Canada's Greens fail to qualify for leaders' debate

Canada's Green Party failed to nominate enough candidates to qualify for the national leaders' debates, but were invited anyway - until the Commission reversed itself and disinvited them on the day of the first debate.

Party leaders invited to debate: (l to r) Yves-Francois Blanchet, Bloc Quebecois; Jagmeet Singh, New Democratic; 

Mark Carney, Liberal; Pierre Poilievre, Conservative. Jonathan Pedneault, Green. Yahoo News.

What’s the Controversy About Debates Commission Inviting Green Party? | Epoch Times | Lee Harding: 

April, 15, 2025 - "The leader of the Bloc Québécois is questioning why the Green Party can participate in a national televised debate even though the party falls short of qualifying criteria set by Canada’s Leaders’ Debates Commission. 'I have nothing against the Green Party, but if the rules disqualify it, how can we explain why it’s invited to the debate? The main effect is to reduce the speaking time of others,' Yves-François Blanchet wrote in a social media post in French on April 13.

"The commission did not respond to a request for comment from The Epoch Times. A spokesperson for the commission told the CBC it had 'made its decision with respect to which political parties met the debate participation criteria 27 days before election day'....

"Parties must meet two of three criteria to be invited to the debates: Having a sitting MP who’s been elected as a member of that party; having at least four percent national support in opinion polls; and running candidates in at least 90 per cent of all 343 ridings, which amount to 309.

"The commission, an independent body, invited the Greens to participate in the debate, saying the party had met the first and third criteria. However, that invitation was sent a week before the April 7 deadline for parties to submit their final list of candidates. The Green Party had submitted names for candidates in all ridings, on which the commission based its decision.... However, Elections Canada only lists 232 Green candidates, for just 68 percent of all ridings. 

"Nevertheless, Green Party co-leader Jonathan Pedneault will participate in the French debate on April 16 and the English debate on April 17. At a press conference on April 14, Pedneault said, 'it simply benefits Canadian democracy to have the Greens at the table and have as many voices to debate the future of our country.' Pedneault also said People’s Party of Canada [PPC] Leader Maxime Bernier should be included. 'The PPC should be at the table because those are issues and views that Canadians actually hold,' Pedneault said. The Green Party is polling around two percent and the PPC one percent.

"Bernier said on social media that he received his first indication that he would not participate in the debate when Radio Canada TV host Celine Galipeau called Bernier in French 'a leader who will not be at the debate.' In a March 25 press release, Bernier said, 'How is it possible that Ms. Galipeau know[s] this already? I think I have the answer. Radio-Canada/CBC will produce the debates, so they’re talking to the Commission, and I presume everybody there already knows that I won’t be invited'....

"Bernier added that under the 2021 rules he would automatically have been invited because the PPC received almost 5 percent of the vote in the last election, alleging the commission 'changed the rules only to exclude us.' In 2021, the commission decided a party could participate in debates if it met one of three criteria: a sitting MP in the House elected as a member of that party, candidates in the previous election received at least four percent of total valid votes cast, and polls taken five days after the election is called found the party had a national support level of at least four percent.... The PPC was left out of the 2021 debates, as it had earned just 1.62 per cent of the popular vote in 2019, did not elect an MP, and had an average level of 3.27 percent support in polls prior to the 2021 election. However, the party earned 840,993 votes for 4.94 per cent support in the 2021 election....

"The inclusion of the Greens in the French debate ensures Liberal Leader Mark Carney will be involved. Carney announced March 25 he would not participate in an additional French debate, to be broadcast on TVA, because of the Green Party’s absence. As a result, the TVA debate was cancelled."

Read more: https://www.theepochtimes.com/world/whats-the-controversy-about-debates-commission-inviting-green-party-5842129

Update: Green Party booted from leaders' debates due to lack of candidates | National Post | Rahim  Mohammed:

April 16, 2025 - "The commission overseeing the federal leaders’ debates has disinvited the Green party from the proceedings in a surprise last-minute ruling. The Leaders’ Debates Commission said in a Wednesday morning press release explaining the decision that the Greens aren’t running enough candidates to be a factor in the election.... The Green Party hadn’t named candidates in more than 100 of the 343 federal ridings in play, as of this week, putting it well below the 90 per cent threshold.... 

"Pedneault said last week that the candidate shortfall was due, in part, to a 'strategic decision' not to run Green candidates in ridings where the Conservatives were running strong, so as not to split the progressive vote. Green party officials had alternatively pointed the finger at Elections Canada, accusing returning officers of being slow to verify nomination signatures submitted by local candidates."

Read more: https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/green-party-booted-from-leaders-debate

Debates Commission moves goalposts on Bernier

In Canada's 2021 election, Maxime Bernier didn't qualify for the Leaders' debate, but his People's Party still received 4.9% of the vote  — enough to qualify him for the next election. So the Leaders' Debates Commission changed the rules. 

The Leaders’ Debates Commission is again trying to exclude Maxime Bernier | People's Party of Canada (news release): 

January 15, 2025 — "The Leaders’ Debates Commission has once again changed its criteria so they can easily exclude the leader of the People’s Party on the basis of dubious polls, as they did in 2021. 

"In 2021, parties needed to meet one of three criteria to qualify: 1) have at least one MP; 2) have had at least 4% of the total vote in the previous election; or 3) have at least 4% on average in polls at the beginning of the campaign. The PPC did not meet 1) and 2), and its leader was disqualified on 3) by using dubious polling results in which the PPC barely registered, which gave the party an average of only 3.27%, even though its support was clearly much higher and it ended up scoring 4.9% on election day. 

Maxime Bernier in 2023. Photo by Yan Parisien. 

CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons.

"Mr. Bernier would automatically qualify to take part in this year’s debates on the basis of criterion 2) if the Commission had kept the same criteria. However, yesterday, the Commission announced a key change, dropping that criterion and requiring that parties must now meet not one, but two of these three criteria: 1) have at least one MP; 2) have at least 4% on average in the polls at the beginning of the campaign; or 3) run candidates in at least 90% of ridings....

"[T]he Commission states in its document that when consulting the parties about the new rules last year, 'The Commission received submissions from the Bloc Quebecois, the Conservative Party of Canada, the Green Party of Canada, the Liberal Party of Canada, and the New Democratic Party of Canada.' This is not true. A PPC staffer sent a submission to Michel Cormier, the Commission’s Executive Director, on July 3 2024, two days before the deadline, in which it was argued that the Commission should keep the same criteria as in 2021.

"Not only is the Commission trying to exclude Mr. Bernier from the debates, but it seems like it did not take the PPC submission into account.

"Maxime Bernier commented:

This change only has one obvious purpose, one that unites the whole political establishment in Ottawa: Making it easier to exclude the PPC. These new rules only affect me, the leader of the only new party to emerge forcefully on the federal political scene in decades, and none of the other leaders expected to participate. They want to deny a voice to 840,000 Canadian voters who supported the PPC in 2021.

