OTTAWA - People鈥檚 Party Leader Maxime Bernier said his 鈥渟mart populist party鈥 is aiming to appeal to the intelligence of Canadians through policy reform and not their emotions.
Speaking on CTV Question Period on Sunday, Bernier was asked what populist means to him. In response, Bernier said 鈥渨e base our policies on serious reforms that need to be done in this country.鈥
鈥淭here is no political correctness with us. We are saying what we believe in with passion and with conviction, and that鈥檚 why you can call our party a smart populist party.鈥
Bernier was on CTV Question Period as part of a series of leaders鈥 interviews where he spoke about his party鈥檚 position on climate change, Quebec鈥檚 controversial Bill 21, and his stance on immigration and multiculturalism.
'There is no climate change emergency in this country'
When asked if humans and excess carbon emissions are the cause of climate change, Bernier gave a two-fold 鈥測es and no鈥 answer.
鈥淚t is not the main reason why we have climate change; there are other factors also, like the ocean and the sun,鈥 he added. 鈥淭here is no climate change emergency in this country.鈥
Bernier has long disputed the science behind climate change, which is why his party is the only camp running in this election without any sort of climate policy. And if elected, he said his stance wouldn鈥檛 change.
鈥淭he environment is a shared jurisdiction with provinces, and I鈥檒l let provinces deal with it if they want,鈥 he said. 鈥淚鈥檓 the only leader that won鈥檛 sign the Paris Accord and we won鈥檛 try to achieve the targets in the Paris Accord. We鈥檙e not hypocrites, we鈥檙e telling the truth to Canadians.鈥
The Liberals, Conservatives, NDP, and Greens have pledged to meet or surpass the targets laid out in the international agreement, which aims to cut emissions to 30 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030.
Earlier this month, the PPC leader made headlines for calling Greta Thunberg, a 16-year-old environmental activist with Asperger鈥檚 syndrome, 鈥渕entally unstable.鈥
After sparking controversy online, Bernier later tweeted, 鈥淪he is a courageous young woman who has overcome her problems and deserves our admiration for it.鈥
He was asked about his comments on Question Period.
鈥淔irst of all, when she is saying and I quote her 鈥榚veryone must panic and feel her fears鈥 I think that is not responsible,鈥 said Bernier.
鈥淵ou cannot build public policy on panic, on sentiment, you must build public policies on facts and there鈥檚 no proof that tomorrow it would be the end of the world if we didn鈥檛 do anything on climate change.鈥
PPC wouldn't intervene on Bill 21
Bernier also gave a firm 鈥渘o鈥 response to whether a PPC government would intervene on Quebec鈥檚 controversial Bill 21, which bans public servants from donning religious symbols and clothing.
鈥淚t鈥檚 in line with provincial jurisdiction and they use the notwithstanding clause and the Quebec government has the right to do it. I won鈥檛 interfere.鈥
But, Bernier added that he wouldn鈥檛 broaden the legislation federally.
'We're not anti-immigration'
Bernier has proposed lowering the admittance of immigrants to between 100,000 and 150,000 per year, as opposed to a projected intake of 340,000 immigrants by 2020 as proposed by the Liberals.
鈥淲e鈥檙e not anti-immigration, we鈥檙e not for mass immigration, we just want fewer immigrants but we want more of them being economic immigrants.鈥
Bernier has said the Liberals' immigration plan has led to what he called 鈥渆xtreme multiculturalism.鈥
鈥淚 know this country is a diverse country, and we鈥檙e proud of that. This country has been built by Francophones, Anglophones, First Nations, Inuits, immigrants from around the world, that鈥檚 perfect but what I don鈥檛 like with extreme multiculturalism is when the government is using the taxpayers' money always to fund our diversity.鈥
Bernier said he wants to help 鈥渞eal refugees that are waiting in a country where their life is in danger. That鈥檚 the most important. That鈥檚 Canadian values. Not the people that are crossing our border illegally in Quebec.鈥
