Maxime Bernier was an avowed supporter of Quebec independence, says a former boss who's now disappointed to see his old protégé taking shots at his home province.

Maxime Bernier once worked for former Quebec PQ premier Bernard Landry. (Canadian Press)

Ex-Parti Québécois premier Bernard Landry says he's "flabbergasted" by some of the things Bernier has been saying lately.

Bernier has quickly become a darling of the Conservative party grassroots with his criticism of climate-change science, and of Quebec's social-welfare model.

There are even whispers that Bernier – who served for two years in Stephen Harper's cabinet – might be positioning himself for a run one day at the leadership of the federal party.

Landry is surprised by his former employee's political path.

'To work in my office you had to be indépendantiste, which he said he was.'—Bernard Landry

"To work in my office you had to be indépendantiste, which he said he was," Landry told The Canadian Press in an interview. "I believed him and I still believe him."

Landry was finance minister in Lucien Bouchard's PQ government in the late 1990s and hired Bernier, then a young lawyer, to handle regulatory reforms in the financial sector.

Landry's office was also actively working on promoting the idea of a fiscal imbalance – whereby Quebec and other provinces were being shortchanged by the federal government.

So when Bernier, in a speech earlier this month, accused Quebec of being overly reliant on federal equalization money and argued that "many people in the rest of the country perceive Quebecers to be a bunch of spoiled children," his former boss says he was left puzzled.

To Landry, it all amounted to a stunning reversal in logic.

"I was flabbergasted to hear his false, contemptuous declarations," said the former finance minister-turned-premier.

Landry pointed out it was the Conservative government, with Bernier holding a senior cabinet role, that acknowledged an imbalance and transferred billions to the provinces.

"There seems to be an incoherence," Landry said.

Bernier grooms outspoken reputation

Landry is not the first prominent Quebecer to lash out at Bernier following his speech this month in Mont St-Grégoire, Que. The province's finance minister, Raymond Bachand, called it "Quebec bashing."

The speech appears part of Bernier's ongoing campaign to rehabilitate his reputation in the eyes of Conservatives after stepping down in disgrace as foreign affairs minister in 2008.

Earlier this year, he wrote an open letter to a Montreal newspaper questioning the science of climate change.

He also earned headlines and accolades from party faithful for a speech in Calgary where he advocated zero budget growth.

Bernier downplayed talk of his old sovereigntist convictions. He says he was among many Quebecers who grew disenchanted with Canadian federalism after the rejection of the Meech Lake accord in 1990.

"At the start of my career, as a young lawyer, I flirted with the Parti Québécois," Bernier told The Canadian Press. "I've never hid the fact."

"I'm a guy who wants the Canadian Constitution respected, and we had Liberal governments who were constantly interfering in Quebec's affairs."

Bernier says his past support for independence is well-documented. His ex-girlfriend Julie Couillard wrote in her recent tell-all book that Bernier thought of independence as "inevitable."

Bernier rides rocky career in Conservative Party

Interestingly, Bernier says he voted "No" against independence in the 1995 Quebec referendum.

'I worked for him for two years and have a lot of respect for him. Mr. Landry was the first Quebec politician to support free trade.'—Maxime Bernier

This was five years after the collapse of the Meech Lake accord, an attempt at constitutional peace with Quebec. But it was also before he worked for Landry, who only became finance minister in 1996.

Bernier explains that 1995 vote by saying he never considered sovereignty a panacea, and "never saw independence as the solution to all of Quebec's problems."

Bernier didn't enter federal politics until the 2006 election. He says Stephen Harper's commitment to respecting provincial jurisdictions appealed to him as a member of the Montreal Economic Institute and advocate for a smaller federal government.

His political rise, which included lofty cabinet positions at Industry and Foreign Affairs, was as quick as his fall, which was sealed by revelations he forgot top-secret documents at Couillard's house.

But since Christmas, Bernier has emerged as a star attraction in right-wing circles, where he's applauded for his willingness to express opinions Tory cabinet ministers would not dare utter in public.

Bernier believes in Quebec conservative streak

There's plenty of speculation, on and off Parliament Hill, that Bernier is setting the stage for an eventual run at the party leadership.

Not so, says Bernier. He says he's more interested in the fate of the Conservatives in Quebec. That's why he intends to bring his message to several more Quebec ridings in the coming weeks.

Bernier believes there is a strong base for conservative ideas in the province. He says he views his task as turning that support into a movement headed by the Conservative party, much like the Bloc Québécois represents sovereigntists.

"I respect the Bloc Québécois because they have a cause, which I don't happen to share," he said. "We conservatives, we, too, have a cause, and that's what I'm trying to convince Quebecers of."

Landry, however, is skeptical about Bernier's chance of success. "His right-wing thinking is effectively contrary to just about all of Quebec's political orientation since 1960," he said.

But while the former boss had harsh words for the former employee, Bernier was effusive in his praise for Landry.

"I worked for him for two years and have a lot of respect for him," he said. "Mr. Landry was the first Quebec politician to support free trade."