It’s still possible for the PPC to qualify of course, but we are again at the mercy of dubious polls, some of which we know deliberately exclude the PPC from the list of potential responses, which inevitably understates our level of support.

Instead of using the hard data that are the results of the last election, which prove without doubt that the PPC is one of the major parties whose voice is essential in Canadian policy debates, and, the Commission has chosen to rely on fleeting data that can easily be manipulated and will be obsolete a few weeks later.

Why does the Commission need to change its criteria every electoral cycle? Isn’t it weird that a Commission is kept alive, and public funds are spent to carry consultations with experts and parties, only to come up every few years with new rules that make the participation of the PPC more difficult? Does it exist to facilitate democratic debates or to censor a populist voice?”

Read more: https://www.peoplespartyofcanada.ca/news/press-release-the-leaders-debates-commission-is-again-trying-to-exclude-maxime-bernier

Bernier to run in Manitoba byelection

BERNIER: Elect me to 'restore sanity in this country' | Western Standard - Linda Slobodian: 

May 12, 2023 - "People’s Party of Canada (PPC) Leader Maxine Bernier ... announced Friday he’ll run in Manitoba’s Portage-Lisgar by-election ...  at a press conference in Portage la Prairie. Bernier said it will be a 'two-horse' race between him and Conservative Party of Canada (CPC) opponent Brenden Leslie. The seat was previously held since 2008 by Candice Bergen, CPC’s interim leader in 2022.... Bernier urged constituents to join the political revolution and compared the PPC to the old Reform Party....

"Bernier cited inflation 'eating away at our standard of living,' skyrocketing government and household debt, and a 'hopelessly broken' health care system.... 'But even worse than the state of our economy is the state of our culture. We are living in highly immoral times'.... 'We are living in a completely different society, one overtaken by evil'....

"'Radical cultural Marxists seized control of our educational system, the mainstream media, and governments. They push a program of anti-life, anti-family, and anti-Canadian values. Gender ideology and the trans movement are promoting confusion and the mutilation of children. It is useless to debate with these extremists. There is no common ground. They seek only one objective — to destroy Canadian society as we know it and upend the traditional structures of life which have underpinned our civilization. Their insanity is undermining our traditions, our history, and our nation'....

"He accused the Conservative Party of Canada of 'giving up.' 'Whether it's gender ideology, mass immigration, climate hysteria, the cult of diversity, or abortion, the CPC has refused to fight the necessary cultural battles. They are too scared of negative coverage from the mainstream media and being called bigots. They have sat on their hands as the radical left has taken over our society' [he said.] 'I am ready to fight. The PPC is ready to fight. That is why I am proud to announce I am putting my name forward in the upcoming by-election to be your representative, you the people of Portage-Lisgar, in the House of Commons. Because families deserve a strong voice.'

"In 2021, the PPC earned 5.1% of the vote [nationwide]. In 21 ridings the size of the PPC vote was higher than the number of votes Conservative candidates lost by....Bernier ran and lost in Beauce in 2019 and 2021 after he quit the Conservative Party in 2018 — after losing the leadership contest to Andrew Scheer — and formed the PPC. Bernier held several positions in former prime minister Stephen Harper’s government.... 

"The riding has been held by Conservatives since it was created in 1997. In 2021, the PPC won 22% of the vote.

"His opponent, Brendan Leslie, served as Bergen’s campaign manager. 'If Maxime Bernier does decide to leave his home province of Quebec in an attempt to boost his profile and raise money for his party, I think it will only further prove to the residents of Portage-Lisgar, and all Canadians, that Mr. Bernier is an opportunist who will go anywhere and say anything he thinks will get him the most attention,' said Leslie in [a] written statement." 

Read more: https://www.westernstandard.news/news/bernier-elect-me-to-restore-sanity-in-this-country/article_cc2569aa-f0fb-11ed-9615-0707c56d4372.html

UNCUT VIDEO: Maxime Bernier says race for byelection is between him & fake conservative | CBC Manitoba | May 12, 2023:

UPDATE: 4 federal byelections set for June in Quebec, Ontario and Manitoba | Global News - Eric Stober:  

May 14, 2023 - "Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Sunday that four byelections will happen in June. The byelections will be held on June 19 in four districts:

• Notre-Dame-de-Grâce—Westmount, Quebec
• Oxford, Ontario
• Portage—Lisgar, Manitoba
• Winnipeg South Centre, Manitoba"

Read more: https://globalnews.ca/news/9697428/canada-federal-byelections/ 

Conservatives moved to end Covid restrictions

More Freedom Convoy fallout

by George J. Dance

Remember Freedom Convoy 2022? The trucker's protest against vaccine and other Covid mandate that had the attention of the world a month ago? The Convoy's 15 days of fame are over, but the movement and its aftershocks will live on. Here on the blog, I have been chronicling the protest movement since the trucks left B.C., but I am still finding new information to add. Here is a new fact, which sheds light on the history and no doubt will affect future history as well. 

First, the context. The Convoy begun its protest/"occupation" on Jan. 28. The Liberal government of Justin Trudeau refused to meet with them or talk to them. So on the following Thursday, Feb. 3, the Convoy organizers took their case to the public, holding a press conference at which they set out one condition for ending their Ottawa protest: 

"We are calling on all levels of government in Canada to end all COVIDmandates and restrictions," said convoy co-organizer Tamara Lich. "We will continue our protest until we see a clear plan for their elimination."

Here is the new information, which I have never seen in the mainstream media. (I'm sure it was reported, but given no prominence.) On February 14, the Conservative Party moved in the House of Commons to have the government present 'a 2 week plan for the end of COVID-19 mandates and restrictions' – precisely what the Convoy had asked for. The Conservatives, the Bloc, and one Liberal voted for the motion; but the other Liberals, along with the NDP and Greens, did not, and the motion failed. 

Here's how that new fact affects past history. Passing the motion would have made it possible to end the protest / occupation, without violence and in a more timely manner. Had the Trudeau government been interested in doing either, it would have passed the motion and then told the Convoy to leave, which they probably would have. But it is clear that Trudeau's government had no interest in that – Trudeau's policy, in the words of the one Liberal to vote for the motion, has been "to wedge, to divide and to stigmatize." So, the same day he had the Conservative motion voted down, he invoked the Emergencies Act to solve the problem with violence instead.  

How that Conservative motion affects future history is less clear. But it looks as though the Conservative Party, after two years of pandemic acquiescence, is finally criticizing Covid mandates and restrictions. One can question whether they would end all Covid restrictions – we are, after all, talking about the party of Doug Ford and Jason Kenney – but they may realize that they at least have to campaign for ending them. Otherwise, if they go back to their previous acquiescence, they risk bleeding support to Maxime Bernier and the People's Party. 

