Maxime Bernier, western separatist party both denied participation in official federal debates

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This article was published 21/08/2021 (1477 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

OTTAWA–Maxime Bernier will not be on the stage when federal political leaders gather for the two official election debates next month.

Bernier’s People’s Party of Canada failed to garner enough support in national polls to secure a spot for the two official debates, scheduled for Sept. 8 and 9 in Gatineau.

In order to participate in the debates — organized by an independent commission led by former Governor General David Johnston — a leader must represent a party that had at least one elected MP in the previous Parliament, or received at least four per cent of the popular vote in the previous election.

If those conditions aren’t met, the leader’s party must receive at least four per cent support in an average of national polls taken five days after the election is called.

According to the debates commission, an average of nine recent national polls put PPC support at 3.27 per cent.

The upstart Maverick Party, advocating for the secession of western provinces, received 0.7 per cent support among the two polls considered by the commission. The party’s leader, former Conservative cabinet minister Jay Hill, will also be barred from the official debates.

Bernier started the PPC after an acrimonious departure from the Conservative party, which he came very close to leading in 2017 before Andrew Scheer’s upset victory.

The party, running to the right of the Conservatives, failed to win a single seat in the 2019 election —including Bernier’s former riding of Beauce, a seat he’s now trying to win back. The party has courted Canada’s far-right fringe, and Bernier has campaigned against public health restrictions imposed by governments during the pandemic. He’s also refused to get a COVID-19 vaccine.

Winnipeg Free Press | Newsletter

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“Before, when I was talking about freedom, people would say, ‘Maxime, what do you mean, freedom? … And now, they know. They have a big example in front of them every day of their life,” Bernier told the Star in an interview Friday.

Bernier is also not expected to attend the first unofficial French language debate, hosted by broadcaster TVA on Sept. 2.