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In speeches across the country and on social media, Bernier targets Scheer as a “fake Conservative” whose policies are virtually the same as Trudeau’s.

Scheer “has no clear principles or program,” Bernier said in his first party conference, held in a casino hotel in Quebec last month. “He’s pandering to every interest group in the country.”

Bernier was initially shut out of two official leaders’ debates set for next month, but organizers later said he could take part. That will put him on the national stage alongside Scheer and Trudeau.

“I look forward to holding him to account publicly for his intolerant views,” Trudeau said.

Scheer has largely shrugged off Bernier’s criticism, saying he is focused on defeating Trudeau. A Conservative official said the PPC “is a party that’s just going nowhere.”

‘I’M AUTHENTIC’

Rick Anderson, a former Conservative campaign director, said the debates would allow Bernier to cast himself as the only leader in touch with what many voters are really thinking, a man prepared to say things no one else dares say on topics such as immigration and Canadian identity.

“The debates … will probably more than double Bernier’s support,” he said. “The Liberals know that and they’re counting on that being at Scheer’s expense.”

More than 20% of Canada’s population was born in another country, the highest proportion among the Group of Seven industrialized nations, and the country’s multiculturalism has long been touted as a source of pride.

So there is also a risk that Bernier will make Scheer look like “the voice of reason” among moderates who have been drifting back and forth between Liberals and Conservatives, Frank Graves of EKOS Research polling company said.

Bernier’s famous “Mad Max” nickname — after the Mel Gibson movie character — dates back to his losing effort for the Conservative leadership. In a Facebook post with his head Photoshopped onto Gibson’s body, Bernier said he was “mad about government waste” and “politics as usual,” among other things.