Meanwhile, at least one poll has found that a majority of Canadians want Covid restrictions ended, and another found that a majority of young adults aged 18-54 supported the Freedom Convoy itself. The truckers' "small fringe minority" views may in fact end up prevailing. At the very least, the question of whether it makes sense (either scientifically or ethically) to try to control an infectious virus by controlling the citizens' movements may finally become a topic of real debate in this country. 

Liberal and NDP parties join together to reject Conservative motion that would have prompted end of COVID-19 mandates | Fairview Post - Breanna Driedger:

February 21, 2022 - "On Feb. 14, the House of Commons completed a vote on a motion put forth by the Conservatives ordering the Liberal Party to send out a 2 week plan for the end of COVID-19 mandates and restrictions. The motion was turned down, resulting in 151 yeas and 185 nays. The Liberal and NDP parties united in [opposition for] this vote.... Member of Parliament (MP) Arnold Viersen of Peace River — Westlock said, 'I’m not really certain why they didn’t support it [the motion]. We thought it was a significant out.'

"Bloc Québécois and one Liberal MP, Joel Lightbound, also voted for the motion. The motion demanded a plan (released by Mar. 4 as stated by Viersen) to end mandates and restrictions surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic.

"'[It was a] pretty reasonable demand. And we thought that the government should be able to do that, given the fact that they’ve been dealing with this for over two years,' Viersen said. 'We’ve been frustrated with the fact that the goalposts continue to keep moving. First [the government said that we needed] two weeks to flatten the curve. [Then, they said at least 70% of people have] got to get vaccinated. Now, we’re at over 90% of folks being vaccinated and we still are under lockdown measures and they’re bringing in new mandates with the trucker mandate.'

"Viersen said that the Conservatives wanted the government to clarify objectives and thresholds that would end mandates, stating '[to] make that a firm thing instead of changing it as we go along.... They [the mandates] don’t have to end immediately. The trucker mandate, we think that one doesn’t have to be in place at all,' said Viersen. 'The truckers have survived for two years crossing the border safely. But the other mandates, we’d like to see them go.'"

Read more: https://www.fairviewpost.com/news/liberal-and-ndp-parties-join-together-to-reject-conservative-motion-that-would-have-prompted-end-of-covid-19-mandates

Anti-mandate MPP launches Ontario First Party

Hillier announces run for Ontario Premier with new Ontario PPC party | Kingstonist - Cris Vilela:

November 8, 2021 - "Independent Member of Provincial Parliament for Lanark-Frontenac-Kingston Randy Hillier announced on the morning of Monday, Nov. 8, 2021 that he would be running for Premier of Ontario in the next provincial election with a newly-formed Ontario PPC party. He made the announcement at a rally against vaccine mandates in Toronto’s Nathan Phillips Square.

"'I’ve got a little bit of announcement … you may have seen some paperwork going around the audience today. We’re gonna fight this politically as well. The purple wave is coming to Ontario,' Hillier announced to the crowd. 'We want to fight for freedom, for justice, for democracy, for fairness,' he continued. 'We have to fight this everywhere. But this is a cultural war, and how we win cultural wars is also at the ballot box … the purple wave is here, and we’ll be on the ballot box, and I’ll be leading them for the June election in 2022,' Hillier said, to cheers from the gathered crowd."

Read more: https://www.kingstonist.com/news/politics-2/hillier-announces-run-for-ontario-premier-with-new-ontario-ppc-party/

Pro-freedom, anti-mandate MPP announces run for Ontario Premier under new People’s Party - LifeSite News - Anthony Murdoch:  

November 9, 2021 - "Hillier, who has been an MPP since 2007, has been a fierce opponent to mask and COVID-19 jab mandates, having spoken at many anti-lockdown and pro-freedom rallies for well over a year. After being tossed from the Ontario Progressive Conservative (PC) by Premier Doug Ford in 2019, Hillier has sat as an independent for the riding of Lanark-Frontenac-Kingston.

"On Sunday, Hillier said that the people are in a 'war' against 'the enemy of big pharma, big corporate interests that are profiteering through these 20 months' as well as 'big government' and public health.

"'To win this battle, it only takes one thing, and for all of us, to be honest, all of us to have this courage, the conviction, to speak truthfully and honestly, we’re going to fight this politically as well,” Hillier said. 'We ... are doing this for sons, our daughters, our grandsons, our granddaughters. Let’s do it and make sure that they have just as much freedom as when I was when I was that little boy back in elementary school. And let’s have a culture that reflects our faith, our freedom, and our family'....

"Hillier is not the only independent Ontario MPP who will be running in the 2022 provincial election under a new party. Cambridge MPP Belinda Karahalios, who was ousted from Ford’s PC party for voting against extending lockdowns, started a new conservative Ontario party with her husband Jim called 'The New Blue Party of Ontario.' The New Blue Party of Ontario will be a 'true blue' party with 'blue values,' the couple said."

Read more: https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/pro-freedom-anti-covid-jab-mandate-politician-announces-he-will-run-for-premier-in-ontario/

Ontario First Party on Twitter

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

People's Party buoyed by anti-mandate sentiment

Canada election: 'Mad Max' and why his party is on the rise | BBC News - Bernd Debusmann Jr:

September 16, 2021 - "Canada is edging closer to its federal election on Monday, with Justin Trudeau's Liberal Party and Erin O'Toole's Conservative Party in a tight race for first place. But the once fringe People's Party of Canada has emerged as a potential spoiler, riding a wave of anti-lockdown and vaccine mandate sentiment. 

"Maxime Bernier ... a former Canadian foreign minister, is a populist with a libertarian bent who[m] supporters have nicknamed 'Mad Max'. He has previously described his upstart party, the People's Party of Canada (PPC), as a coalition of people 'disenchanted with traditional politicians'. The PPC has a wide-ranging platform that includes limiting immigration, an end to corporate welfare, a pro-firearms stance, and a rejection of what it terms 'climate change alarmism'. However, one issue above all has come to the forefront in the 2021 election: vaccine mandates and lockdowns.

"Mr Bernier, 58, has been a vocal opponent of ... what he calls 'authoritarian' restrictions, claiming in an August rally, for example, that vaccine passports 'will create two kinds of citizens, some with more rights than others'. Such statements are 'a huge part of the story behind the surge [for the PPC]', said Elizabeth Goodyear-Grant, a political studies professor at Queens University. 'A lot of this has been generated by the party seizing on the sense that anti-lockdown, anti-vaccine passport sentiments exist in the population.'

"Polling data suggests that this message is gaining momentum among some Canadian voters even while the country has some of the world's highest vaccination rates - over 80%. Recent tracking poll numbers from CBC, for example, ranked the PPC in fourth place nationally at 6.5% - ahead of the Green Party and the Bloc Québécois, which only runs candidates in Quebec. (The Liberals and the Conservative are in a statistical tie at around 30%). In the 2019 election, by comparison, the PPC earned just 1.6% of the popular vote and Mr Bernier lost his own seat.

