page_title: People's Party of Canada
section_title: Principles and policies
hierarchical_section_title: People's Party of Canada / Principles and policies
caption_attribution_description: Français&#160;: Logo du Parti Populaire du Canada
context_page_description: The People's Party of Canada is a federal political party in Canada. The party was formed by Maxime Bernier in September 2018, shortly after his resignation from the Conservative Party of Canada. Bernier, the Member of Parliament for Beauce and a former cabinet minister, was the party's only MP from its founding in 2018 to his defeat in the 2019 Canadian federal election. Bernier had represented the Quebec riding in Parliament from 2006, when he was elected as a Conservative.
  The party has been referred to as conservative, libertarian, populist, and classical liberal, while being seen on the right-wing to far-right of the traditional left-right political spectrum.
  The PPC formed electoral district associations in 326 ridings, and ran candidates in 315 ridings, of Canada's total 338 ridings, in the 2019 federal election. However, no candidate was elected under its banner and Bernier lost his bid for personal re-election in Beauce.
context_section_description: Bernier stated that his party is "a coalition of people who are disenchanted with traditional politicians who say one thing one day, and another the next". He mentioned that his platform would be based around the principles of freedom, responsibility, fairness, and respect. Bernier has stated that these principles are non-negotiable, but that members would have input on policies as they are refined, and that a candidate questionnaire asks potential candidates about which policies they want in the platform.
  In addition to these principles, the party would advocate for "smart populism", which Bernier defines as "populism without emotions", speaking for "all Canadians", and not appeasing "special interest groups". Bernier has described the party as a "grassroots party". He has also stated that the party is neither left-wing or right-wing, but the difference between being free and not free. Bernier told Vassy Kapelos that the party will debate discussions that "the leadership and the caucus" did not want to have while he was a Conservative Party member, also stating that people who espouse racist, antisemitic, or xenophobic positions "are not welcome" in the party. A spokesperson has stated that the party does not debate the science of climate change. The party has been referred to as conservative, libertarian, populist,, and classical liberal, while being seen on the right  to far-right of the political spectrum.
  At the time of its formation the party indicated that its formal platform would be gradually unveiled, but it would generally follow the platform that Bernier ran on during his 2017 Conservative leadership campaign. Bernier stated that the platform "will be built on facts". He said that socially conservative policies such as abortion and gender identity would not be part of the party platform.
caption: French logo of the PPC
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