Maxime Bernier

The Honourable Maxime Bernier PC, MP
Member of the Canadian Parliament for Beauce
Incumbent
Assumed office 2006
Preceded by	Claude Drouin
Personal details
Born	January 18, 1963 (1963-01-18) Saint-Georges, Quebec
Political party	Conservative
Spouse(s)	Divorced
Residence	Montreal, Quebec
Profession	Businessman, lawyer

Maxime Bernier, PC, MP (born January 18, 1963) is a Canadian politician currently serving as the Minister of State for Small Business and Tourism in the cabinet of Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

Bernier previously served as Minister of Foreign Affairs, but was forced to resign from cabinet on May 26, 2008, after a scandal involving an ex-girlfriend, Julie Couillard, with ties to the Hells Angels. He is the Member of Parliament for the riding of Beauce in Quebec. A businessman and lawyer, he was elected to the Canadian House of Commons in the 2006 federal election, and was re-elected in 2008 and 2011.

Background

Bernier was born in Saint-Georges, Quebec, the son of Gilles Bernier, who represented the Beauce riding from 1984 to 1997 first as a Progressive Conservative and then as an independent. Maxime has a bachelor's degree in commerce from UQAM and a degree in Law from the University of Ottawa. He is a former vice president of the Montreal Economic Institute, a Quebec think-tank advocating smaller government. He is regarded as belonging to the libertarian wing of the party. He has made several public comments denying humans are responsible for climate change He has also suggested a global conspiracy among scientists exists to exaggerate warnings about fossil fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions.

Election to parliament

Bernier was elected to parliament as one of a group of new Conservative MPs in the 2006 Canadian election. He won 67 percent of the vote, the best performance for a Conservative candidate in a riding east of Manitoba.

Bernier was one of the higher-profile freshman MPs from Quebec, and as such, on February 6, 2006, he was appointed federal Minister of Industry. He was also the minister responsible for Statistics Canada, replacing the former minister, David Emerson. By virtue of being appointed as the Minister of Industry, Bernier also served as the Registrar General.

Following a cabinet shuffle in August 2007, Bernier, the neophyte MP, was appointed as Minister of Foreign Affairs replacing Peter MacKay who became the Minister of National Defence. During his stint as Foreign Affairs Minister, he came under fire for several high-profile gaffes.

Khalid affair

In April 2008, during a trip to Afghanistan, he told reporters that he wanted the governor of Kandahar Asadullah Khalid to be replaced. This caused a major diplomatic scandal in which both heads of government, Hamid Karzai and Stephen Harper, had to become involved, denying that the Canadian government told the Afghan government who to put in important posts. The call for Bernier to resign or be removed was almost universal among opposition politicians.

Khalid was removed quietly several months later. In the interim period, however, about one thousand prisoners affiliated with the Taliban and warlord and ethnic insurgencies, even some believed to be with Al Qaeda, escaped from the major prison in Kandahar. It was described by investigators as likely having been an inside job, possibly one carried out with the knowledge or support of Khalid's inner circle. The civil war in the southern regions of Afghanistan became markedly more difficult for NATO as a direct result, with casualties mounting and the Taliban later threatening to kill more Canadian troops during the Canadian election. Accordingly, Bernier's gaffe, which both warned Khalid and prevented the early removal of him and his clique, giving them time to deal with their enemies before resuming a more vulnerable life out of office, was seen in retrospect to be extremely detrimental to both Afghan and Canadian interests.^{[citation needed]}

Aircraft affair

In May 2008, he promised to send a C-17 aircraft transporting several helicopters to Burma which was hit by Cyclone Nargis that killed tens of thousands of people in early May. However, none of the four C-17 aircraft were made available at the time and the government was forced to send an aircraft rented at a cost of $1 million to the cyclone-ravaged area.

Couillard affair / Cabinet resignation

Bernier came under even more intense scrutiny after the media discovered that his girlfriend Julie Couillard had past romantic links with members of the Hells Angels. Although the Prime Minister initially dismissed this as irrelevant, he later accepted Bernier's resignation when it was revealed that Bernier had left classified and sensitive briefing notes for an upcoming NATO meeting at Couillard's house after having broken off the relationship. Foreign Affairs was apparently unaware that NATO briefing papers were missing for five weeks. Couillard returned the package to Foreign Affairs on the advice of a lawyer, and went to the media. The Liberals and the NDP are calling for a Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) investigation into possible security breaches, including Bernier's.

Bernier consequently resigned from Cabinet on May 26, 2008, though he retains his seat in the House of Commons. He was replaced as Minister of Foreign Affairs by David Emerson on a short term basis, with fellow Quebec Tory MP Josée Verner taking over as Minister responsible for La Francophonie.

A parliamentary inquiry into the matter was announced on June 2, 2008.

Bernier resigned as foreign affairs minister May 26, hours before Julie Couillard revealed he had left classified government documents in her house in mid-April. She didn't return them to the government until May 25.

External links

• CPC biography page of Maxime Bernier
• Maxime Bernier's Official Blog
• Profile at Parliament of Canada
• Parliamentarian profile at ParlInfo
• Speeches, votes and activity at OpenParliament.ca
• Voting history at How'd They Vote?

28th Ministry – Cabinet of Stephen Harper
Cabinet Posts (2)
Predecessor	Office	Successor
Peter MacKay	Minister of Foreign Affairs 2007 - 2008	David Emerson
David Emerson	Minister of Industry 2006 - 2007	Jim Prentice
Special Cabinet Responsibilities
Predecessor	Title	Successor
Josée Verner	Minister responsible for La Francophonie 2007-2008	Josée Verner