"A significant portion of the party's swelling support base comes from first time or irregular voters ... said Prof Goodyear-Grant. 'They are taking some support from all the other parties ... which suggests there are people across all parties that are opposed to some of the [pandemic] measures that have been put in place,' she said. Provinces like Quebec, Ontario, and British Columbia have all in recent weeks brought in vaccine passport systems that limit access in certain settings as cases rise in a fourth pandemic wave.

"Steven Weldon, the director of the Centre for the Study of Public Opinion and Representation at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia, said that several factors limit how much of a 'spoiler' the party can be in the upcoming election.... Mr Weldon added that the PPC has ' less of a voice' because of ... the fact that support is spread across the country. Polling models suggest it's unlikely its candidates will win any seats.

"Bernadette Bosse, a 43-year-old consulting firm manager in Calgary, Alberta, said she's among those who would vote for Mr Bernier's party if it were [an] option, but there is no PPC candidate in the running where she lives.... Ms Bosse thinks more people would vote PPC if they had candidates in all 338 federal ridings (constituencies). They're running candidates in 312.

"In the long-run, it remains to be seen whether the PPC will continue to gain support even in a post-pandemic Canada. 'We lose sight of that because we're in the middle of both the election and the pandemic,' Prof Goodyear-Grant said. 'When the issue of the pandemic is removed, I think you would expect some of the support to dissipate'."

Read more: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-58573878

People's Party hopes to run full slate in 2021

'I won't change': Maxime Bernier confident about PPC's chances with same platform | CTV News - Jackie Dunham:

August 17, 2021 - " After 15 years in politics and more than his fair share of controversies, Maxime Bernier ... [t]he 58-year-old leader of the libertarian-leaning People’s Party of Canada [PPC] appears to be just as determined to promote his ideal vision for the country, as he was when he made his political debut as a cabinet minister under Stephen Harper in 2006. 'I believe in a smaller government that will respect people… that will respect the Constitution. That’s why I’m in politics. That’s why I decided to be in politics,' Bernier told CTVNews.ca during a phone interview in late July....

"The corporate lawyer-turned-MP from Quebec was forced to defend his past support for separatism in the late '90s ... resigned as foreign affairs minister in 2008 ... and went ... to nearly winning the Conservative Party leadership race in 2017 with more than 49 per cent of the vote.... [H]owever, Bernier split with his long-time party in dramatic fashion – describing the Conservatives as 'too intellectually and morally corrupt to be reformed' – and founded his own. 

"The party was formed in September 2018.... 'This party stands for individual freedom, personal responsibility, respect, and fairness, and all our policies are in line with these four principles,' Bernier said. These policies include phasing out the supply management system for the country’s dairy farmers; reducing equalization payments to provinces; reducing government interventions in the free market; lowering the number of immigrants and refugees accepted to Canada; withdrawing from the Paris Climate Accord; restricting the definition of hate speech in the Criminal Code; and withdrawing from all United Nations commitments. If these platform pledges sound familiar, it’s because they’re the same ones championed by the PPC during the 2019 federal election.... [T]he leader explained that remaining loyal to their core principles is what distinguishes the PPC from their opponents....

"[T]here is one new addition to Bernier’s campaign ahead of the election in 2021 and that’s his vow to fight against COVID-19 lockdowns. For the past few months, the PPC leader has toured Canada as part of his 'Mad Max Summer 2021 Pre-Election Tour' to share his opposition to government-imposed lockdowns and vaccine passports.

"In June, Manitoba RCMP arrested and charged Bernier under the Public Health Act for allegedly gathering at an outdoor public place and for failing to self-isolate when he arrived in the province. Bernier called the incident 'political repression' and said he was arrested so that he wouldn’t be able to attend a larger rally he had planned for the next day in Winnipeg. 'I was the only one to receive a ticket and I was the only one that was arrested,' he said. 'I was in jail, handcuffed, and put in jail like a criminal for a non-crime after a political gathering just to be sure that I won’t be able to do the rally in Winnipeg. So that’s Canada in 2021.'  His court case has been adjourned until late August.

"And while Bernier said he’s against lockdowns and vaccine passports – he thinks they will create two classes of citizens – he’s not opposed to masks or COVID-19 vaccines for others. 'I’m not anti-mask. I’m not anti-vaccine. I said publicly that we believe in freedom. We believe in freedom of choice, every Canadian must be able to decide if they want the vaccine or not,' he said....

"Bernier’s message appears to be resonating in Western Canada where he said they’re enjoying a 'bit more support,' according to a poll by Abacus Data that came out in early July, than in other parts of the country. However, he stressed that the PPC is appealing to voters across Canada and not just former Conservatives.... 'We have more than 200 candidates selected up until now, our goal is to have a full slate of candidates,' he said. 'I think this time, we'll be able to have 338 candidates. We want to give the opportunity to every Canadian to be able to vote for the PPC'....       

 "The PPC leader said during the last election, Canadians told him that they didn’t vote for him because they didn’t want to split the conservative vote and allow the Liberals to win. This time, however, he said voters, especially in B.C. and Alberta, are approaching him and telling him they’re not worried about that this time. 'I said "Why?" They said "Because we know that Erin O'Toole won't win and I don't want to waste my vote,"' Bernier said."

Read more: https://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/federal-election-2021/i-won-t-change-maxime-bernier-confident-about-ppc-s-chances-with-same-platform-1.5540203

Second Alberta pastor arrested

Notley applauds police arrests as two leading COVID protesters ‘cuffed and hauled away | Western Standard - Dave Naylor:

May 8, 2021 - "Alberta NDP Leader Rachel Notley is praising police in the province who arrested two of the biggest organizers of COVID-19 lockdown protests. 

"In Calgary, Pastor Art Pawlowski was stopped in the middle of 17 Ave. S.E., handcuffed as he knelt on the street and dragged away, when he refused to stand. His son, Dawid, received the same treatment [see video].

[This is the second arrest of a pastor in Alberta. Edmonton pastot James Coates was arrested in February and jailed for over 30 days. - gd]

"In Mirror, 50 km east of Red Deer, the owner of the Whistle Stop Cafe, Chris Scott, was arrested and taken away by the RCMP at the end of a day’s protest. Scott was one of the first restaurant owners in Alberta to ignore the COVID-19 closure orders. This week, the RCMP raided his store and seized all his booze. Two days later, the RCMP arrived at dawn and padlocked his establishment. On Saturday, 1,500 people held a peaceful demonstration at the Whistle Stop to protest lockdowns. Scott was arrested after things wrapped up for the day.

“'Finally, some enforcement of the public health laws…#ableg #abhealth Why did it take so long?' Notley tweeted....

