Blake Ellis/The Independent

“Things haven’t changed for the better in Canada.”

That’s why Brian Everaert is once again running for the People’s Party of Canada in Sarnia-Lambton-Bkejwanong.

“We want Canadians to come first all of the time.”

Everaert is a founding member of the party which sprang to life in 2018 under the leadership of Maxime Bernier. He ran in the 2019 and 2021 elections under the purple banner.

One of the top issues voters talk to Everaert about is the mass immigration that has taken place. Canada accepted just under 484,000 permanent immigrants and nearly 998,000 International students in 2024.

Everaert does recognize there is need for it in the agricultural sector with temporary foreign workers, but when it comes to filling trade jobs, immigration is not the answer, he says. Everaert believes young people struggling to find decent work and are shutout by immigrants. He says the government has turned its back on those young people.

The party also believes immigration has fueled the housing crisis in Canada. The PPC has vowed to put a moratorium on immigration until the housing crisis has cooled.

After that, it plans to allow between 100,000 and 150,000 new immigrants into Canada to meet our economic needs.

The party would also end the practice of family reunification immigration for parents and grandparents.

When it comes to tariffs that are being placed on Canadian goods by the United States, it is the People’s Party position to “negotiate, not retaliate” when it comes to the trade war. Everaert says supply management for milk, eggs and poultry has to be eliminated to appease the US.

“These tariffs (supply management) we have had in place have handcuffed our negotiations
on international trade for years,” said Everaert.

Inflation is another major problem. “We have got to get away from this carbon taxing,” said Everaert, which he sees as the main driver of inflation. “It is the worst possible time to handcuff businesses with regulations, high costs and high taxes.”

The People’s Party, Conservatives, NDP and Liberals have all vowed to end consumer carbon pricing.

Everaert would also like to kick start the economy with investments in infrastructure. Instead of sending $20 billion in military aid to Ukraine, locked in the grip of war againstRussia, Everaert wants to put that money into the provinces and municipalities to build infrastructure.

Crime is another issue locally That needs to be better addressed, said Everaert. He points to the
tent cities which have emerged in Ontario cities, including Sarnia as people struggle with drug and
fentanyl addictions. People’s Party Leader Maxine Bernier was in Sarnia in 2019 where he promised a detox and rehab centre for Sarnia. “That was before these tent cities were even a thing,” said Everaert.

The party vows to pass allowing people to use up to deadly force in their homes if they’re a victim of an attack, without facing charges.

It also wants to decriminalize the use of pepper spray for self defense. Everaert, an Iron Worker, has
deep roots in Sarnia-Lambton-Bkejwanong. He points out his grandparents farmed on Wilkesport Line for years. He is also a long-time union member of Iron Workers Local 700.