• PPC candidate René de Vries, a longtime Stouffville resident and environmental engineering sector executive, is running on a platform focused on fiscal discipline and restricted immigration.
  • De Vries supports a temporary halt on new permanent residents and a long-term cap of 150,000 annually.
  • He proposes immediate budget balancing through deep federal spending cuts, proposed bureaucracy reduction, and eventual tax reductions.
  • The PPC plans to end deficit spending, instruct the Bank of Canada to target zero inflation, and reduce taxes to restore affordability.
  • In their view, housing unaffordability is linked to immigration levels and will be alleviated as they decline.
  • De Vries rejects human-caused climate change consensus and supports withdrawal from the Paris Accord.
  • The PPC candidate also proposes repealing the Canada Health Act to enable a mixed public-private healthcare system.

 

Bullet Point News asked the six registered Markham–Stouffville candidates to respond to a series of questions on key federal issues. Focusing on their platforms and how they would affect the riding, each candidate’s responses are being shared in the order received.

René de Vries, a 23-year resident of Stouffville, was born, raised, and educated in the Netherlands. He is running under the People’s Party of Canada banner “to make the world a better place” for future generations, including his two adult daughters.

“I am currently a Senior Vice-President of a large, multi-disciplinary, international engineering firm,” he said, noting his consulting career spans over 35 years. “I have extensive experience in business and the environmental and infrastructure sectors of the economy.”

As of publication, only de Vries and Shahzad Ahmed of the Centrist Party of Canada had responded. Incumbent Helena Jaczek (Liberal) and candidates Niran Jeyanesan (Conservative), Myles O’Brien (Green), and Serena Cheung (NDP) did not submit replies.

 

Tariffs & Trade

Q: How would your party deal with President Trump and his tariffs and economic threats, and what policies will you pursue to provide relief should the worst economic outcomes be realized?

“Wars are often unnecessarily destructive, and we must come to the table with the U.S. administration to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement around the concerns that have been raised.

We also must not be afraid to tackle difficult subjects such as the dairy cartel in Canada. I believe in free trade and in good relationships with our neighbours and our most important trading partner, and we can achieve a renegotiated agreement by removing trade barriers, internally and between Canada and the U.S.

This way we will also reduce inflation within our own system.”

The Economy & Job Growth 

Q: With new economic challenges stemming from the U.S., what is your vision for developing Canada’s economy, and how would your party’s policies support job creation?

“We will balance the budget in our first year through drastic reductions in spending, including cuts to corporate welfare and foreign aid, reorganization of federal departments, and significant downsizing of a bloated bureaucracy.

Did you know that the CRA employs, per capita, six times the number of people as the United States’ IRS? I will be sure to take a chainsaw with me to Ottawa.”

After balancing the budget, de Vries said the PPC would implement “significant” cuts to corporate and personal income taxes. The party also supports an immigration moratorium to protect Canadian jobs, the removal of interprovincial trade barriers, reduced equalization payments, increased resource development, and the elimination of carbon pricing.

“I recently received the endorsement of local entrepreneur, billionaire, and founder of Magna International: Frank Stronach. I will introduce a motion to adopt his Economic Charter as a new policy and growth tool for Canada.”

Affordability & Inflation

Q: What specific policies would your party implement to help address affordability issues and provide relief while also addressing long-term fiscal and economic stability?

“Inflation is ultimately a hidden tax: governments use it to pretend to help us, but it only makes the rich richer and the poor poorer. Our aim is to instruct the Bank of Canada to have a zero percent inflation goal and price interest rates accordingly. Balanced budgets, reduced taxes, and resource development will return the Canadian economy to growth and prosperity.”

Immigration

Q: High immigration rates have played a role in the intensification of Canada’s housing crisis, however it is well recognized that immigration is crucial to our long-term economic outlook and desired growth trajectory. What would a PPC government’s immigration policy look like, and how will those concerns be balanced?

“I believe this issue is the one item the other parties do not want to talk about, while we have raised it since 2018. An irresponsible and unsustainable increase in immigration levels has led to an explosion of social, economic, and cultural problems.