"But across the country, Maxime Bernier, leader of the Peoples Party of Canada, blasted the police actions. 'I can’t believe this is happening. Pastor Pawlowski lived under the communist regime in Poland in his youth. Today he is being arrested by a sanitary fascist regime in Canada and Alberta for holding a service. SHAME!' he tweeted.

"Bernier was in Regina at an anti-lockdown rally and had a police visit of his own. 'The Regina police gave us $,2800 tickets for speaking at the Freedom Rally this afternoon. Of course we’re going to fight these unconstitutional tickets in court!' he tweeted after the event."

Read more: https://westernstandardonline.com/2021/05/notley-applauds-police-arrests-as-two-leading-covid-protesters-cuffed-and-hauled-away/ 

Pastor Artur Pawlowski Arrested | The Real Story | Charisma Media | May 1, 2024:

2019 election was deja vu for LP of Canada

by Jean-Serge Brisson 

Brisson, Libertarian Party of Canada leader (2000-2008), responds to 71 Republic's recent hatchet job on the Party:

You accuse the Libertarian Party of Canada of failing to get any kind of traction in this country. I don't think that you are well versed on the history of how libertarianism has developed and is developing in Canada.

Have you ever heard of a man named Preston Manning? Manning arrived on the scene in 1987 with a Western Canada-based political party called the Reform Party, notable for adopting more of the libertarian playbook than any other Canadian political party had in the past (other than the Libertarian Party itself). His Reform Party lasted 13 years, only to amalgamate in 2000 with the Progressive Conservatives to become the Conservative Party of Canada.

Manning was well known in the political arena. When he popped onto the scene we lost members and organizers to him. After that exodus, the Libertarian Party of Canada didn't make much noise for many years and in 1996 even lost its official party registration. When the law was changed in 2004, we were able to get re-registered and we immediately started running candidates again.

Rising from the ashes in a few years, we made headway in a manner that we had never known before. In 2018, in the province (like an American 'state') of Ontario, the provincial party reached a level of success unprecedented for any libertarian party in Canada. We came close to achieving what is called a full slate, which is a candidate in every constituency.

Also in 2018 that same federal Conservative Party had a leadership race, and a charismatic Member of Parliament, Maxime Bernier, ran on a libertarian platform. He lost after 13 ballots by less than half a percent. His frustration led him to form his own party, the "Peoples Party of Canada," in 2019. What happened then? The same thing that had happened 3 decades prior when Manning came on the scene. We had another exodus of people who thought that a charismatic individual could bring them victory at the polls. Deja vu.

Nothing could have been further from the truth. Bernier's sole intent was to get revenge against his leadership rival. But Bernier had a very libertarian agenda at first. Thus many of the LPoC executives and many other members went to support what they thought was going to be a quicker route to power.

It didn't happen. The Peoples Party garnished less than 300,000 votes, hardly enough to make a dent in the Canadian political structure. Bernier didn't hurt his rival, but did hurt us. Volunteers, donors, resources, and voters that would normally have come to us, went to Bernier at the last minute.

It is actually because the libertarian idea was catching on that these two upstarts were able to get off the ground so well. To have two parties within 3 decades start up with "Messiahs," draining and crippling the Libertarian party infrastructure, does not show lack of traction. It was the traction we had gained that caused the upstarts to do so well, but they had no stamina to maintain their drive.

The Libertarian Party of Canada got a punch that knocked us to the floor in this election. But unlike the last time, we were not knocked out. On the contrary, we are more like a boxer who is determined to see this fight to the end, no matter who stands in front of us. Because whether you realize it or not, the libertarian movement now is stronger in Canada than ever before.

When I ran in my first federal election, I was an unknown as a libertarian. But today, the word "libertarian" is not an unknown quantity anymore. It is well understood that it stands for less government. That is the result of many individuals in Canada working hard at getting our name and ideas into the media and also in front of politicians and voters.

Just like the Reform Party, Bernier's Peoples Party will be folding soon. Where do you think its members and organizers will turn to look for a political home?

98% of Canadians voted for more of the same

Canadians Demonstrate Rare Show of Unity: 98% Vote for Bigger Government, Higher Taxes, More Debt - Peter Diekmeyer (24/10/2019) | Sprott Money:

October 24, 2019 - "Mainstream media pundits, as usual, missed the key message when analyzing the results of Monday’s election, which returned Justin Trudeau’s Liberals to power. On paper the country was divided as never before, with no clear winner. The Conservatives, who won the popular vote, picked up a meagre 34.4% of ballots cast.

"Yet while Canadians can’t agree on a leader or how to divvy up the loot, they were unanimous on one important issue: they trust government, and they want it to do more.... [T]he Liberals, Conservatives, NDP, Greens, and the Bloc (who gathered a combined 98% votes) all put forward platforms that would increase overall taxes, spending, borrowing, and regulations during their mandate....

"During the past three years we have highlighted growing danger signals that politicians are essentially flying blind and that due to vast bureaucracy, conflicting interests, and use of misleading data points they couldn’t stop the country’s downward spiral even if they wanted to. Productivity is collapsing throughout the system and gross domestic product hasn’t grown in major economies such as the U.S. in more than a decade (as calculated on a debt-adjusted basis, using a realistic deflator).

"Canadian public sector debts, when combined with the country’s private, household and financial debts (much of which are de facto government guaranteed) now total an unbelievable $8.3 trillion. That works out to nearly $1 million in debt for each Canadian under the age of 19, making the country’s youth the functional equivalent of debt slaves.

"The results of the recent election suggest that either Canadians aren’t concerned with any this or that they trust future governments to do better.... Maxime Bernier’s People’s Party of Canada, the only major party that could credibly promise to reduce the scope of government, got a meagre 1.6% of the vote.

"The only positive sign for advocates of sound public finances came from the Libertarian Party of Canada. Party leader Tim Moen — who advocated elimination of all taxes (except the GST), the privatization of the Bank of Canada, and a return to the gold standard — managed to keep the party on its feet, despite being banned from the debates and deprived of media coverage from all major outlets.

“'We are in a battle of ideas,' said Moen. 'Right now even if a free market-oriented party won power, they would not be able to accomplish much. Things will not change unless we change the culture, and that process takes place one vote at a time.'”

Read more: https://www.sprottmoney.com/Blog/canadians-demonstrate-rare-show-of-unity-98-vote-for-bigger-government-higher-taxes-more-debt-peter-diekmeyer-24-102019.html
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Can People’s Party survive election shutout?

Nothing but a ‘vanity project’: People’s Party of Canada is likely dead, experts say | National Post - Douglas Quan:

October 22, 2019 - "In the lead-up to this week’s federal election, media outlets around the world wondered whether right-wing fringe candidate Maxime Bernier and his People’s Party represented an expansion of the populist, nationalist and anti-establishment sentiment sweeping the United States and Europe. 'A "Mad Max" candidate offers a far-right jolt to the Canadian election,' read a headline in the New York Times. 'Can populism become popular in Canada?' asked the BBC.

