Bernier eyes southern Manitoba for 2025

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This article was published 22/02/2023 (799 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

People’s Party of Canada leader Maxime Bernier says he may make Manitoba his home before the next federal election in order to turn a seat in the House of Commons purple.

Bernier made stops throughout Manitoba earlier this month, with a few more scheduled last weekend, for meet and greet events and to take stock of ridings his party received the most votes in during the 2021 federal election.

The federal party leader revealed he’s eyeing the Portage-Lisgar riding as one of his two options to run in in 2025.

“Our candidates did very well at the last election,” Bernier told The Carillon while in Steinbach before speaking at a supporter event at Smitty’s.

People’s Party Candidate Solomon Wiebe garnered nearly 22.5 percent of the vote in the Portage-Lisgar riding in the last election, placing second behind Candice Bergen’s 52.5 percent.

Bergen, the riding’s MP and former interim leader of the Conservative Party of Canada, announced in September 2022 she wouldn’t be running for office again after 14 years representing the riding. On Feb. 1 Bergen announced her resignation from parliament via Twitter.

Bernier is also considering settling in the Timmins-James Bay, ON riding where PPC candidate Stephen MacLeod captured 13 percent of the federal vote, but came in last place.

“We have strong organizations in these two ridings,” Bernier said.

Bernier confirmed to The Carillon he will not be running in his home province of Quebec in 2025, the year of the next expected election, but adding he’s unsure if he’ll be ready to run in the upcoming byelection in Portage-Lisgar, citing his desire to ingrain himself into a community before representing it.

A byelection must be called within 180 days of a seat becoming vacant, with an election period of at least 36 days and no more than 50, according to the Parliament of Canada Act.

On Saturday evening Bernier spoke to a crowd of approximately 30 supporters, relaying many of the same sentiments he did during his 2021 federal campaign, including defunding the CBC and accusing different political parties of dragging their feet on speaking about COVID-19 mandates.

When asked what the party’s priorities are going forward, Bernier said the party’s core policies remain their focus, but immigration and the war in Ukraine are top of mind for voters.

The PPC leader said he believes immigration should be capped to a “sustainable” level and Canada should be taking a hands-off approach to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

“It’s not our war,” he said.

Bernier believes the PPC’s “common sense” policies will help to capture between five and 10 percent of the national vote in the next election.

“If it’s not popular today, what we are saying — it will become popular,” he said.

The PPC leader will be making a stops in Brandon and Dauphin on Friday, the last on his tour of the province.