VANCOUVER—Security guards told the audience at a Wednesday morning town hall with Maxime Bernier not to leave the room, as protesters chanted and shook the doors to the Surrey venue.

The leader of the People’s Party of Canada (PPC) — the “smart” populist party Bernier founded after he was ejected from the Conservative Party of Canada — had a full day of events scheduled in B.C. that day, beginning with the town hall at the Surrey Board of Trade.

Before the town hall started, a small group of protesters stood outside carrying prorefugee signs reading “No one is illegal” and anti-PPC messages calling Bernier a “Poisonous Political Candidate.” Attendees spilling into the building donned PPC gear, including T-shirts and pins. One young member of the crowd wore a red hat that read: “Make Canada Great Again.”

Just before Bernier was announced on stage, loud chants began outside the room: “Shut it down!” and “Stand up, fight back!”

To a crowd of about 150 supporters, Bernier touted his platform of lower taxes and limiting immigration. Protesters continued to shout, carrying a speaker. After about 10 minutes, a male protester was escorted off the premises by police. The rest were warned they could be arrested, as it was private property. They eventually left.

Wednesday morning was the first time Bernier appeared publicly in B.C. since the writ dropped. He reminded the crowd that he held his first rally in Vancouver last year, with more than 350 people in attendance. He added that he ran his first candidate under the PPC banner in February’s Burnaby South byelection.

The Surrey board has hosted each political leader in a town hall for this federal election — Bernier being the last, according to the board’s media spokesperson.

The room was energized as he spoke about immigration and repeated that his political rivals don’t want to have a discussion about it. His platform calls for a cap on immigration at 150,000 people per year, raising the number of economic migrants and withdrawing from the UN Migration Pact, which codifies the response to the global migrant crisis.

Bernier called out federal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh for criticizing the party and trying to block his attendance at federal debates.

“When people are calling names at us, for me, it’s because they’re weak,” he said. “They don’t want to have a discussion.”

Following the event, Bernier told reporters that his detractors have the right to protest.

“But actually right now, if you read our platform and know what we believe, it’s too bad people don’t want to have a discussion on immigration,” he said. “I believe that Canadians want to have that discussion.”

Bernier continues to face criticism that his populist party has been infiltrated by the far-right. The party has been quick to deny that it is anti-immigrant or racist by pointing to its 40,000 members, of which there are many immigrants and people of colour.

Asked about reports of white nationalists within his party, including a report as recent as last week, Bernier called such allegations “fake news.” He denied that he or the party espouse white supremacy, racism or xenophobia.

A Global News story last week cited records that the former leader of a U.S. neo-Nazi group, a former Soldiers of Odin member and a Pegida Canada official were among the signatures submitted to Elections Canada to register with the PPC.

Without naming a specific person or their affiliations, Bernier told reporters a candidate “lied” to them about his associations.

“All of the people in our party believe in the values of our party,” he said, adding that member was expelled.

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Bernier has previously said the PPC accepts newcomers who share fundamental Canadian values and integrate into society.

Bernier gained national attention when he ran his first candidate — Christian media host Laura-Lynn Thompson — against Singh in the February byelection in Burnaby South.

She faced criticism for her comments on refugees and immigration but gained just over 10 per cent of the vote. Thompson will run in the Alberta riding of Red Deer for the federal election.

Bernier was scheduled to hold a media event in Vancouver in the afternoon and a public rally at Vancouver’s Hellenic Centre in the evening. The Facebook page for the rally said more than 900 people intended to go.

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