Last week, I attended the Manning Networking Conference in Ottawa. I had the pleasure to meet one of the greatest defenders of freedom and small government in the world, former Congressman Ron Paul, who gave the keynote speech. I also made a presentation on how to attract new supporters to the Conservative Party at one of the panels with my colleague Jason Kenney (photo: Jake Wright). The text of my speech is reproduced below.

How to advance conservative ideas

Maxime Bernier

Manning Networking Conference 2013

8 March 2013, Ottawa

We are discussing today on this panel if the federal Conservative Party has reached a high water mark. I hope not. Because if that’s the case, there won’t be any Conservative left in Quebec when we hit the low water mark! I mean, outside of my riding of Beauce, of course!

So, to answer the question, how can we continue to attract new supporters?

In conventional politics, the way to get more supporters is usually to reach for the center. If you are on the right for example, all voters who share right-wing beliefs and ideas are assumed to support you already. So if you want to get more support, you make proposals that are a bit more to the left. You do the opposite if you are a left-wing party.

That may be a winning strategy to some extent, in some circumstances. If we’re talking about social or moral issues, or foreign policy for example. It’s obvious that we need to be sensitive to the majority’s opinion and to reach for a broader consensus on such issues.

But when it comes to economic issues, I don’t buy that. I think being more conservative on economic issues is the way to make our economy more dynamic, our country more prosperous, and ultimately to increase our support among voters.

There are only two directions we can take on this issue. Either we create new programs, increase spending and increase taxes – in short, increase the size of government. Or we do the opposite and reduce the size of government.

The evolution of government size

(more…)

Press Release

Maxime Bernier’s Great Crossing of Beauce

The Member of Parliament for Beauce will run 100 km to raise funds for la Fondation Moisson Beauce

Saint-Georges-de-Beauce, Quebec, February 10, 2013 — Maxime Bernier, the Member of Parliament for Beauce, announced today that he will run across his riding September 28th to raise funds for la Fondation Moisson Beauce, a food bank serving the entire Beauce region.

“It’s a personal challenge I wanted to take up for few years now. At fifty years old, it’s the challenge of a lifetime. What’s most important, however, is to be able to personally give back to the residents of Beauce in need,” the Beauce MP explained at a press conference with Nicole Jacques, director general of the Moisson Beauce food bank.

A typical marathon covers a distance of 42 km. Running 100 km is therefore greater than running two consecutive marathons. Mr. Bernier, who has been running for many years, will need to rigorously train several times per week for the next eight months to prepare.

The Moisson Beauce food bank has been distributing food and basic personal care products to a growing number of Beauce residents over the past few years. Currently, more than 9400 people living in a difficult socio-economic situation are receiving aid from the food bank every month, 30% of whom are children.

“I am very delighted with Mr. Bernier’s initiative. The run will help us continue with our mission since the demand for our services is growing,” Ms. Jacques said.

Maxime Bernier’s Great Crossing of Beauce will take place Saturday, September 28^th, 2013. It will start at 5:00 a.m. in Saint-Ludger, the southernmost municipality in the riding, and will end in Saint-Bernard.

Mr. Bernier will attempt to cover the 100 km distance that separates the two villages in twelve hours at most.

Individuals and businesses from across Canada who wish to support this cause will be able to “buy kilometres” for the Great Crossing of Beauce at the cost of $10 per kilometre. Through this effort, Mr. Bernier will seek to raise at least $50,000.

“I invite the people of Beauce and my friends from across Canada to show solidarity with those who are looking for a hand up by buying kilometres. I look forward to running with those of you who will be on-site September 28th. I will need your words of encouragement to be able to get to the finish line!” concluded Mr. Bernier.

Donors will also have the opportunity to run with the Beauce MP during the section of the run they have “purchased.” More information on how to make a donation and on the Maxime’s 100 km is available on these websites: www.moissonbeauce.qc.ca/ and www.grandetraverseemaximebernier.com/en/

-30-

(Photos: Yvon Thibodeau)

Informations:
Communications Christian Richard Inc.
514 386-8243
info@communicationschristianrichard.com

The convention of the Quebec wing of the Conservative Party of Canada was held last week in Victoriaville to adopt resolutions from local associations in preparation for the national convention that will take place next June in Calgary.

