Third-party buys billboard to promote Bernier's anti-mass immigration stance

Anti-immigration billboards to be taken down Maxime Bernier, leader of the People's Party of Canada, is criticizing a decision to take down anti-immigration billboards.

OTTAWA -- A billboard with Maxime Bernier's face and a slogan advocating against mass immigration has appeared in Halifax.

The ad prompts people to vote for the People's Party of Canada and reads "Say NO to Mass Immigration."

A third-party advertising group, True North Strong & Free Advertising Corp., paid for the billboard.

The organization is run by Frank Smeenk, the chief executive of a mining exploration company based in Toronto.

The group filed interim financial returns with Elections Canada that show it spent $59,890 on billboards in "select cities in Canada" and received $60,000 from Bassett & Walker International Inc., a company that specializes in the international trade of protein products.

Earlier this week, Smeenk declined to comment on the billboard beyond what appeared in the Elections Canada filing.