People's Party Leader Maxime Bernier is pictured on the stage after holding an event in Hamilton, Ont., on Sunday, September 29, 2019. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young

A candidate for the People’s Party resigned on Monday and called out the party and its leadership for being “divisive,” as well as “bad for democracy” and contributors to the “toxic state of politics.”

Chad Hudson, who had been the People’s Party candidate for the Nova Scotia riding of West Nova, tweeted that he would no longer be running for the People’s Party, less than two hours before Elections Canada’s deadline for candidates to officially register to be on the ballot in the Oct. 21 general election.

In his post on Twitter, Hudson said he was stepping down because of the People’s Party’s “values and the choices its leadership have made,” before lambasting the party and its leader Maxime Bernier in an interview with iPolitics.

One of the first things that Hudson found troubling about the party’s messaging, he said, were the “Say NO to Mass Immigration” billboards featuring Bernier, which were removed by at least one billboard company after an outpour of criticism.

Bernier’s online attacks aimed at 16-year-old climate activist Greta Thunberg also made Hudson question his involvement with the party.

“I think (Thunberg) is someone who speaks very eloquently, she certainly speaks better than leaders of major countries, not to name any names, but you know, she’s an inspiring figure. I may disagree with some of the prescription that she has for climate change but I think it’s a horrible mistake for him to go after a brave young woman like that, especially one with a disability or an exceptionality or whatever you want to call it and call her ‘mentally unstable’ – to me that is unacceptable,” said Hudson.

The former candidate also said clashes outside of a Sunday night event featuring Bernier and right wing commentator Dave Rubin contributed to him reaching the point where he could no longer accept running for the party.

“I really think that he has for the purpose of political expediency that he has tapped into something really dark and dangerous. It feels like Trumpism,” said Hudson.

READ MORE: People’s Party’s Maxime Bernier invited to the official leaders’ debates

Asked Monday night about Hudson’s departure, People’s Party executive director Johanne Mennie said she “didn’t want to talk about that” and wouldn’t answer any other questions.

Hudson said he first became involved with the People’s Party because he agreed with some – but not all – of their policies. Namely, he was attracted to its fiscally conservative stances, its commitment to a balanced budget, a focus on living within one’s means and its approach to providing foreign aid. The policies that he didn’t agree with didn’t seem like an issue “at the time” he became involved with the party, he said.

“Instead of having a policy discussion about how can we practically handle the situation with increased global migration, from an economic and humanitarian point of view … it sort of became this racist kind of vehicle for racism really with so many dangerous and divisive elements within the party and people, including Bernier himself, who are just throwing gasoline on this fire, and its very dangerous for this country and I don’t want to be any part of that,” Hudson said.

Although Hudson only informed Elections Canada that he wouldn’t be running on Monday morning, he said he didn’t intentionally step down so close to the deadline to ensure that the People’s Party wouldn’t have a candidate in West Nova. The Elections Canada deadline to nominate candidates was 2 p.m. on Monday afternoon.

“I firmly believe now that I’m doing more of a service to this community but calling out this hate and this garbage than actually remaining in the race,” Hudson said.

He also said he didn’t notify his now-former party aside from his public post.

“I didn’t inform the party. I don’t feel I owe them any explanation, I disavow them completely. I think they’re bad for democracy in this country and I owe them nothing,” Hudson said.

Follow @CharliePinkerto