Is a vote for the PPC a throwaway vote? Maxime Bernier weighs in
Rebel News asked PPC leader Maxime Bernier about key platform differences from other parties, Trump's tariffs, and vote splitting.
As Canadians are preparing to head to the voting booth in two weeks, some say this election could go either way. On one hand, polls suggest Mark Carney’s Liberals are leading, aiming for a fourth consecutive term. But on the other, massive rally turnouts for Pierre Poilievre’s Conservatives signal a level of voter momentum that shouldn’t be ignored.
With the country facing a cost-of-living crisis, rising overdoses, and increased crime rates under the Liberals, alongside mounting trade tensions with the U.S. government, the stakes have never been higher.
Such concerns have reignited a familiar question from conservative-minded voters: is casting a ballot for the People’s Party of Canada just vote splitting that could hand the Liberals a fourth term?
Maxime Bernier says no — and he’s not interested in tiptoeing around the issue.
While campaigning in B.C.'s Fraser Valley, Bernier told Rebel News that the vote belongs to the people, and if they want to vote conservative, there is only one party to consider. “Poilievre is Conservative only in name,” Bernier said.
When asked some of the core ways his party differs from the larger parties, the PPC leader says both the Liberal and Conservative plans for mass immigration and climate change will set Canadians back.
“The Conservatives and the Liberals are OK with mass immigration,” said Bernier. “Pierre Poilievre has said that he wants 250,000 foreigners a year, plus international students, plus temporary foreign workers, plus refugees, that will be about 1.5 million foreigners over three years. This is mass immigration.”
According to Bernier, the PPC would take the opposite approach: deport illegals and put a full moratorium on new immigration until housing and affordability improve.
The PPC leader also took aim at carbon capture, dismissing both major parties' climate plans as a waste of money rooted in climate alarmism.
“They want to capture CO2 and put it in the ground because for them, for the Conservatives and the Liberals, CO2 is a pollutant,” he said. “But we know that CO2 is a gas essential for life… There is a natural technology that is capturing CO2 — it is trees and plants. That’s food for plants. We need more CO2.”
“We won’t impose taxes. We will withdraw from the Paris Accord,” he added.
On the topic of Trump’s tariffs, Bernier laid out an alternative to what he sees as weak responses from the leading parties.
He believes the solution is not to respond with retaliatory tariffs, but instead to reassert Canadian independence through negotiating a better deal that “puts everything on the table” and gets the tariffs lifted faster to prevent a recession for the Canadian people.
Drea Humphrey
B.C. Bureau Chief
Based in British Columbia, Drea Humphrey reports on Western Canada for Rebel News. Drea’s reporting is not afraid to challenge political correctness, or ask the tough questions that mainstream media tends to avoid.

COMMENTS
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Lillian Kelly commented 2025-04-17 17:06:15 -0400I also agree with others that Pierre has the only chance for unseating the Liberals, and if they get in again it is really destruction for Canada. They will continue their destruction and obey the WEF and globalist agenda. Carney said that he is a globalist and an elitist and that is what we need right now. He has alot of arrogance. We have to get Pierre in. Please….vote conservative.
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Lillian Kelly commented 2025-04-17 16:59:14 -0400I am very disappointed in listening to Maxime and what he is saying about Pierre Polliievre. I have listened to Pierre in detrailed interviews many times and I know what his policies are and Maxime is wrong in his criticisms of him. He will cut the budget and experenses of the government and he is very clear about that and how his government will save money, and on cutting immigration, stopping illegal immigration, and opening up the dewvelopment of resources in the west and the rest of Canada while maintaining solid protection of the environment. I was thinking that it would be good to have one or two people from PCC in parliament to help keep things in line, but after hearing Maxime in this interview I am not longer of that opinion. Pollievre for Prime Minister all the way!!
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Robert Pariseau commented 2025-04-17 11:01:29 -0400Bernier doesn’t show up until there’s an election call. He’s never there between elections. The only side he’s on is his own.
