Ezra Levant: 'I like Bernier very much, and I wish he were in Parliament'

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In a distant second place in last night's by-election, what lies ahead for Maxime Bernier? The results have left many wondering about the future of the charismatic leader of the People's Party of Canada (PPC).

"Rebel news has been the most supportive news outlet in Canada towards Maxime Bernier," said Ezra. "We cover his press conferences. I've personally interviewed him probably ten times. We've also sold ads to him."

"Our viewers like Bernie's love for freedom, and we appreciated his opposition to the lockdowns."

Ezra continued:

Last night, Bernier vowed to fight on, and that's great. He's obviously a fighter, but what does it mean to fight but not have a seat in parliament for four years now? I mean, that's a politician, but it's more of a pundit or an activist now.

Last night was a pretty convincing result in the most PPC friendly riding in the country. So what now? Well, I hope Maxime Bernier stays in the public square. He always was in the public square. His father was, too. I think he has good skills. A strong network, a strong ideology is bilingual. I love how he infuriates all the right people in the establishment and in the media.

All the fancy people hate Maxime Bernier. But what do we think and what do we do here? Rebel News. Like I say, we've covered him more than most. I interviewed him at the start of his byelection campaign.

The PPC was sorely needed as an antidote to Andrew Scheer and Erin O'Toole and to the pandemic lockdown conformity. But now that Pierre Poilievre has moved the CPC to the right and now that the lockdown crisis has receded, are populist conservatives and freedom oriented contrarians happy enough with Poilievre to vote for them?

I think Pierre Poilievre isn't perfect, but perfect can be the enemy of the good. What I mean by that is probably was miles better than O'Toole and Scheer. He's still a bit cautious, and he's scared of the media party. But much less than those other two, he's taken firm lines on things like the carbon tax, the economy. He sure has socked it to the CBC. He's obviously still scared to talk about immigration and he's still shy about rebel news.

Bernier isn't scared of anything, but maybe that kind of ideological purity is great for punditry and social media action, but not so much for winning elections.

Ezra added that we desperately need to beat Justin Trudeau. After losing in 2019 and 2021, isn't it desperately time to win against Trudeau?

"And you tell me, is it not the fact that there are only two people who could mathematically become PM after the next election, Justin Trudeau or Pierre Poilievre?" Ezra asked.