Since Maxime Bernier's split from the Conservative Party of Canada (CPC), there has been much arguing back and forth between Max supporters and those still loyal to the CPC. Max went onto create the People's Party of Canada (PPC), a name that received the ridiculous accusation of being Communist, simply because the word people was in the name and has typically been associated with the socialist movement. This shows a lack of understanding of Max's policies, since he has stated on several occasions that he is pro free market, for smaller government/ decentralization of power and pulling Canada out of hurtful, dangerous global agreements that infringe on the sovereignty of our nation, everything that goes against the idea that Max is a Communist.
Those who are still loyal to the CPC have not been happy with Max, claiming he is splitting the right wing vote. They ask "why didn't he wait a year, until the election was over?"
They ask "why didn't he wait a year" as if he owes that to the CPC. Clearly, Max was not happy with the direction the party was moving in, was being suppressed from speaking his mind and decided to abandon a sinking ship. Even if the CPC goes on to win the 2019 election, it is clear that they have abandoned many of their conservative principles. Stephen Harper said something about this when he was on Ben Shapiro's show.
Harper makes references to how when someone on the right says they are a pragmatist or a centrist, they are actually centre-left but want to be in a conservative party. This is exactly the way that Andrew Scheer has presented his party. We can look into recent history to see that this is a failing strategy. In January 2018, Patrick Brown the former leader of the Ontario Progressive Conservative Party (PC) was accused of sexual Harassment and resigned as leader of the party. I have made a video detailing how these accusations are most likely false and possibly even a political hit job. Before this, he won the position in 2015 and spent those 3 years pandering to liberal voters and red Tories. This alienated his voter base of social conservatives and Libertarians. Brown did attract new numbers to the party, but after he was ousted from the party, it turned out that 70,000 of these party members were faked.
When the time came for these red Tories and liberal voters to stand up for Brown during these allegations, they abandoned him. He pandered to the press, and they, too, abandoned him. Andrew Scheer is playing a losing game for conservatives.
One of the CPCs old guards is Manny Montenegrino. On twitter, he goes by the handle Manny_Ottawa. He is the president of Think Sharp, a legal firm that deals with Corporate Crisis Management, Creative Solutions and Government Advocacy/Lobbying. He was an adviser to the Harper Government while they were in power from 2006-2015. He has for a long time considered Stephen Harper the best Prime Minister in Canadian history. He is also a prominent voice in the #Trudeaumustgo movement, considering Justin Trudeau the worst Prime Minister of Canada. I have no problems with that, in fact i agree with the thought that Trudeau is the worst Prime Minister. He has been a very vocal opponent to Maxime Bernier leaving the party and critical of Bernier supporters. His focus is the conservatives winning the 2019 election. Since MadMax's departure from the CPC, his criticisms have become more and more ridiculous. I don't fault him for not supporting bernier, or even being critical of Max. I do fault him because he is loyal to party lines over principle, since Andrew Scheer has turned his back on many conservative principles. Free speech (which technically does not exist in Canada, yet Scheer has placed himself as a defender of free speech) he has turned his back on, back benching Bernier for speaking his mind. Abortion, he would not reopen the debate in Canada despite the fact that even late term abortions are legal. He presents himself as fighting for the people, yet is influenced by small interest groups (Dairy cartel) as proven in the Halifax policy convention and his stern defence of Supply Management. He was even photographed speaking to members of the dairy farmers at the convention. He criticises Trueau's Globalist policies yet has supported many of them such as the Paris Climate agreement. He criticises the Liberals virtue signalling and pandering to certain groups, when he is guilty of the same.
In fact, in the tweet in the top left corner, he congratulates Aga Khan, who is the one Trudeau took the trip from that got him 4 violations of the Parliamentary ethics code. He presents himself as a conservative, yet campaigns with members of the Quebec separatist movement as well as Liberal politicians. This doesn't mean Scheer has completely moved his platform to the left, but enough of it and on very important issues.
My problem with Manny_Ottawa is that he does not even criticise Scheer for these actions, which to me proves that he is loyal to party over principle. Recently, he put out a tweet which was just jumping the shark. In it, he full out states that Max supporters hate Canada. I'm not kidding. He made this claim with the worst display of logic I have ever seen.
Then he doubled down:
So... he thinks anyone who supports Max is by proxy destroying Canada, claiming it is "facts and logic".
Manny really doesn't understand where the support for Max comes from, or why. We support Bernier because we see Scheer as too similar to Trudeau and his policies, and that voting for Scheer is only a slim difference then voting for the Liberal Party. Bernier calls out the problems that other politicians won't, he is against PC culture, against the UN and other Globalist policies, for the free market and does not pander to one group or another, treating everyone equally as Canadians. We see Bernier as the only REAL Right wing alternative. But it is more then that. Marine Le Pen once said "The divide is no longer between left and right, but between the patriots and globalists". This sentiment was echoed by Stephen Harper, Andrew Scheer's mentor and Manny's ideal Prime Minister. So far, Andrew Scheer has proven himself to be on the side of the Globalists, even if it is not to the same extent as Trudeau.
I consider myself a Canadian patriot, and in my opinion, no one loves this country more then I, not even Manny. That doesn't mean it is perfect. It has its problems but I want to work to fix these problem. But, by Manny's logic, I hate this country simply because I support Max and will help Trudeau get back into office. It was not Max who split the right-wing vote, it was Scheer when he was unable to unite the Party and when he moved it towards the centre-left. As leader of the CPC, it was his job to keep the party intact and present it as something the citizens would want to vote for. He hasn't done this.
Remember when Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen called Lisa MacLeod "uncanadian" because of her views on the border crossers? Many people were not happy with this. Many pointed out that Hussen was a Somali immigrant who became a citizen then called a natural born Canadian this name. Manny was outraged, saying MacLeod was owed an apology. This is what Manny has done. I'm not sure which country Manny came from, but he did the same thing: immigrated to Canada, became a citizen, then said natural born Canadians hate their country. I don't know about you, but I don't appreciate being called a Canada-hater simply because I support another candidate then he does, and I will not be lectured on my own patriotism by someone who was not born here. This sort of action is worthy of the SJWs that he and many of us rail against. The whole "if you're not with me, you are the enemy" mentality. Don't get me wrong, PPC members are guilty of engaging in less then cordial conversation, but Manny has taken it to a whole other level. His statement is unacceptable claiming such a thing, and in my eyes he has proven that he is an unprincipled person when it comes to politics. His mission it not much different then the Liberals and New Democrats who ran on a "Stop Harper" campaign in the 2015 election. He cannot look past this. #Trudeaumustgo is definitely an accpetable slogan, but it is not enough to campaign on, especially if you are trying to attract the average citizen who sticks their head out of the sand every four years to see who is running for election. They don't pay much attention to politics, and simply this slogan is not enough.
As it stands, Manny is right that the CPC has a significant better chance of winning the 2019 election then the PPC does, and if Bernier did win, it would be historic. The Reform Party in Western Canada took 6 years from start up to winning an election. But PPC members and supporters are fighting for something different. We are fighting to build up a Party that will truly be a populist party, that cares for the concerns of the people. As far as i'm concerned, this is my last stand on hoping for a politician that fights for the people in federal politics. If Bernier lets me down, then I will no longer put any hope into any politician, but there is no reward without risk, and i'll take this risk for a better future, a better party, a better Prime Minister.