"Judging from Monday night’s results, the answer appears to be a resounding no. The dismal outcome — the People’s Party clinched zero seats and less than 2 per cent of the popular vote.... While Bernier, who lost in his own riding of Beauce, Que., insisted in a concession speech that the movement was 'only getting started,' experts said the People’s Party likely would not survive.

“'The PPC is rather easily seen now as a vanity project of Bernier’s, and as a very ineffectual attempt to come up with a latter-day Reform Party challenge to more moderate conservatism,' said David Laycock, a political science professor at Simon Fraser University.

"Bernier, who held the Beauce riding since 2006, had served under the Conservative banner until last year when he narrowly lost the leadership contest to Andrew Scheer and then formed his own party. On Monday night, he garnered 28 per cent of the vote and placed second to Conservative Richard Lehoux.

"Some of the party’s other higher-profile candidates, such as Renata Ford, widow of the late Toronto mayor Rob Ford, and Lee Harding, former Saskatchewan director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, barely made a dent — coming in fourth in their respective ridings of Etobicoke North and Cypress Hills-Grasslands and capturing only 2.8 per cent of the vote.

"Bernier blamed 'nasty and shameless attacks' from opponents for the PPC’s poor showing. (Late last week, The Globe and Mail reported that strategist Warren Kinsella and his firm Daisy Group had been hired by the Conservatives to 'seek and destroy' Bernier’s party and portray its supporters as racist. Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer refused to confirm or deny the allegation. Bernier filed a complaint with Elections Canada over the affair.)...

"The People’s Party ... is 'probably' dead, Laycock said. Bernier’s poor showing in Quebec indicates there isn’t a regional base for his conservative alternative. Furthermore, 'it is very hard to attract media attention without any MPs, especially when your leader can’t win his own seat.'”

Read more: https://nationalpost.com/news/politics/election-2019/nothing-but-a-vanity-project-peoples-party-of-canada-is-likely-dead-experts-say
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12 Ontario Libertarians running federally

Ontario Libertarian Party, Facebook:

October 20, 2019 - The Ontario Libertarian Party would like to take the opportunity before voting day this federal election, to recognize the hard work of all the men and women within our membership who have taken it upon themselves to carry the torch of liberty high within federal politics, and give the constituents of their ridings a liberty minded choice on the ballot.

• Patrick Bernier - PPC [People's Party of Canada] - Kitchener Centre - @ppcpatrick
• Jacques Boudreau - LPOC [Libertarian Party of Canada] - London West - @voteboudreau
• Coreen Corcoran - LPOC - Ottawa Centre
• Darcy Neal Donnelly - LPOC - Glengary-Prescott-Russell
• John Kitteridge - LPOC - Don Valley West
• Keith Komar - LPOC - York-Simcoe - @libertykkomar
• Serge Korovitsyn - LPOC - Aurora-Oak Ridges-Richmond Hill
• Dan Little - LPOC - Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound
• Michael Staffieri - PPC - Eglinton-Lawrence - @staff_ieri
• Richard Styve - LPOC - Elgin-Middlesex-London
• Sabile Trimm - PPC - Stormont-Dundas-South Glengarry - @sabiletrimm
• Markian Wojo Wrzesniewski - LPOC - Etobicoke Centre

"Ontario Libertarian Party would like to applaud your efforts federally, and appreciates your continued support fighting for liberty provincially.

"Good luck to you all!"

https://www.facebook.com/Ontario.Libertarian.Party/posts/2640582319340163

Conservatives secretly funded project to 'destroy' People's Party, CBC reports

Kinsella consulting firm worked to 'seek and destroy' Bernier's PPC party, documents say | CBC News - Jeff Yates, Kaleigh Rogers, Andrea Bellemare:

October 19, 2019 - "Warren Kinsella's Daisy Group consulting firm was behind a social media campaign to put the People's Party of Canada (PPC) on the defensive and keep leader Maxime Bernier out of the federal leaders' debates, according to documents provided to CBC News. The documents outline the work done by several employees of Daisy on behalf of an unnamed client. A source with knowledge of the project told CBC News that client was the Conservative Party of Canada....

"According to a source with knowledge of the project, who spoke to CBC News on condition they not be named, the objective of the plan, dubbed 'Project Cactus,' was to make the Conservative Party look more attractive to voters by highlighting PPC candidates' and supporters' xenophobic statements on social media.

"Repeatedly asked to confirm or explain his party's involvement during a campaign event in Toronto on Saturday, Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer refused to answer. 'As a rule, we never make comments on vendors that we may or may not have engaged with,' he said repeatedly....

"Documents seen by CBC News outline a plan to 'seek and destroy' the PPC and prevent Bernier from getting into the leaders' debates. The project was designed with three phases, according to the documents. The first involved research and branding in March and April. The second was identified as a 'launch phase' known as "seek and destroy," running from April 16 through to June 30.... The third phase, to run 'July 1st 2019 to TBD' was called the 'full steam ahead phase,' where the team would 'push Maxime Bernier and the PCC off their messages — forcing them, instead, to defend instances of hate speech and sympathy for racism.'

"Portions of a WhatsApp Chatroom set up by Daisy for Project Cactus and shared with CBC News show Daisy employees workshopping tweets critical of PPC candidates or supporters before asking Kinsella's approval. The tweets were then published on STAMP Out Hate, a Twitter account set up April 24 for an existing anti-racism nonprofit run by Daisy...

"In the documents seen by CBC News, drafted prior to the launch, STAMP is described as a screen for the project and its client. 'Daisy will create an arm's-length organization that cannot be linked to the client or any participating organization ... to shine a light on the prejudice and hate that is associated with the PPC,' a Daisy consultant writes....

"The STAMP Out Hate account lambasted the PPC, its candidates and its supporters right up until June 29, a day before new election rules regarding third-party advertisers came into effect. The account has since stopped attacking Bernier's party but has continued to tweet anti-racist messages. There is no indication whether any further work was done after June 29."

Read more: https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/project-cactus-maxime-bernier-1.5327555
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Protesters harass PPC event-goers in Hamilton

Woman with walker, called 'Nazi scum' by protesters at Bernier event, speaks out | CBC News - Dan Tekerna:

October 2, 2019 - "Dorothy Marston says it was curiosity about Maxime Bernier's platform that brought her to Mohawk College in Hamilton on Sunday, but when she tried to get inside the venue where he was speaking, she and her husband found their way blocked by a line of protesters.

"The row of people standing between the 81-year-old using a walker and the political fundraiser had their faces covered. Some shouted 'Nazi scum off our streets as she tried to pass and, Marston says, one person intentionally put a foot in front of her wheel, forcing her to stop.

"'They were in a lineup … and treating me like I'm a criminal,' she said during an interview at the Hamilton-area retirement residence where she lives. 'If I moved, they moved and they would not allow me through. They were hollering "Nazi" and "racist" and all this nonsense. It was more than nonsense, it was frightening in my country.'