Poilievre built his profile in the offseason, the instant he became the party leader. -
Jamie Perritt commented 2025-04-17 00:48:25 -0400I would love to see either Maxime or Pierre win – they would both bring great change to our country.
But it takes a long time for a small party to gain power. And we are still at a point where the Conservatives are the only party strong enough to possibly beat the Liberals. So yeah, people voting for PPC are taking votes from the Conservatives who actually have a chance at winning. But may not due to all the votes going to PPC.
It’s unfortunate that we have 2 federal parties so similar.
Yes, it’s important to vote based on your values. But it’s also important to vote strategically for an election this important. And pretty much anything the PPC will do for Canada, the current Conservatives will as well. -
Crude Sausage commented 2025-04-16 19:27:07 -0400I’m voting for the People’s Party either way because unlike many of you, I didn’t forget how the Conservatives were in favour of pushing the vaccine and keeping us locked down. Poiliève only spoke up when it was safe for him to do so, after the truckers had already convinced the world to end the lockdowns and mandates. Only Bernier was on our side. He’s the only real conservative there.
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Robert Pariseau commented 2025-04-16 18:27:52 -0400Then you’ve just voted Liberal. And they have quite the track record at this game.
This is about raw numbers, which places maximum emphasis on quantity and minimum emphasis on quality.
I’d rather a cool head that plays the game the way the game actually is played than a vindictive hothead that thinks the rules don’t apply to him. -
Anita Depatie commented 2025-04-16 18:22:31 -0400A vote for Bernier is very dangerous it could mean the diffrerence between a Liberal just getting in or Conservative. Please, go away Maxime you’ll be held responsible if Conservatives loose because of you. You both have lots in common try to work together instead of furthere dividing the country. You are a real threat to our children’s future.
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Crude Sausage commented 2025-04-16 16:56:57 -0400None of that stops me from voting for him. I’d rather an authentic conservative with a temper than a docile dummy whose values can all be sacrificed for a vote.
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Robert Pariseau commented 2025-04-16 15:51:47 -0400Bernier doesn’t understand politics, and it cost him the reins of the Conservative party.
It also cost him more than 75 percent of the Conservative defectors of the O’Tool era.
He has a big mouth and a terrible temper, and his message has already proven to be a massive turnoff to anyone that’s paying bills within the borders. -
Crude Sausage commented 2025-04-16 10:34:50 -0400Bernier is not lying. Poilièvre has already mentioned that he wanted to lower the number, not bring it to zero. He believes in housing, but he also believes that the people he would be bringing in would be responsible for producing those houses. Unfortunately, he isn’t aware of how parasitic today’s immigrants are.
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Marcia Frost commented 2025-04-16 10:22:01 -0400Bernier is outright lying about Poilievres stance on immigration….Poilievr has made it clear tht NO more people shld come in UNTIL and UNLESS we hav the housing, healthcare and other resources to accomodate thm. His opinion on this is Very diffrnt frm Carneys who supports the Century Initiative, Pierre doesnt support tht. Bernier is jst causing troubl
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Ron Voss commented 2025-04-15 18:56:44 -0400With respect to climate change, unfortunately even here in Alberta, our Premier Danielle Smith, buts into this globalist scam.
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Crude Sausage commented 2025-04-15 10:53:59 -0400Why be a team player if that requires you to sacrifice every conservative value the party is meant to protect?
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Robert Pariseau commented 2025-04-15 10:51:38 -0400Harper wanted the CPC to be led by a cool head, not a hothead. And he wanted the new leader to be a team player, not a selfish idiot.
Bernier’s vendetta hasn’t cooled down in the slightest. -
Crude Sausage commented 2025-04-15 07:31:07 -0400Even if it were a throwaway vote, they still deserve it more than the socialists leading the pack.
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Bruce Atchison commented 2025-04-14 19:20:00 -0400What about pPoilievre’s promise to send foreign students home and deport troublemakers? And the problem with voting PPC is that it is one less vote for the only man who can unseat Carney and his China-friendly Liberals.