The primary aim of Canada’s immigration policy should be to economically benefit Canadians and Canada as a whole. It should not be used to forcibly change the cultural character and social fabric of our country, and it should not put excessive financial burdens on the shoulders of Canadians in the pursuit of humanitarian goals.”

De Vries supports a temporary moratorium on new permanent residents until housing and perceived social and economic issues are addressed, followed by a permanent cap of 150,000 new immigrants annually. He advocates for prioritizing highly skilled immigrants and enhanced security screening to assess alignment with “Canadian values.”

The PPC platform also calls for deporting visa overstayers and criminals, reducing temporary foreign workers and international students, withdrawing from the UN Global Compact for Migration, and lowering family reunification quotas—including abolishing the parent and grandparent sponsorship program. The party would also outlaw birth tourism and end automatic citizenship for children born in Canada to non-citizen parents.

The Housing Crisis

Q: What combination of federal policies are you and your party proposing to address both housing affordability and the need for supply in such a challenging macroeconomic environment?

According to de Vries, key pillars of the PPC’s housing policy are tightly linked to immigration levels, and their temporary ban on new permanent residents will help resolve housing affordability issues. They also advocate for changing the Bank of Canada’s inflation target from 2% to 0% to address housing costs.

The party supports ending federal pressure on municipalities to increase housing density and wants to dismantle or privatize the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, which he claims encourages unsustainable debt and inflated home prices.

Supporting Municipalities

Q: Municipalities continue to struggle with downloaded responsibilities and costs while facing the prospect of Development Charge revenue cuts to incentivize new housing. What will your government do to support municipalities and ensure growth-related costs are not put onto existing property taxpayers?

“Growth will return once we have our financial house in order. We must reduce inflation and energy costs with our proposed economic measures, and this will also benefit municipal budgets.”

Climate Change

Q: With the consumer carbon tax now removed, what climate policies would you and your party champion that will drive down emissions without excess economic consequences?

“There is no scientific consensus on the theory that human-produced CO2 is causing dangerous global warming, or that the world is facing environmental catastrophes unless these emissions are drastically reduced. Many renowned scientists continue to challenge this theory.

The policy debate about global warming is not grounded on science. It has been hijacked by proponents of big government who are using crude propaganda techniques to impose their views. They make exaggerated claims to scare people, and they publicly ridicule and harass anyone who expresses doubt.”

If elected, de Vries says he will support withdrawing from the Paris Climate Accord and ending greenhouse gas reduction targets. He also promises to draw on his business and environmental experience to reduce environmental toxins and implement life cycle costing for large infrastructure projects.

Healthcare

Q: What concrete steps would your party take to strengthen Ontario’s healthcare system?

“It is time for Canada to implement reforms in line with the more efficient and less costly mixed universal systems of other developed countries. Throwing more federal money at the problem, as all other parties are proposing, is not the right approach. On the contrary, it is part of the problem.

A PPC government will repeal the Canada Health Act and create conditions for provincial and territorial governments to set up mixed public-private universal systems like other developed countries.

We will also replace the Canada Health Transfer cash payments with a permanent transfer of tax points of equivalent value to the provinces and territories to give them a stable source of revenue. It will include a temporary program to compensate poorer provinces whose revenues from the tax will be lower than the transfer payments they used to receive.

Provincial governments will never make the tough decisions if they can always blame Ottawa for not sending enough money. We must end the current confusion over who does what and who is responsible for the problem.”

Pickering Airport Lands

Q: What is your and your party’s position on the decision to cancel the Pickering Airport and move a majority of the lands into the Rouge National Urban Park? If elected, would that direction change?

“I have never supported turning the Pickering lands into an airport and support the Liberal decision to cancel it and move the majority into the Rouge National Urban Park.”

Party Leader

Q: While Bullet Point News tends to focus on policy, we know there is a large percentage of voters who make their voting decision based on party leaders. What’s your pitch for yours?

De Vries referred readers to Maxime Bernier’s profile on the PPC website.