Maxime Bernier

Hon. Maxime Bernier
Member of Parliament for Beauce
Incumbent
Assumed office 2006 Federal Election
Preceded by	Claude Drouin
Personal details
Born	(1963-01-18) January 18, 1963 Beauce, Quebec
Political party	Conservative Party of Canada
Spouse	Divorced
Residence	Montreal
Profession	Businessman, lawyer

Maxime Bernier, (born January 18, 1963) is a Canadian member of Parliament and former Minister of Foreign Affairs. A businessman and lawyer, he was elected to the Canadian House of Commons in the January 2006 federal election to represent the riding of Beauce. In August 2007 he became Minister of Foreign Affairs, but was forced to step down in May 2008 after a scandal involving an ex-girlfriend with ties to the Hell's Angels.

Background

Bernier is 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 took 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 was regarded as belonging to the libertarian wing of the party.

Election to parliament

Bernier was elected to parliament as one of a group of new Conservative MPs in the 2006 Canadian election. As one of the most high-profile Conservative MPs from Québec, on 6 February 2006 Bernier was appointed to the position of 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 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. In April 2008, during a trip to Afghanistan, he told reporters that he wanted the governor of Kandahar Asadullah Khalid to be replaced. 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 aircrafts were made available at the time and the government was forced to send a rented $1 million aircraft to the cyclone-ravaged area.

Resignation

He came under intense scrutiny after the media discovered that he was romantically linked to [Julie Couillard], a former model who had past romantic links with members of the Hells Angels. Although the Prime Minister initially dismissed the affair, Bernier was finally ousted when it was revealed that he had left behind sensitive briefing notes for a then-upcoming NATO meeting at Couillard's house after having broken off the affair. Couillard returned the package to Foreign Affairs and went to the media.

Bernier consequently resigned as Minister on 26 May and was replaced by David Emerson on a short term basis, with Josée Verner taking over as Minister responsible for La Francophonie.

External links

• CPC biography page of Maxime Bernier
• Parliament Webpage
• Video: National security questions about ex-girlfriend

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