Among the resolutions adopted by the assembly is one put forward by the conservative association of my riding of Beauce, which proposes to freeze government spending from the moment when the budget is balanced in 2015-2016. Of course, I gave my support to this resolution from the members of my riding, which is similar to a proposal I made in a speech three years ago. I hope it will become official party policy at the national convention next summer.

Here is the text of the resolution:

WHEREAS federal expenditures have increased considerably since the 1960s;

WHEREAS we must reduce spending if we want to return the federal government to a size compatible with economic prosperity, federalism and individual liberty;

(more…)

This is the original version of a speech I gave earlier this month at Carleton University, for the second edition of the Government Innovation Conference organized by the Municipal Taxpayer Advocacy Group. On the picture, I am with Ade Olumide, president of the MTAG.

The Benefits of Smaller Government

Maxime Bernier

3 December 2012, Ottawa

As a Member of Parliament for the Conservative Party, I am often described as a right-wing politician. According to conventional ideological divisions, this is what distinguishes conservative politicians from those of the Liberal Party, who are supposed to be in the centre. And from NDP or Bloc members, who are seen as left-wingers.

I have never really liked those distinctions, because I don’t believe they really tell us anything useful.

I prefer to use a more precise rule to define my position: when we are faced with a problem, should the government intervene or should we leave individuals to find a solution by working together?  Should we have a bigger government with less liberty or a smaller government with more liberty?

My answer is we should have a smaller government with more liberty. Government should intervene less and every time it’s possible, we should defer to the free market and to individual initiative instead of imposing new rules.

I have respect and admiration for politicians considered to be right-wing, like Margaret Thatcher or Ronald Reagan. They managed to reduce government interventions in some areas.

But I also respect politicians considered to be left-wing who did the same. For example, Bill Clinton significantly reformed welfare programs, cut down spending and eliminated the budget deficit of the American government.

Still, I am a member of the Conservative party because it is part of conservative philosophy to understand the benefits of smaller government.

For us conservatives, government should ideally set up and enforce the basic rules of life in society. And then, leave individuals free to cooperate among themselves to provide for their wants. Government should not intervene to solve each and every problem on the road to a utopian and unrealistic vision of society.

(more…)

Parliament adjourned this week until late January. But before it did, I am very happy that our government gave its support to two important private member’s bills, both of which I also supported.

The first one is a bill tabled by an NDP member, Alexandrine Latendresse, that will require persons named as officers of Parliament — there are ten such positions, from the auditor general to the commissioner of lobbying — to be able to understand English and French without the assistance of interpretation, and express themselves clearly in both languages.

I am in favour of freedom of choice when it comes to languages. I am both against forcing people to become bilingual, and against preventing people from becoming bilingual and using Canada’s two official languages (see my position on Quebec’s bill 101). However, institutional bilingualism is something different. Our country’s central political institution, Parliament, needs to function in both languages. And that means anyone willing to occupy one of its key positions has to be bilingual.

(more…)

In the speech he gave when he launched his campaign for the leadership of the Liberal Party, Justin Trudeau declared that “the only ideology that must guide us is evidence. Hard, scientific facts and data. … instead of inventing the facts to justify the policies, we will create policy based on facts.”

Mr. Trudeau did not wait very long before he contradicted himself. Last week, he declared that the registry for long guns was a failure, and this after voting several times against our government’s decision to abolish it. Why was it a failure? Because it was “deeply divisive” for Canadians. For him, the fact that registry is gone is the proof of its failure. What a completely incoherent argument this is!

Moreover, he said that he would again vote to keep the registry and he supports the Quebec government’s decision to set up its own registry. Does anyone have a clue where he stands?

