Bernier feels vindicated by election result (video)

People's Party makes vote gains but doesn't win a seat | CBC News - Richard Raycraft:

September 20, 2021 - "The results so far may not signal a seat breakthrough for the People's Party of Canada (PPC), but the party has more than tripled its support since the last election. In an email to supporters Monday morning, PPC Leader Maxime Bernier said he had a good feeling. And now that the results have come in — including his own defeat in the Quebec riding of Beauce — Bernier says he feels vindicated.

"'I'm feeling good, because if we look at the results, we are around four per cent — four, five, six per cent. That's big for us in Atlantic Canada,' Bernier told the CBC's Travis Dhanraj at the PPC's event in Saskatoon. He maintained his triumphant tone in a speech to supporters Monday night at the Saskatoon Inn. 'This is not just a political party. This is a movement. It is an ideological revolution that we are starting now," Bernier told supporters.

"The PPC had just over five per cent of the popular vote at last count. The party has notably done better in Ontario,  where it has so far garnered just under six per cent of the vote.... According to an analysis by CBC News Labs, vote splitting between the Tories and the PPC may have cost the Conservatives up to 24 ridings....

"The party, which describes itself as populist, classically liberal and libertarian, was founded by Bernier in 2018. It campaigned on lifting many COVID-19 public health restrictions, as well as expanding the oil and gas industry, balancing the budget, ending official multiculturalism, and reducing immigration levels, among other policies. Bernier, a former Conservative MP and cabinet minister, placed a close second in the 2017 Conservative leadership race to replace Stephen Harper. He was first elected in Beauce back in 2006, but lost the seat in 2019 and failed to regain it this election.

"But if Bernier is upset about the fact his party may not get a seat in Parliament, he didn't let it show on Monday night. 'Our goal is to increase our percentage of the vote,' he said. 'We are doing better than the Green Party ... and we created [the PPC] only two years ago..... In two years, our support has increased three times over'.... And while Bernier may be satisfied with increasing the party's vote total in this election, that won't be enough next time around, he told supporters. 'When the next election comes, we will be even better prepared. And this time, we will win seats in Parliament.'"

Read more: https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/peoples-party-election-2021-1.6182680