Bernier's People's Party of Canada promises drastic cuts to immigration

Maxime Bernier, leader of the fledgling People's Party of Canada, yesterday called Islamism or "political Islam" a threat to Canada's values and way of life. Introducing his party's policy on immigration -- the ballot question in the upcoming Canuckistan election -- he said denounced mass immigration and "extreme multiculturalism," which he said are really "a very dangerous type of social engineering" which would lead to "social conflicts and potentially violence."

M Bernier went on to say that Canada must look after its own citizens first, and focus on newcomers who bring economic value to the country. A People's Party government, he said, would slash immigration and refugee numbers, build a fence to block asylum seekers from walking across the border, and end a program that lets immigrants sponsor their families to join them. "I can understand why immigrants would want to bring the rest of their extended family here, including older ones who will benefit from our health-care system," his text read, "but we cannot be the welfare state of the planet."

He pledged to reduce the number of immigrants admitted to Canada each year to 100,000 or 150,000 at most, if the economy and "other circumstances" allow that many. That's less than half the number currently being "welcomed" by Canuckistan's Liberal government (Just In Trudeau, Prop.) The so-called Conservatives refuse to divulge their target number, but under the last Tory government of Steve Harpoon, the number of immigrants increased to 250,000. Saying most Canadians agree with him, M Bernier cited polls suggesting up to half of respondents think immigration levels are too high.

On the question of refugees and asylum-seekers -- the issue that has most Canadians, including legal immigrants, seething -- M Bernier pledged to build fences at popular crossings for migrants between official ports of entry -- including the notorious Roxham Road "gateway" near Saint-Bernard-de-Lacolle QC -- and to rely on private sponsorships for funding new immigrants rather than government support. His speech said that a People's Party government would focus on religious minorities in Muslim-majority countries and "members of sexual minorities" instead of refugees identified by the United Nations.

Another plank in the PPC's immigration platform promises to make each immigration applicant go through a face-to-face interview with a Canadian official to judge the applicant's values and his or her acceptance of Canadian societal norms. M Bernier quoted Salim Mansour -- a PPC candidate in an Ontario riding, who happens to be a Muslim -- who has written that official multiculturalism is a lie. "A lie based on the idea that all cultures are equal," said the party leader. "A lie destructive of our Western liberal democratic heritage, traditions, and values based on individual rights and freedoms."