PPC Leader Bernier criticizes Canadian counter-tariffs at Windsor campaign stop

Maxime Bernier, leader of the People's Party of Canada, used a stop in Windsor on Wednesday to denounce Canada's retaliatory measures against U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs. 

Bernier criticized Prime Minister Mark Carney's counter-tariffs on auto imports, which took effect Wednesday, saying they are a tax on Canadians.

"We, Canadian consumers, will pay that – and Canadian businesses," he said.

The PPC leader's comments come as thousands of local auto workers grapple with an uncertain future as a result of Trump's 25 per cent tariffs on vehicle imports. 

Bernier, speaking to a crowd of about 60 people at the Windsor Club along the Detroit River, said Canada cannot win a trade war with the much larger United States. He said Trump is using the tariffs as a negotiating tactic — and that Canada should come to the table with a better offer.

"He wants a better deal, and like him, I want a better deal," Bernier said to applause and cheers. 

Bernier — a vocal critic of Canada's supply management system — says he wants to put Canadian dairy on the negotiating table to sweeten the deal for Trump, who has taken issue with Canada's policies toward the farming sector.

But he also said the election is "not a fight against Trump."

Bernier argued that lowering corporate taxes, including abolishing the capital gains tax, would help attract businesses and investment. 

Bernier was joined at the event by local PPC candidates Nick Babic (Windsor-Tecumseh-Lakeshore), Jacob Bezaire (Windsor West), and Jason Henry (Essex).

Bezaire, a machinist and former Conservative voter, said he feels the party has experienced a "complete dropoff" since it was led by Stephen Harper, and that he was drawn to Bernier's "solid economic plan." 

Babic said he supports Bernier's "Canada First" platform and appreciates that Bernier "says what he means."

The PPC is currently polling behind the Greens and the Bloc Québécois at 1.7 per cent, according to CBC's Poll Tracker. 

The party, which Bernier founded in 2018 after leaving the Conservatives, made vote gains in the last federal election, earning roughly 5 per cent of the vote share — but it has so far failed to win a seat in Parliament.

Bernier has campaigned on stopping "mass immigration," ending gender-affirming care for transgender people, and slashing government programs and agencies, among other things.