Canada former foreign minister unveils new party

[caption id="attachment_440362" align="alignnone" width="1200"] OTTAWA: Former Canadian foreign minister Maxime Bernier on Friday unveiled a new populist right-wing party that could become a spoiler for the opposition Tories in upcoming elections.[/caption]

At a press conference in Ottawa, the longtime politician who split last month with the Conservatives said his new party would be called the People's Party and would field candidates across the country in next year's general election -- running on a libertarian platform of smaller government, less regulations and low taxes.

"Why this name? Because it is time that the government put the Canadian people first when they make decisions or set public policies. It is time to put power back into the hands of the people," Bernier said.

"For too long, Canadian politics has been hijacked by interest groups, cartels, lobbies, international organizations, corporate or union interests, and the interests of politicians and bureaucrats in Ottawa who have lost touch with ordinary Canadians," he said.

In a parting shot last month, Bernier accused the Tories of tracking too close to the center in its attempts to woo voters away from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's ruling Liberals.

This followed his losing a bid to lead the party to Andrew Scheer, who accused Bernier of grandstanding for personal gain while effectively gifting the Liberals re-election by splitting conservative votes. A climate change skeptic and champion of free markets, Bernier served as foreign minister under Stephen Harper from 2007 to 2008.

But he was fired after it was revealed he had left confidential NATO documents at the home of his then girlfriend, who was linked to the Hell's Angels motorcycle gang. Recently Bernier drew rebukes for assailing in Twitter messages Trudeau's promotion of Canada's "diversity and multiculturalism."

Although the new party has set up offices and has already collected more than Can$100,000 in political donations, Bernier has yet to present any candidates willing to run under his new party's banner.