Some weeks ago, I noted how Mr. Trudeau had reversed the cause and the effect in his explanation of economic growth. This time, he once again confuses the cause and the effect when he talks about the firearms registry. It’s not because it is gone that the registry was a failed policy; it is because it was a failed policy that our government abolished it!

As I wrote on this blog three years ago already, this registry has been an administrative and financial disaster since the start. According to government estimates at the time, it was supposed to cost 2 million dollars; instead, it cost 2 billion dollars, a thousand times more! Imagine what could have been done with all this money.

The auditor general had stated in one of her reports that there was no evidence that the registry had helped reduce crime. Very few crimes are committed with hunting rifles. The police can already find out who possesses a firearm by consulting the list for firearms possession and acquisition licenses.

A government policy should not be judged on its intentions but rather on its observable consequences. The intentions that led to the creation of the registry, saving lives and reducing criminality, were no doubt laudable. But it did not work. If Justin Trudeau wants to put forward positions based on hard facts, that’s the argument he should be using.

Several events were held across the country as part of Small Business Week from October 14 to 20. As minister responsible for small business, I attended some of them.

BizPaL provides entrepreneurs with simplified access to information on the permits and licences they need to establish and run their businesses. This partnership among federal, provincial, territorial and municipal governments is designed to cut through the paperwork burden and red tape that small business owners encounter.

On the picture above, I am with Graham Dickson, founder and CEO of Arctic Kingdom Polar Expeditions, which organizes polar expeditions to observe the wildlife and the spectacular landscapes of the region. Here he suited me up in a traditional Inuit seal skin suit for a short hike in Sylvia Grinell territorial park near the capital, Iqaluit.

In Iqaluit, I met with Nunavut premier, Eva Aariak. We discussed her vision of economic development for the territory.

I also met entrepreneurs from the area who told me about the problems they have to face to develop their businesses.

Back in Ottawa on October 17, I was present at an event in Adobe’s offices attended by over a hundred entrepreneurs. I discussed our government’s plan to cut red tape and open new markets for exports with Bruce Lazenby, CEO of Invest Ottawa, and Diane Desaulniers of the Regroupement des gens d’affaires de la capitale nationale.

Justin Trudeau launched his campaign for the leadership of the Liberal Party of Canada a couple of days ago. This week, I gave an interview to La Presse about Mr. Trudeau’s economic vision – or rather his lack of vision. Here is an English version of the article by Joël-Denis Bellavance published on Friday.

Maxime Bernier goes after Trudeau

October 12, 2012

Joël-Denis Bellavance

La Presse

Justin Trudeau is using “empty slogans” to woo the middle classes, but he has nothing credible to propose to improve their lives from an economic perspective, believes Maxime Bernier, the minister of State for Small Business.

Stephen Harper’s conservatives have until now remained silent on the candidacy of the young MP from Papineau, who wants to lead the Liberal Party of Canada. Mr. Bernier broke that silence by sharply criticizing some passages of the speech delivered by Mr. Trudeau when he launched his campaign in Montreal Tuesday of last week.

(more…)

My summer tour of Quebec’s regions continued in September. Among other things, I talked with entrepreneurs at a round table held in St. Hyacinthe, Quebec (see picture below). I heard about shortages in skilled labour, the need to reduce government red tape and increase service standards across various departments to meet the needs of businesses.

I was also the guest speaker at the Ghislain Dufour Business Forum in Montreal, an event organized by Canada’s largest public relations firm, National. I talked about the economic crisis that persists around the world and explained why it’s not government stimulus programs, with more spending and money printing, that can bring about a sustained recovery, but rather policies that favor wealth creation in the private sector.

The Montreal daily La Presse ran an article last week about my summer tour.

As part of my summer tour of Quebec’s regions, I went to the Festival Western de St. Tite two weeks ago. It is very encouraging to see how a tiny village can build a world-class event through volunteer power. I had the honour of reading the Cowboy’s prayer at the opening of the Canada Cup Rodeo Finals.

Here I am with two of the power houses behind the festival: its executive director Pascal Lafrenière (left) and the president of the board of directors Christian Lafrance.