PPC leader ‘looking forward to the future’ with eye on possible Portage—Lisgar bid By: Chris Kitching Posted: 6:28 PM CDT Wednesday, May. 10, 2023

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People’s Party of Canada leader Maxime Bernier was tight-lipped Wednesday on speculation he is entering the Portage—Lisgar byelection, promising an “important” announcement when he visits the riding Friday.

Montreal-based Bernier, who is facing COVID-19 pandemic-related charges in Manitoba, previously hinted he may run for the seat vacated this year by former Conservative Party MP and interim leader Candice Bergen.

“I cannot confirm anything, but I’m looking forward to the future,” he told the Free Press in a phone interview. “The announcement will be in line with the byelection that is coming.”

Bernier is scheduled to appear Friday morning alongside supporters of the far-right party at a hotel and conference centre in Portage la Prairie.

The 60-year-old will attend court in Winnipeg on May 16 for a trial, after being charged with breaching Manitoba’s pandemic restrictions at a rally against such mandates in June 2021.

If he enters the byelection as the PPC candidate, he would be the main challenger to Conservative nominee and newcomer Branden Leslie.

The south Manitoba riding has been held by the Tories and their predecessors since it was created in 1997.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has until Aug. 27 to announce a date for the byelection to replace Bergen, who resigned in February.

Bernier, a former Conservative cabinet minister who formed the PPC in 2018, expects the call in June.

“I cannot confirm anything, but I’m looking forward to the future. The announcement will be in line with the byelection that is coming.”–Maxime Bernier

Regardless of whether he is the candidate, Bernier is hoping his party can build on the surge it experienced — at the expense of Tory support — in Portage—Lisgar in the 2021 federal election.

The PPC, which does not have a seat in the House of Commons, was buoyed by pockets of resistance to COVID-19 lockdowns and restrictions.

Bernier believes there is still strong support for the party, despite those public health orders being in the rear-view mirror.

He said the PPC will campaign on his opposition to late-term abortions and other “social issues” in Portage—Lisgar.

“I don’t think that COVID-19 will be a subject. That being said, in Portage, it’s a real conservative values riding,” said Bernier. “I strongly believe we can do better than we did in the last election in Portage.”

Last month, Leslie defeated three challengers, including former Morden-Winkler MLA Cameron Friesen, to win the Tory nomination.

Leslie said he will campaign on Conservative pledges to scrap the carbon tax, repeal Liberal gun legislation and increase support for farmers, no matter who he faces in the byelection.

“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,” Leslie wrote in an email to the Free Press.

“I’m going to focus on being the best representative for the community I grew up in and the people I’ve known my whole life.”

Elections Canada rules do not prohibit candidates from running in a constituency they do not live in.

Bernier indicated he would move if he were to win a seat in a district in rural Manitoba or elsewhere. He said it’s a conversation he’s already had with his wife.

Royce Koop, a professor of political studies at the University of Manitoba, said the PPC leader shouldn’t expect to “parachute in” and win a constituency where he doesn’t have connections.

“It’s just naive. I don’t think it will go anywhere,” he said, adding Portage—Lisgar has a long tradition with the Conservatives and Leslie is established in the area.

Leslie grew up on a farm near Portage, and served as Bergen’s campaign manager in the 2019 election.

Koop expressed doubts over the PPC’s ability to replicate or top its showing in Portage—Lisgar in 2021, when some of its communities were hotbeds for opposition to COVID-19 public health orders.

“It was really the COVID issues that put some wind in the party’s sails, and they don’t have that now.”

Koop noted the Conservatives have since chosen a new leader, Pierre Poilievre, who appeals to supporters who are more toward the right, making them less likely to consider an alternative such as the People’s Party.

Koop suggested Bernier would be better off running in the Quebec riding of Beauce. Bernier held that seat from 2006 to 2019. He finished second to the Conservatives in the 2019 and 2021 elections.

In past interviews, he identified Portage—Lisgar and Timmins—James Bay (Ontario) as possible destinations for his next run at a federal seat.

“In these two ridings, we did very well at the last election,” Bernier said Wednesday.

The PPC siphoned Tory support in 2019, when candidate Solomon Wiebe placed second (21 per cent) behind Bergen (52 per cent).

The People’s Party’s 18 per cent improvement over the pre-pandemic 2019 election corresponded with Bergen’s support falling by 18 per cent.

Portage—Lisgar and Provencher were the only constituencies in Canada where the PPC tallied more than 15 per cent of votes.

Some of its strongest support was at polling stations in areas where COVID-19 vaccine uptake was low, including the rural municipalities of Rhineland and Stanley.

The Liberals have not yet nominated a candidate for the byelection.

The NDP did not respond to a request for comment.

Winkler, Portage la Prairie, Morden and Long Plain First Nation are among the largest communities in Portage—Lisgar.

Trudeau also has until June 11 to call a byelection in Winnipeg South Centre. The seat has been vacant since the death of Liberal MP Jim Carr in December.

chris.kitching@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @chriskitching