The US dollar is and will remain the reserve currency in the world. But for how long? Not for very long, says former Canadian minister Maxim Bernier. In his view, the US dollar would be replaced as the major global reserve currency by currencies backed by a basket of commodities, including gold.

“A commodity-based monetary system is coming,” he declared. “I don’t know when, but a fiat money system can’t survive very long. And after several decades, with all the debt and money printing in the US, Canada and Europe, it has to end.”

,We have to ask central bankers to have a zero inflation target,” he told Kitco.com, “After that I think we need an international currency reset, money based on gold or other commodities like we had in the 19th century,” said Bernier, who was minister under Prime Minister Stephen Harper from 2006 to 2015. Inflation is the result of poor monetary policy. “We have to balance the budget. We have to stop spending money we don’t have.”

Inflation is a tax, Bernier said, that transfers resources from the working people to the government. “In Canada we have 8.1 percent inflation, and inflation is a tax,” he said. “The average income growth in Canada this year will be about 5 percent. So every Canadian will be 3 percent poorer. So we have a new 3 percent tax.” He criticized Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s spending during the COVID-19 lockdown, saying that “the Bank of Canada has been an ATM for the federal government,” and that Canadians now have to pay high prices for it.

Since 2010, Bernier has advocated a commodity-based currency system like the classic gold standard adopted by the US and Canada in the 19th century. Referring to the BRICS countries’ plan to launch a new global reserve currency, he said, “You can see the dollar demonetization trend with Russia, China and India right now.” “They are aiming for a new currency based on commodities and perhaps gold.