People’s Party of Canada leader Maxime Bernier said Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre is betraying his base about mass immigration to pander to immigrants. .“This is so incredibly irresponsible and opportunistic!” said Bernier in an email. .Bernier started off the email by saying National Post columnist John Ivison wrote a column about how, while immigration doubt grows, Poilievre keeps the faith. .Ivison said on Wednesday Poilievre’s reasons for supporting high immigration numbers are not hard to fathom. .“Aside from the fact that his wife, Anaida, arrived in Canada as a refugee from Venezuela, Poilievre is competing for the support of the votes of many recent immigrants to Canada in the suburbs around the big cities,” said Ivison. .“Not surprisingly, they are very keen on maintaining high family reunification numbers.”.Ivison observed more people agree mass immigration is creating problems, and there are growing calls from policy experts for the Canadian government to not bring in 500,000 immigrants per year by 2025..Of course, Bernier said the PPC was called racist by establishment parties for saying this years ago. .Ivison acknowledged a large proportion of Canadians, particularly Conservative supporters, would agree with Bernier on this issue..Recent polls suggest about 40% of respondents think the Canadian government’s immigration targets are too high. .The PPC leader went on to say he is confused why Ivison is pleased Poilievre is not opposing mass immigration. He and Conservative MP Tom Kmiec (Calgary-Shepard) have criticized the Canadian government for not accepting enough immigrants and doing it too slow. .He said the PPC is the only alternative for people who want reasonable, sustainable immigration. It is important for all Conservative supporters to know about this. .Bernier called this issue “crucial for Canada’s future.” .“The PPC wants reasonable and sustainable immigration, so that immigrants integrate into our society instead of creating parallel societies and ghettos,” he said. .“We don’t want our country to end up suffering the balkanization and social disintegration that some European countries like France are experiencing today.” .Two submissions were made on June 3 to the Conservative Convention in Quebec City in September about reducing the number of immigrants let into Canada. .READ MORE: Motions to stop mass immigration put forward for Conservative Convention.“Immigration and temporary foreign worker numbers should be reasonable, reflecting existing housing availability and costs, available infrastructure, and that does not harm wage levels and job opportunities for Canadians,” said Conservative member Ian Sargeant. .Sustainable Immigration Policy has been sponsored by the Eglinton-Lawrence, ON, Conservative Electoral District Association.