"The showdown between the senior and the wall of protesters was captured in pictures and video that have been widely shared on social media, especially by People's Party of Canada (PPC) supporters decrying 'Antifa' — anti-fascist protesters — for their actions....

"That confrontation was just one of many outside the PPC event as people attempting to attend were met with a large group of protesters condemning the event with signs calling for immigrant rights and denouncing those heading inside. Four people were arrested for 'breach of peace' before being released without conditions, according to Hamilton police, who say more arrests are possible.

"Investigators specifically pointed to the video of the protesters yelling at Marston, saying while officers didn't witness the initial confrontation once police saw what was happening they got involved and helped the couple into the building.... Marston's husband, Brian, said he went and got the police after one of the people blocking the couple's way intentionally walked into him as he was trying to free the wheel of his wife's walker. Once police showed up, the protesters disappeared and they were able to make it inside."

Read more: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamilton/dorothy-marston-bernier-protest-mohawk-1.5305661
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Minor parties marginalized in Canadian election

They might never win an election — so what keeps a fringe party alive? - National | Globalnews.ca - Rachel Browne:

October 14, 2019 - "Four rescue cats roam the offices of the Animal Protection Party of Canada ... one of more than a dozen registered political parties in Canada running this election against the established parties like the Liberals, Conservatives and the NDP. But the odds are stacked against them and they likely won’t win. Some have been around for more than 30 years and have never come close to winning a single seat....

"There are currently 21 federal political parties registered with Elections Canada — the highest number ever. Eight became registered this year in time for the election, including the more well-known People’s Party of Canada (PPC), and other much smaller ones such as the Stop Climate Change party and Canada’s Fourth Front. The emergence of the far-right National Citizens Alliance of Canada and the Canadian Nationalist Party, both of which became registered this year, has prompted criticism from anti-hate groups who say this points to the problems with letting anyone register a federal party, regardless of their ideology....

"The PPC, led by former Conservative MP Maxime Bernier, calls itself the fastest-growing new political party in Canada with more than 300 candidates running in the 338 federal ridings in just a year since it was founded. Bernier also got himself into the federal leaders’ debates, after initially being rejected, due to the high number of candidates running and after successfully arguing that at least more than one had a reasonable chance of winning.

"Coreen Corcoran, president of the Libertarian Party of Canada who is running in the Ottawa-Centre riding last held by Liberal MP Catherine McKenna, said the popularity and ideals of the PPC resulted in the loss of many potential candidates for her party. 'A couple years ago, our plan was to run 388 [candidates] in this year’s election,' she said in an interview. 'Then the PPC came on board. They had a direct hit on our party, absolutely a direct hit. Because Maxime Bernier was, to many libertarians, a libertarian guy.' Corcoran said that the draw of Bernier coupled with the way his ideas encompassed some libertarian values made it appealing to a lot of those who had previously allied themselves with her party.

"She added that this election will be important in determining the future of her party, which is running a couple dozen candidates this year on a platform that champions a 'free market economy where entrepreneurs and employees can flourish.' A lot depends on the success of the PPC. 'If they do well, then it may hurt us again. If they don’t do well, I think it could end up helping us,' Corcoran said. 'It could have people coming back to us, people finding us. Who knows.'

"But the growth and momentum seen by the PPC is rare for a new party..... A significant barrier for smaller parties is Canada’s first-past-the-post (FPTP) electoral regime, in which the candidate who gets the highest number of votes wins the right to represent that riding in the House of Commons. But candidates do not need an absolute majority — more than 50 per cent of votes — in order to win. FPTP can also encourage strategic voting, where voters may cast a ballot for the candidate who is more likely to defeat another candidate they dislike, rather than cast a ballot for the candidate they would actually prefer....

"As for the potential to end up with a seat in the House of Commons, Carleton University political science professor Jon Pammett said the Green Party can serve as a model. Though the Green Party was registered in 1984, leader Elizabeth May secured the party’s first seat nearly 30 years later in 2011. Paul Manly secured its second seat in May, along with significant gains made by the party’s provincial counterparts.... Pammett added that ideologies held by the parties like the Greens can also be taken up by the bigger parties ... depending on how popular they are among voters."

Read more: https://globalnews.ca/news/6016479/federal-election-fringe-parties/
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Balfour backs Bernier in Haliburton

Balfour backs Bernier, runs for PPC - Chad Ingram, Haliburton Echo:

"September 17, 2019 - "Gene Balfour says his decision to run for the People’s Party of Canada in October’s federal election has a lot to do with the party’s leader, former Conservative cabinet minister Maxime Bernier.

"Balfour’s name may be familiar, as he ran in Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock for the Ontario Libertarian Party during the 2018 provincial election. This will actually be Balfour’s seventh run in the political realm, having run as a Libertarian candidate five times [at] the provincial and once previously at the federal level in 2015.


"'I was fully planning to run for the Libertarian Party of Canada,' he says. However, Balfour was in attendance at a Libertarian conference, “and the night before the conference kicked off, I met Maxime Bernier.' 'It seemed to me that Maxime Bernier was very much like me,” Balfour says. “He was a Libertarian conservative.'

"Bernier lost the bid for the Conservative Party of Canada leadership to Andrew Scheer in 2017, and quit the party in August of 2018, vowing to start his own party [s]aying he would run a candidate in all of the country’s 338 ridings.... 'I’ve never seen a leader like this in my life,' Balfour says. 'Here’s a man who goes from zero and he’s got 320 candidates registered. Who does that?'

"Balfour is a retired professional recruiter who worked in the IT industry and resides in Fenelon Falls. He promotes libertarian philosophies such as personal freedoms, fewer regulations, less taxation and smaller government....

"Balfour says that while knocking on people’s doors, 'the first thing they’re going to ask you about it is immigration. They feel the Liberals, they’re looking after other people, they’re not looking after Canadians.' 'We can’t help our veterans,' Balfour says, adding that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau seems to have money to give other nations for climate change initiatives. 'There’s a lot of anger out there against Justin.'

"On climate change, Balfour is opposed to any form of carbon pricing or carbon taxation. He says there are essentially two things any government can do. The first is pass legislation.
'The other thing they can do is ... throw money at the cause.' Balfour says the issue of climate change is too complex and far-reaching to be solved in this manner....

"In terms of himself, 'I have a background in economics,' Balfour says. 'All politicians must, in my view, look through the lens of economics.'

Read more: http://www.haliburtonecho.ca/balfour-backs-bernier-runs-for-ppc

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Bernier makes it into leaders' debates

Maxime Bernier invited to participate in official commission debates | CBC News - Aaron Wherry:

September 16, 2019 - "The official Leaders' Debates Commission has decided to invite Maxime Bernier, leader of the People's Party of Canada, to participate in the English and French debates that will be televised next month. 'You have satisfied me that you intend to field candidates in 90 per cent of ridings and, based on recent political context, public opinion polls and previous general election results, I consider that more than one candidate of your party has a legitimate chance to be elected,' David Johnston, the former governor general who leads the commission, wrote to Bernier on Monday.

