Maxime Bernier

Maxime Bernier (born January 18, 1963) is a Canadian politician who is the founder and leader of the People's Party of Canada (PPC).

He is the second oldest child and has two sisters, Brigitte and Caroline, and a brother, Gilles Jr. In his teens, Bernier played football as a member of the Condors, the team of the Séminaire St-Georges, that won the Bol d'Or in 1980 at the Olympic Stadium.

Bernier was born in Saint-Georges, Quebec, the son of Doris (Rodrigue) and Gilles Bernier, a well known radio host, who represented the riding of Beauce from 1984 to 1997, first as a Progressive Conservative and then as an independent.

Bernier obtained a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the Université du Québec à Montréal, completed his law degree at the University of Ottawa and was called to the Quebec Bar in 1990, of which he is still a member.

For 19 years, Bernier held positions in law, several financial and banking fields, such as working as a lawyer at McCarthy Tétrault, rising up to become branch manager at the National Bank, the office of the Securities Commission of Québec as Director of Corporate and International Relations, an adviser (handling fiscal reform) from 1996 to 1998 in the office of Bernard Landry—Quebec's finance minister and Deputy Premier of Quebec at the time—and Standard Life of Canada as the Vice-President of Corporate Affairs and Communication.

He also served as Executive Vice-President of the Montreal Economic Institute, a Quebec free-market think tank, where he authored a book on tax reform.

In 2005, Bernier became the Conservative candidate for Beauce in the 2006 federal election.

Stephen Harper had asked Bernier's father to re-enter politics, and the latter suggested that his son should run instead.

Bernier won 67 per cent of the vote, the largest majority for a Conservative politician outside Alberta.

His ties to Beauce and his support for provincial jurisdictions (which was endorsed by former Social Credit party leader Fabien Roy) were factors in his win.

Some political pundits believed Bernier's ideas led to the unexpected Conservative breakthrough in Quebec during the election.

He was the member of Parliament (MP) for Beauce from 2006 to 2019 and served as a Cabinet minister in the Harper government.

Before entering politics, Bernier worked in law, finance and banking.

He was first elected to the House of Commons as a Conservative in the 2006 election in the same riding his father, Gilles Bernier, had represented from 1984 to 1997.

Bernier held a number of portfolios in Prime Minister Stephen Harper's Cabinet.

He was industry minister from 2006 to 2007 before being promoted to foreign affairs minister until he stepped down in 2008 after failing to secure confidential documents.

Bernier was a high-profile new MP from Quebec; on February 6, 2006, he was appointed Minister of Industry and minister responsible for Statistics Canada.

As the Minister of Industry, he also served as the Registrar General.

During his time as Industry Minister, Bernier started reformation of the telecommunications industry, particularly on local phone service.

Professor Richard J. Schultz from McGill University lauded his attempt to deregulate the telecommunications industry, calling him "the best Industry Minister in 30 years, without challenge".

James Cowan from Canadian Business, called Bernier's tenure "a golden age" for Canadian business policy.

On August 14, 2007, Bernier was appointed as Minister of Foreign Affairs, replacing Peter MacKay, who became the Minister of National Defence.

During the beginning of his tenure, Bernier's personality and charm received praise among foreign dignitaries.

In May 2008, it was revealed that, one month earlier, Bernier inadvertently left a confidential briefing book at the home of his girlfriend, Julie Couillard.

While Prime Minister Stephen Harper originally defended Bernier, he ultimately accepted Bernier's resignation on May 26, 2008 saying, "It's only this error. It's a very serious error for any minister. The minister immediately recognized the gravity of that error."

In a 2010 interview with John Geddes, Bernier said he respects his father as a Mulroney-era politician, but tries not to emulate his style.

Bernier has stated that his views were shaped from his upbringing in Beauce to his life experiences.

He continued to sit as a back-bench MP until 2011, when he was appointed as Minister of State for small business and tourism.

After leading eventual winner Andrew Scheer through 12 rounds of voting, he came second with over 49 per cent in the 13th round.

Following the 2015 election, while the Conservatives were no longer in power, Bernier was re-elected as an MP.

Bernier ran for the Conservative Party leadership in the 2017 leadership election.

Formerly a member of the Conservative Party, Bernier left the caucus in 2018 to form the PPC.

Fifteen months later, in August 2018, Bernier resigned from the Conservative Party to create his own party, the People's Party of Canada, citing disagreements with Scheer's leadership.

He lost his parliamentary seat in the 2019 election to Conservative Richard Lehoux, ending parliamentary representation of the PPC.

Bernier later ran in the by-election for York Centre in October 2020, but placed fourth, winning 3.56 per cent of the vote.

He lost to Lehoux in Beauce a second time in the 2021 election.

In June 2023, he ran in the by-election for Portage–Lisgar and placed a distant second.

Bernier has taken economic libertarian positions on issues such as opposing supply management in the Canadian dairy industry and government subsidies for arenas.

He is against mass immigration to Canada, supports repealing the Multiculturalism Act, and rejects the scientific consensus on climate change.

During the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada, he opposed mandatory vaccinations, public health measures, and attended many anti-lockdown protests; he was arrested for violating public health orders at a gathering in Manitoba.