The one silver lining from Maxime Bernier’s abrupt 2008 cabinet resignation is that the move gave him more time to prepare to lead the Conservative party.

He’s delivered a lot of speeches since then and has based his leadership platform on them, so it was easy for him to enter the leadership race and bring a comprehensive set of plans to the table.

“If you read my speeches that I delivered in the last ten years, most of them [are from] when I was a member of Parliament. After I resigned as a minister, I had the opportunity at that time to travel across the country and speak about real conservative values and that’s what I did. So for me the opportunity was there after the election and I was ready.”

Bernier, one of two perceived front-runners, says entering the race early has been a “huge advantage” because at the time there were only two, he and Kellie Leitch, “And as you know madame Leitch, she’s doing the campaign on one issue: immigration,” he noted in a recent interview in his Hill office.

Bernier says he’s focussed on running a positive campaign and has been notably quiet on his main opponent Kevin O’Leary. He says this will change once he sees policy ideas from the Shark Tank personality.

“I’m waiting for Kevin O’Leary to have a platform and ideas. Then for sure I will be there and I will challenge him, but up until now I don’t see any platform.”

He also makes a point of saying that he has not seen O’Leary in his travels on the campaign trail.

“So, Kevin is doing his own campaign. I was on the ground in southern Ontario and I didn’t see him. I was in Yukon and I didn’t see him. I was in Gaspé, Quebec, I didn’t see him.”

Bernier came under fire recently for a phrase within his own immigration policy: “Our immigration policy should not aim to forcibly change the cultural character and social fabric of Canada, as radical proponents of multiculturalism want,” it states.

When asked what he means by “radical proponents of multiculturalism,” Bernier says he believes in pluralism.

“Yes we have Canadian values. Justin Trudeau is saying ‘there’s no such thing as Canadian values,’ and I said no that’s not true. People are coming here because we have more freedom, we have equality between men and women, equality before the law. That’s Canadians values and people are coming here for that.”

He also believes that when it comes to government, bigger isn’t better. He wants to see a smaller government with a smaller cabinet (possibly), free markets, lower taxes and decriminalized marijuana. What he’s not clear on, however, is whether he’s pro-life or pro-choice. That decision will be made when he’s asked to vote on a private member’s bill on the issue.

That bill will come, he says, because members of Parliament have told him that if he’s elected they will table a private member’s bill. He has no problem with that, as it’s their democratic right.

“Me personally, what will I do? I will decide. I will read that bill and I will decide at that time,” Bernier says. “I’m just waiting. That bill will be tabled and I will read it and I will decide after that.”

But surely he has some leanings one way or the other?

“You know, I don’t know because our people want to have a debate, let them have a debate. For me, my priority it is not that debate,” he says, insisting he’d rather discuss the economy.

As the only Libertarian candidate campaigning on freedom and personal responsibility, Bernier was criticized recently for posting a sci-fi-themed meme on Twitter which asked, “Will you choose the red pill?”

The “red pill” meme — a reference to a scene in the film The Matrix where the protagonist learns he’s living in a simulation — has been exploited by alt-right sites and so-called ‘men’s rights’ activists, many of whom express noxious views about women online. The documentary The Red Pill followed a filmmaker’s experiences discovering the “polarizing men’s rights movement.”

Bernier maintains that for him it only refers to the movie. He insists he didn’t know of the “men’s rights” interpretation.

“It’s the movie and everybody agrees with that. Somebody wants to give me other assumption or intention. It wasn’t the case and I was very clear.”

Did he ever consider retracting it?

“No, absolutely not, no, why? Give me a reason why,” he says, noting it wasn’t even the first time his campaign had used the meme.

“There’s no confusion for me. I said that’s about The Matrix and that’s it. So if you think I’m anti-woman, that’s not true. People who know me (know that), so I didn’t bother with that.”

The people who matter most in Bernier’s life are all women, but they don’t keep a high profile in public, as he must in his role. He has two daughters Charlotte, 18, and Megan, 14. He sees them nearly every second weekend. His girlfriend of seven years lives in Montreal.

“I decided that my private life must be private and I keep that private after what happened and after…when I resigned,” he says, referring to the 2008 security breach as a cabinet minister.

In an interview at the time, his former girlfriend Julie Couillard said Bernier had left classified documents out in the open at her apartment.

These days he’s content to keep different facets of his life separate.

“I like it like that, but now (my girlfriend) is open to being a little bit more public. She’s doing her first interview with a francophone interview today.”