St-Georges-de-Beauce, QUEBEC, February 13, 2025 — People's Party of Canada leader Maxime Bernier held a press conference this morning in St-Georges-de-Beauce to announce that he will run again in the riding he represented as MP from 2006 to 2019.
Mr. Bernier devoted most of his speech to commenting on the economic situation in which Canada finds itself as a trade war with the United States looms on the horizon. In his view, instead of imposing retaliatory tariffs on U.S. imports, a deal should be proposed to Donald Trump that would include supply management:
“We need to stop burying our heads in the sand. Supply management is one of the two most contentious issues for Americans regarding our trade relations with them. And as we've seen, Donald Trump seems determined to take all necessary measures to achieve his goals.
My stance in favour of abolishing supply management during the Conservative Party leadership race sparked a huge controversy, in Beauce and across Canada. It cost me the victory in that race and contributed to my defeat in the 2019 and 2021 elections here.
And yet, time has proven me right. Today, I extend my hand to the dairy producers and offer to work together to make this reform in the interest of all.”
The leader of the People's Party presented himself as the only one who can adequately fight for the economy of Beauce and all of Canada in Ottawa:
“Today, I stand once again before the people of Beauce to ask them:
How many exporting businesses in Beauce are you willing to endanger to protect the costly and inefficient supply management system?
How many thousands of manufacturing jobs in Beauce do you think we should sacrifice to protect the costly and inefficient supply management system?
Do you want a representative in Ottawa who has been the only one for almost a decade to address this issue realistically and offer a solution? Someone with experience as a former Minister of Foreign Affairs, who will defend the interests of all Beaucerons and Canadians in the House of Commons? Someone who will also fight to ensure that dairy producers are fairly compensated when we reach a deal with Trump?
Or do you want, in such critical circumstances for our future, to have as an MP someone who comes directly from the dairy sector, who defends only his own interests and those of the cartel at the expense of the economy of Beauce?”
The full textof Mr. Bernier’s statement is available here.
Contact
For more information, please write to: media@peoplespartyofcanada.ca.
