 During the campaign he advocated increased immigration as the key to economic growth; in this regard he proposed increasing immigration to 400,000 a year, to include 40,000 refugees.He also called for doubling defence spending and "for an accelerated push to settle all outstanding land claims and to sign treaties with First Nations communities that would empower them to govern themselves".Alexander finished 10th in a field of 14 candidates (the 11th-place candidate having withdrawn several weeks before the ballot).