Sturby touts PPC principles

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This article was published 29/09/2019 (2092 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Wayne Sturby says the new political party he’s embraced will appeal to Provencher voters who prize principles over pragmatism.

Sturby is Provencher’s first-ever candidate for the People’s Party of Canada, formed last year by Quebec MP Maxime Bernier, a former Conservative cabinet minister and leadership candidate.

Sturby said he’s optimistic about the right-wing party’s prospects in a riding home to many blue voters.

“Here in Provencher, we’re doing well. We started off with a very good team, a team of dedicated, committed, well-spoken individuals who believe in the principles of the PPC party,” Sturby said.

“We share a mutual concern about the very serious problems that we all face right now in our country.”

The PPC has fielded candidates in more than 90 percent of Canadian ridings, including all 14 in Manitoba, but lacks the resources and recognition of the Conservative Party of Canada.

Sturby said the PPC has momentum on its side, but allowed it remains to be seen how that will translate into votes on Oct. 21.

During the 2017 Conservative leadership contest, Bernier bested Andrew Scheer in six of eight Winnipeg ridings, though Scheer led in Provencher, and eventually won the leadership.

Sturby acknowledged dyed-in-the-wool Conservative Party supporters are unlikely to jump ship, but noted Provencher is a geographically large riding with pockets of support for several parties.

A 62-year-old corrections officer from Lorette, Sturby secured the PPC nomination in late July. At that time, the party’s electoral district association reported 86 memberships. That number has since topped 100, Sturby said, though the membership drive has taken a back seat to campaigning.

So far that’s meant phone calls and social media posts, but Sturby said the local executive will begin knocking on doors and distributing pamphlets soon.

Sturby said his main challenge is introducing Provencher to Bernier—whose profile remains highest in Quebec—and his ambitious political project.

“Some people have a vague idea, but very few people know very much about the People’s Party of Canada,” Sturby said.

Reactions are generally positive when he explains the party’s core values, he added.

To Sturby, Bernier is a principled leader who puts forward a clear vision for Canada and is in it for the long haul.

“Mr. Bernier is not going to walk away based upon the results of this election.”

Ten days ago, Bernier was invited to participate in two upcoming televised leaders’ debates. He was initially denied the opportunity based on debates commissioner David Johnston’s interpretation of eligibility criteria. Johnston then reversed his decision, saying the party has a “reasonable chance” of winning seats.

Sturby said Bernier is a strong public speaker who will excel in the high-stakes setting of a televised debate.

“Even my grandkids attending school…watch the leadership debates,” he said.

Sturby himself is eager to participate in a candidates’ forum, and believes the party’s stances on immigration and taxation will be appreciated in Provencher.

Bernier has said he’d repeal the Multiculturalism Act and lower the number of immigrants and refugees accepted annually into Canada from 350,000 to no more than 150,000.

“Reducing the numbers makes it easier to ensure that we’re not just taking in anybody,” Sturby said.

The party would also declare the entire U.S.-Canada border an official port of entry, in an attempt to close a loophole in the Safe Third Country Agreement used by asylum seekers to walk into Canada.

Sturby called Canada’s existing immigration policy “arbitrary” and “indiscriminate,” likening it to a house with its door left open at night.

Asked about the role immigration has played in Provencher’s economy, Sturby said the PPC is flexible enough to allow elected MPs to be sensitive to local immigration needs.

On taxation, Sturby said the PPC knows Canadians aren’t getting out what they pay in to federal programs. He called the Canada Pension Plan a “Ponzi scheme” that “penalizes” contributors and lacks long-term sustainability.

A PPC government would also end supply management in the agriculture industry.

Sturby said the platform plank isn’t an awkward fit in Provencher, a riding home to many supply-managed dairy and poultry operations.

“Government shouldn’t arbitrarily pick winners and losers. You either have a free and open marketplace, or you don’t.”

He said the party would shift away from supply management gradually, to avoid triggering trade uncertainties currently gripping the United States.

“It needs to be phased in,” Sturby said. “There are things that you can do to help people transition.”

In his interview with The Carillon, Sturby reserved his harshest criticism not for Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau, but for the Conservatives’ Scheer, whom Sturby said “has no principles.”

Sturby described Scheer as a “pragmatic centrist” who has watered down his party, leaving the PPC as the only properly conservative option for Canadians.

However, Sturby stopped short of applying those same criticisms to Ted Falk, Provencher’s Conservative incumbent, despite Falk’s early and enthusiastic support of Scheer’s successful leadership bid.

Sturby called Falk “a decent person” with “a good moral character” whose support of Scheer may yet be tested.

“When push comes to shove, and Ted Falk knows and understands that he has a duty and an obligation to speak out, is he going to listen to Andrew Scheer, or is he going to listen to his conscience…or is he going to listen to the people who voted for him?”

Sturby also used a question about vote splitting to criticize Scheer.

“People support the party that they want. Now when it comes to the right, when it comes to conservative people, conservative values, and conservative principles, Andrew Scheer has made it very clear he’s no longer a conservative. He no longer has the right to wear that banner.”

When the dust settles and the ballots are counted, Sturby said he hopes to see widespread support for the PPC not just in Provencher, but across Canada.

“Going to Ottawa would be a dream,” he said.

But Sturby said the return of solid principles is Bernier’s most important contribution to the political landscape.

“Having politics…restored in this country is more important to me than my personal success.”