crime here in this province because I was fighting for freedom for everybody, the freedom of choice,” he said.

Bernier also addressed why he decided to run in southern Manitoba, despite having been elected in Quebec previously.

“In this riding I am reminded of Beauce, where I grew up, the riding that I represented for 13 years. Beauce is a rural riding with the same values, like you, here in Manitoba,” he said.

Even if he were to lose, Bernier hinted that he would be staying on as PPC leader.

“I like what I’m doing, and I believe that I can win,” he said. “I will fight and I will travel across the country and I will be ready for the next general election.”