(Kitco News) – A global monetary reset is inevitable as fiat currencies are devalued due to excessive money printing. The US dollar will be dethroned as the world’s dominant reserve currency by currencies backed by a basket of commodities including gold, according to Maxime Bernier, founder and leader of the People’s Party of Canada.

“A commodity-backed money system will happen,” he said. “I don’t know when, but a financial system can’t live long. And after many decades, with all this debt and money being printed all over America, Canada and Europe, it will have to end.”

“We have to tell central bankers to have a zero inflation target,” he said. “After that, I think we should do a monetary reset internationally, having money based on gold or other commodities, like we had in the 19th century,” Bernier said.

Bernier, a former minister from 2006 to 2015 under Prime Minister Stephen Harper, said excessive money printing and rising federal debt had led to high inflation in Canada. Canadian inflation stands at 8.1% in June.

“We have inflation because of bad monetary policy,” he explained. “We have to balance the budget. We have to stop spending money we don’t have.”

Bernier served as Minister of State (Small Business, Tourism and Agriculture), Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of Industry under Prime Minister Harper. In 2018, after losing the Conservative Party of Canada leadership race, he left to start the People’s Party.

Bernier spoke with Michelle Makori, editor and lead anchor at Kitco News.

Inflation and Monetary Policy

Inflation is a tax, Bernier said, that transfers resources from the working population to the government.

“Now we have inflation in Canada at 8.1 per cent and inflation is a tax,” he said. “Average income growth in Canada for this year will be about 5 per cent. So every Canadian will be 3 per cent poorer. So we have a new 3 per cent tax.”

He was critical of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s spending during the COVID-19 lockdown, saying “the Bank of Canada was the ATM machine for the federal government” and now Canadians are paying for it through higher prices.

Since 2010, Bernier has supported commodity-backed monetary systems such as the classical gold standard adopted by the US and Canada in the 19th century.

“You can see a trend towards de-dollarization right now, with Russia, China and India,” he said, referring to the BRICS countries’ plans to launch a new global reserve currency. “They’re looking to have a new currency based on commodities, and maybe gold… I’m more of a traditional guy, believing in a kind of gold standard that we had in the 19th century.”

CBDC

In March, Bernier tweeted his opposition to central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), digital fiat tokens issued and controlled by central banks, which would serve as a form of money.

“There is no way we can trust central bank digital currencies after the seizure of Russia’s truckers and reserves accounts,” tweeted Maxime, referring to the Canadian government’s seizure of bank accounts during the Freedom Order protests Convoy and Canada’s seizure of Russian assets. because of the conflict in Ukraine. “[CBDCs] it will be used by governments to suppress dissidents and implement a social credit system like in China.”

Canada is currently developing a CBDC and the United States is investigating the idea.

“A central bank digital currency will be a way for the government to control everything you do,” Bernier told Makori. “It would be another way to control all our spending and our bank accounts. It’s another way to be in a totalitarian country. We don’t want that and we don’t need that.”

Bernier pointed to the fact that debit cards and electronic transfers are already achieving many of the supposed goals of CBDCs.

He stressed that it would take a “quiet, peaceful revolution” to prevent CBDCs from being enforced.

“If they impose a central bank digital currency, I think people will wake up and I hope they don’t,” he said. “We need to inform the population about this and as a political party, [The People’s Party of Canada] that’s what we’re doing”.

To hear Bernier’s thoughts on investing in gold and Bitcoin, watch the video above.

Follow Michelle Makori on Twitter: @MichelleMakori

Follow Kitco News on Twitter: @KitcoNewsNOW

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and may not reflect those of Kitco Metals Inc. The author has made every effort to ensure the accuracy of the information provided. However, neither Kitco Metals Inc. nor the author can guarantee such accuracy. This article is strictly for informational purposes only. It is not a solicitation for any exchange in commodities, securities or other financial instruments. Kitco Metals Inc. and the author of this article accept no responsibility for loss and/or damage arising from the use of this publication.