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    Time To Kick Maverick Tory MP Maxime Bernier Out Of Caucus, Andrew Scheer Urged

    Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 16 Aug, 2018 12:56 PM
      OTTAWA — Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer was under mounting pressure to denounce Maxime Bernier's public statements and kick him out of caucus Wednesday after the maverick MP used his Twitter feed to renew a sustained attack on "extreme Liberal multiculturalism."
       
       
      NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh used the social media platform to say he's been waiting for Scheer to "do the responsible thing" and denounce what he calls Bernier's "divisive" words.
       
       
      "To everyone that belongs to a diverse community — who's been told you don't belong — I've been in your shoes, I get it," Singh wrote, saying he's "deeply disappointed" in Scheer.
       
       
      "His refusal to denounce these divisive comments sends a dangerous message. Children of diverse backgrounds across Canada pick up on these messages. Right now, they need to hear that their country wants more of themselves, not less."
       
       
      In a series of tweets posted Sunday, Bernier said promoting too much diversity could have the effect of dividing Canada into "little tribes" that cause division and erode Canada’s identity. On Tuesday, he seized on a decision to name a park in Winnipeg after the founder of Pakistan, comparing it to the decision to remove a statue of Sir John A. Macdonald from outside Victoria city hall.
       
       
      "While a statue of our country’s founder is being removed in one city, a park was recently named after Pakistan’s founder in another, in the presence of M-103 Liberal MP sponsor," he wrote — a reference to controversial Liberal MP Iqra Khalid.
       
       
      Khalid was the sponsor of M-103, a motion in the House of Commons aimed at denouncing "Islamophobia" that quickly became a lightning rod for Opposition MPs who saw the motion as a possible attack on freedom of speech.
       
       
      Arif Virani, the parliamentary secretary to the minister of heritage, also called for Bernier's ouster Wednesday — and called out Scheer for failing to condemn his caucus member's behaviour. 
       
      "I urge you to remove Mr. Bernier from your caucus immediately, otherwise Canadians will be forced to conclude that you accept his backward views," Virani wrote.
       
       
      "Newcomers have not threatened what it means to be Canadian. To the contrary, successive generations of immigrants have enriched what it means to be Canadian."
       
       
      In a statement released late Wednesday, Scheer tried to distance himself from the controversial comments, although he stopped short of taking any action.
       
       
      "Personally, I disagree with politicians on the left and the right when they use identity politics to divide Canadians. I will not engage in this type of politics," Scheer said in the statement.
       
       
      Bernier "holds no official role in caucus" and does not speak for the party "on any issue," he added.
       
       
      "Conservatives celebrate Canada's diversity and a Conservative government will continue to welcome those from all over the world who choose to come here because of the society we have built."
       
       
      It's far from the first time that Bernier has courted controversy.
       
       
      One Conservative MP, who spoke only on condition of anonymity, told The Canadian Press last month that he urged Scheer to kick him out after the Beauce MP posted a controversial chapter of his forthcoming book on his website, despite having promised not to promote it "for the sake of maintaining harmony in our party."
       
       
      Instead, Bernier — who narrowly lost to Scheer by a razor-thin margin in last year's Conservative leadership race — was stripped of his role in the party's shadow cabinet.
       
       
      The MP is no stranger to speaking his mind. In a recent interview, he declared himself the only politician who genuinely supports having free trade with the United States, and slammed his own party for supporting Canada's "socialist" supply management system.
       
       
      MAXIME BERNIER FIRES BACK AT SCHEER, INSISTS HE'S AGAINST IDENTITY POLITICS
       
       
      OTTAWA — Conservative MP Maxime Bernier insisted Thursday he is against identity politics and called the practice "divisive" following criticism from party leader Andrew Scheer.
       
       
      In his latest string of tweets, Bernier says he has repeatedly stated he believes it is destructive to focus on cultural and ethnic identity in political discussions.
       
       
      Bernier said he's advancing "the opposite of identity politics" by focusing on policy solutions that concern all Canadians.
       
       
      Bernier's latest comments on Twitter come after Scheer issued a statement in an attempt to distance himself from previous controversial remarks made by the Quebec MP.
       
       
      In a series of tweets posted Sunday, Bernier said promoting too much diversity could have the effect of dividing Canada into "little tribes'' that cause division and erode Canada's identity.
       

       

      Scheer said he personally disagrees with politicians on the left and the right when they use identity politics to divide Canadians and he will "not engage in this type of politics.''
       
       
      Scheer added that Bernier "holds no official role in caucus'' and does not speak for the party on any issue.
       
       
      Taking questions from reporters in Quebec, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau took aim at the Conservatives  for what he called pitting Canadians against one another.  
       
       
      "Unfortunately, one of the things we've seen this week is the Conservative party hasn't changed much since the time of Stephen Harper," said Trudeau.
       
       
      "They still look at the politics of division as a way of drawing political advantage by pitting Canadians against each other."
       
       
      Trudeau said the politics of division can work in the short term to help parties get elected, "but it doesn't help you govern and mostly it doesn't help you solve the challenges that we are facing together as a society."
       
       
      Bernier's latest Twitter thread says identity politics means trying to drum up support by appealing to specific groups on the basis of their ethnicity, religion, language, sexuality or other characteristics. He says the practice has become "pervasive" and is done by all political parties trying to buy votes.
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