"Bernier was not initially included among the leaders invited to participate in the debates. Instead, he was asked to provide more information as the commission considered his case.

"'Canadians will be able to see all the options before voting the 21st of October. And it is important,' Bernier told supporters at a meeting in Saint John, N.B. 'I must say to Mr. Johnston that he took the right decision for the future of our country....'

"'I think it's wrong to give Mr. Bernier the platform to spread his hateful and divisive message," NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said during a campaign stop in Montreal....

"'It's no big surprise that Justin Trudeau's hand-picked debate panel used a Liberal-friendly pollster who attacks Andrew Scheer to ultimately justify Mr. Bernier's attendance at the debate,' said Daniel Schow, press secretary to the Conservative leader — apparently referring to Frank Graves of Ekos....

"The commission was charged with considering three criteria as it decided on a final list of debate participants: whether a party is represented in the House of Commons by an MP who was elected as a member of that party; whether a party is planning to run candidates in at least 90 per cent of ridings; and whether a party has a "legitimate chance" of electing more than one MP. To be included in the debates, a party must satisfy at least two of those criteria.

"Bernier and the People's Party have nominated candidates for more than 90 per cent of the country's 338 ridings, but the party has not yet elected an MP under its banner (Bernier was elected as a Conservative MP in 2015). That left the commission to decide whether the People's Party had a 'legitimate chance' of electing multiple MPs this fall....

"In addition to Bernier's riding of Beauce, the commission reviewed opinion polling results for the Ontario ridings of Nipissing-Timiskaming, Etobicoke North and Pickering-Uxbridge, and the Manitoba riding of Charleswood-St.-James-Assiniboia-Headingley. The results of those riding-level polls, conducted for the commission by Ekos, showed that between 24.5 per cent and 34.1 per cent of respondents said it was 'possible' that they would vote for the People's Party candidate."

Read more: https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/maxime-bernier-debates-commission-election-1.5285162
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People's Party loses a candidate

B.C. candidate expelled from PPC asks Maxime Bernier to denounce racism | Globalnews.ca:

September 11, 2019 - "Brian Misera was the PPC candidate for Coquitlam-Port Coquitlam until Wednesday, when he received an email explaining that his status as an approved candidate has been revoked. His name no longer appears on the party’s website, which no longer links to his Twitter and Facebook profiles.

"Misera tells Global News the email came as a shock, and believes it was sent after he called out Bernier and the party for not disavowing the support of racists and far-right groups. He says he sent an email to Bernier directly, asking him to 'please do more to help us disassociate from far-right groups that really have no place in our society.' 'I wanted him to do more to make it very, very clear that we don’t represent them, we don’t want their support,” he said.

"Soon afterwards, he says he received the email from the party, which Misera shared with Global News. 'You will not be allowed to participate further in the electoral process as the PPC Candidate for Coquitlam-Port Coquitlam,' the email reads. 'We hope you will continue to support the People’s Party of Canada.'

"Misera, who has a business degree from Simon Fraser University, says he ... supported Bernier’s platform and ideas.... But he says he regularly heard from people on the campaign trail who called him a 'Nazi' and 'racist' when they found out he was a PPC candidate. He received similar comments after becoming more active on social media, posting videos of his time meeting with voters. He became further troubled after seeing people with ties to far-right groups and ideologies either express support for the party or become members themselves, to which commenters also alerted him....

"After following up on the comments and doing his own research, Misera said he wanted to ensure the party he was running for didn’t support people with views to which he says he’s very much opposed....

"In an email to Global News, PPC executive director Johanne Mennie said Misera’s candidacy was revoked after he admitted to acting as his own financial agent, a violation of Elections Canada rules. Misera says that’s not true, arguing he doesn’t have any team at all to help him collect donations.... Further questions to the PPC, including why those issues weren’t addressed before Misera was acclaimed as the candidate for the riding, have not been answered. The party has also not responded to whether Bernier received a message from Misera, or if the party leader has a response to Misera’s criticisms.

"[I]n Edmonton in July ... Bernier said people who don’t share the PPC’s values aren’t welcome. 'People who are racist and anti-Semitic, they’re not welcome in our party,' he said. Also in July, five Winnipeg PPC members left the party over allegations the federal party is harbouring racists, anti-Semites and conspiracy theorists."

Read more: https://globalnews.ca/news/5897441/bc-ppc-candidate-expelled/
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BC Libertarian welcomes PPC competition

Burnaby Libertarian sees Bernier's People's Party as allies, not a threat | Burnaby Now - Dustin Godfrey:

September 15, 2019 - "New Westminster-Burnaby’s Libertarian Party candidate says there are no existential questions for his party with a competing libertarian-leaning brand with broad coverage in the upcoming election. Neeraj Murarka, New West's B.C. Libertarian Party candidate 2017 and B.C. director of the federal Libertarian Party, is replacing Rex Brocki in New West-Burnaby, with Brocki set to run up against NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh in Burnaby South under the Libertarian banner.

"Brocki tallied 2.6 per cent of the vote in New West-Burnaby in 2015, which Murarka admitted will be a challenge to meet.... His own name recognition won’t be the only challenge to the Libertarians in New West-Burnaby, though. The People’s Party of Canada, run by former Conservative Party leadership contender Maxime Bernier, has received significant press coverage in the year since its September 2018 formation. That’s particularly true, given the PPC hasn’t even breached the five per cent mark in either CBC’s poll tracker or fellow poll aggregate 338Canada since the party’s creation.

"That name recognition could steal what little sway the Libertarians wield. But although the Libertarians considered a merger with the PPC last year, Murarka said the party doesn’t have any question about where it stands with a competing libertarian brand in the mix.

"Murarka called the People’s Party a more 'practical' rendition of his own party. Where the PPC could conceivably snag a seat or two in October, Murarka sees his party as the more principled libertarian brand. 'They’re basically doing whatever is necessary to get into office,' Murarka said.

"While he said the PPC concedes parts of a libertarian platform to get into office, Murarka says the party could push libertarian ideals into the mainstream.... 'If they manage to disrupt things, just manage to get a seat, I would be, honestly, very happy,' Murarka said. I don’t see them as the enemy; I’m not going to vote for them because I’m running, myself. But I think that both of our parties are kind of on the same level'....

"Murarka said his main issue this election is getting more voter involvement in the choices of government – more referendums and more decentralized control of Parliament. 'I want ,,, the voters to get to make those decisions, whether it relates to taxes, foreign policy, foreign intervention, military, spending, welfare – all those things.'”

Read more: https://www.burnabynow.com/federal-election-2019/burnaby-libertarian-sees-bernier-s-people-s-party-as-allies-not-a-threat-1.23946692
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