Bernier didn't tell anyone from the Conservative Party about his dramatic exit

MaximeBerniersays he didn't tell anyone from the Conservative Party that he planned to bolt before making his stunning political departure yesterday in Ottawa.

The Quebec MP said he didn't see the need to tell any of his caucus colleagues of his plans to start a new partybecause he had received a clear message from Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer that his ideas weren't welcome in the caucus room.

In an interview with VassyKapelos,host ofCBC'sPower & Politics, Bernier saidhe began putting things inmotion after speakingwith Scheer10 days ago as questions mounted around hisviews on a "cult of diversity."

Soon after their phone call, Scheer put out a statement sayingBernier doesn't speak for the party.

Berniersaidhe then "decided to go on and work on the press conference, and to do the announcement like I did."

Bernier, who represents the riding ofBeauce, announced his departure from the party on Thursday asthe Conservatives'policy conventionkicked off in Halifax.

Bernier on leaving the Conservative Party

6 years ago

Duration 0:50

Former Conservative MP talks to the CBC's Vassy Kapelos about why he thinks he can become prime minister as the leader of his new federal party.

He said he had to leave because his former party is "too intellectually andmorally corrupt to be reformed,"and underScheer's leadership, it has failed to stand up for conservative principles like dismantlingsupply managementand opposing retaliatory tariffs in thetrade dispute with the U.S.

Announcement 'blindsided' people: MacKay

Former Conservative cabinet minister PeterMacKay, who helped build the modern-day ConservativeParty after the merger ofhis Progressive Conservative Party with Stephen Harper's Canadian Alliance, calledBernier'sdeparture "unfortunate."

"What I've heard was this blindsided a lot of people," MacKaysaid. "But many saw it coming."

When asked if he thinks he could be prime minister, Bernier said, "I hope so."

"When you look in France, President Macron was a socialist. A year before the election, he decided to quit the party and formed his own partyand now he's the president of France. So everything is possible with ideas."

The key difference is that in French presidential elections, the electorate votes directly for the person they want to be leader. If Bernier wants to form the government in Canada, he would have to run candidates in as many of the country's 338 ridings as possible.

'Everything is possible'

6 years ago

Duration 10:27

Independent Quebec MP Maxime Bernier joins Power & Politics to discuss his dramatic departure from the Conservative party and his hopes for the 2019 election.

The plan, saidBernier, is to have the federal party upand running in two to three months.

While he isn't expecting anyone from his old party to quit the caucus and help him start a new one, he told CBCNews that since he announced his departure some 500 people have called him.

"I won't have any support from the caucus;I didn't have any support from the caucus during the leadership," he said.

"The leadership and the caucus, they don't want to have the kind of discussions I want to have."

VassyKapelos's interview with Maxime Bernier airs today on Power & Politics beginning 5 p.m. ET on CBCNews Network.