Bernier says byelections will test new party
Maxime Bernier says he believes a growing desire for “bold changes” will drive support for his fledgling political party, a theory that will be put to the test in three federal by-elections next month.
The People’s Party of Canada founder, who is in Saskatchewan to drum up support ahead of the October federal election, said he expects his candidates to do well, but he won’t know for sure until the ballots are counted.
“Yes, it is a test. It is a test because we just started the party four months ago,” Bernier said after speaking to around 50 people at a Greater Saskatoon Chamber of Commerce lunch on Monday.
“People, they don’t know the name of our party. They cannot say, ‘Oh, the People’s Party of Canada.’ My name recognition is very good, but we need to improve the party’s name recognition — that’s our challenge.”
Starting a new political party is not an easy task. It took the Green Party of Canada 28 years to win a seat in the House of Commons; the western populist Reform party needed six years to get an MP elected.
Bernier acknowledged the challenge of starting from scratch, but said the PPC — which he founded after splitting from the Andrew Scheer-led Conservative Party of Canada — has already proved naysayers wrong.
“Everybody was saying in the beginning, when we launched the party, that we won’t be ready, we won’t be able to have a riding association in every riding — and we did it. We did it in three months,” he said.
Last week, the PPC — which claims 33,000 members nationwide — unveiled its first byelection candidates; Bernier said the remaining candidates are expected to be named this week.
Saskatchewan voters will have to wait until spring, however, to learn who will run for the not-yet-registered party in the province. Bernier said he expects to unveil a slate of candidates before the end of May.
Candidates with name recognition are likely to be important for the PPC, which has approached multiple Saskatchewan politicians and business leaders about the prospect of running in 2019.
While few names are available, Conservative MP Brad Trost — who lost his nomination race last year — told Postmedia News he is “not in any way seriously” considering joining with his CPC leadership race rival.
While Bernier’s speech drew a smaller crowd than a typical Chamber of Commerce lunch, those who did show up appeared receptive to the Quebec MP’S thoughts on streamlining pipeline approvals, and his jabs at Scheer and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
In his speech, Bernier blasted the governing Liberals for failing to use their powers at the risk of offending important voting blocks, and the Conservatives for failing to speak out against the government for the same reason.
The Chamber of Commerce is expected to invite all of the leaders of federal political parties to speak at its events ahead of the election, which is set for Oct. 21. Bernier is set to speak to the Regina and District Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday.