A Conservative MP’s announcement Thursday that he is leaving the party and intends to form another one wasn’t much of a shock to Simcoe North’s representative.
Maxime Bernier, MP for the Quebec riding of Beauce, announced his departure from the Conservative Party of Canada during a news conference Thursday afternoon, while his colleagues gathered in Halifax for a party convention.
“Max had his day today,” Simcoe North MP Bruce Stanton told OrilliaMatters. “For a lot of us, this was not a surprise, especially these last several weeks.”
He was referring to a string of tweets Bernier has posted, starting with a criticism of Canada’s immigration system and the number of immigrants coming to the country.
Those tweets were “aimed at undermining the party’s position,” Stanton said.
Bernier then attacked Canada’s system of supply management.
“He obviously doesn’t agree with it, but as a member of our party, you have to work with what we have,” Stanton said.
Bernier, it seems, wasn’t willing to do that, saying in his statement Thursday, “The Conservative Party has abandoned conservatives.”
Former prime minister Stephen Harper weighed in on Twitter, chalking up Bernier’s departure and comments to sour grapes after losing the party leadership race to Andrew Scheer last May.
To that, Stanton said, “Max has somewhat stayed on the periphery of the work that has been going on” since Scheer took power.
Stanton said Bernier’s position on immigration isn’t reflective of most Conservative MPs and those who vote for them. He said the “vast majority” of Canadians appreciate a “positive, compassionate and fair position” on immigration, and he believes his party’s recently released immigration policy is just that.
While there are “legitimate concerns” with the number of people crossing the border into Quebec, Stanton believes Bernier is focusing on the wrong issues when he talks about the burden of immigrants on Canada’s social services.
“Max is preying on this worry,” Stanton said. “When people prey on these concerns for what appear to be purely political reasons … I would always stand to fight against that brand of populism.”
Bernier’s mission to start another right-wing party threatens to divide the Conservative party, which has managed to be Canada’s only prominent federal right-wing option since it was formed when the Progressive Conservative and Canadian Alliance parties merged in 2003.
Prior to that merger, conservatives were splitting the vote, paving the way for Liberal governments.
“We saw that happen in the 1990s and that’s exactly where we’ll end up” if enough people support a new party, Stanton said.
Populism, or simply those who do not appear to fit the traditional image of a politicians, is on the rise in North America, but Stanton doesn’t think it will fly on the federal level in Canada.
“Ninety-five per cent of voters are reasonable on these matters,” he said, adding they value a plan more than rhetoric.
He urges fellow MPs who support Bernier’s position to stick with the Conservative party.
“I know many of our members in our own riding of Simcoe North supported Max (in his leadership bid). My message to them would be there’s one party that can live up to the kind of ideals they saw in Maxime Bernier, and that is the Conservative Party of Canada,” Stanton said, adding his party is “the only avenue” to defeat the Liberals in the next election.
