With two elections on the horizon for the York-Simcoe federal riding in 2019, the nation’s newest political party is looking to make an impact.
The People’s Party of Canada (PPC) held an organizing meeting Thursday in Bradford West Gwillimbury, aiming to put together an executive for its riding association. Only a handful of people had arrived by the time the meeting was set to begin at 7 p.m.
The party, founded by ex-Conservative Party of Canada leadership hopeful Maxime Bernier, pitches itself as the flag-bearer for right-wing ideals in Canada.
“The (Conservative Party) is now more a pragmatic, centrist, party; a big tent, trying to please a lot of people,” said Frank Fronte, a former member of the Conservative Party, who has switched allegiances to the People’s Party. “The People’s Party of Canada is really the only true conservative party in Canada.”
“When you start looking closer, the Conservative Party’s policies are not that much different than the Liberals,” said Derek Harrison, another early supporter of Bernier’s movement. “Really, the PPC is the only option.”
Among Bernier's promises are abolishing Canada's $5-billion foreign aid program, pulling the country out of the Paris Accord, and reducing immigration while at the same time requiring immigrants to adopt "Canadian" and "Western values".
Thursday's meeting was helmed by Fronte and Harrison, who both reside in the neighbouring Simcoe-Grey riding.
Similar meetings have or will be held in all 338 ridings across the country, but with York-Simcoe’s seat currently vacant following the retirement of Peter Van Loan, a candidate could be forced into action well ahead of the October 2019 general election.
Businessman and entrepreneur Scot Davidson won the Conservative Party of Canada nomination for the federal riding of York-Simcoe this fall.
Van Loan is no fan of the new party, recently saying it was “absolutely not” necessary. Fronte wasn’t shocked by Van Loan’s comments.
“There is this inherent fear — like the Reform party had in the early-1990s with the Conservatives — with the proverbial splitting of the right,” Fronte said. “I hear it all the time and my reaction is always the same: I hope we split the vote 95 per cent to five per cent. I hope the PPC takes every true conservative vote in this country.”
One way they hope to spread the word is through social media.
Harrison, an admitted recent entrant into the political spectrum, said he found himself getting involved when he “realized how badly (Prime Minister Justin Trudeau) was screwing up.”
He is doing social media work for the new party’s local ridings, making new contacts across the country daily. The impact of social media, both Harrison and Fronte believe, will be what allows the PPC to achieve significant success in its first election.
One of those likely voters is Cody Murrell, a 23 year old from Mount Albert, who has been following Bernier since the Conservative leadership campaign.
Bernier, to Murrell, is someone who believes in something, unlike Conservative Party Leader Andrew Scheer or the prime minister, who Murrell feels are just pandering.
When the Liberal Party swept to power in 2015, it was the first federal election Murrell could vote in. As “everything is liberal in university,” he was swayed by the Liberals. But since then, he said he has come to realize his personality traits tend to be conservative.
It has been part of a larger awakening for him.
“I wasn’t too educated in Canadian politics, until now.”
The PPC claims to have signed up more than 30,000 people in the eight weeks since Bernier left the Conservative Party. For those who attended Thursday’s meeting, a platform of cutting corporate taxes and foreign aid, potential privatization of Canada Post and the CBC, and a return to the immigration levels as they were under the previous Conservative government is a big reason why.
“Platform-wise, I think hands down, Bernier should win,” Murrell said. “I think it’s better for Canada… He’s the only one who talks about the individual.”
“His platform is so defined and so pro-Canada,” Fronte said. “When you have a strong nation, you can help people internationally. But without a strong nation, you can’t do that.
“There’s certainly a growing movement across the world — maybe it began with Brexit; certainly, people look at (United States President Donald Trump) — in terms of focusing on your country. It seems to be the trend right now and I think Mr. Bernier is capitalizing on that trend.”
Patrick Bales is a freelance journalist. Follow him on Twitter @patrickbales.
