Despite a severe beating served by the conservatives of Pierre Poilievre Monday evening, Maxime Bernier clings and assures his supporters that his party and he are not about to disappear.
• Read also – By-elections: Maxime Bernier far behind in his riding in Manitoba
“In the general elections, we will be even better prepared. Because I can already tell you: we are here to stay!” said the leader and founder of the People’s Party of Canada (PPC).
The by-election in Portage-Lisgar, a rural community in Manitoba, was the perfect opportunity for Maxime Bernier to make a breakthrough and enter Parliament under the banner of the PPC.
Despite a fierce campaign on the ground and strong positions taken on issues dear to social conservatives, the results obtained Monday evening are even worse than those of the last federal elections, during which the questions surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic were still in the foreground.
Facing the Conservative candidate Brendan Leslie, Maxime Bernier obtained only 17.2% of the vote. Mr. Leslie got away with 64.9% of support, more than three times the votes received by Mr. Bernier.
Portage-Lisgar is the riding where the PPC had its best result in the 2021 general election.
“There is a place for us in Canadian politics. Our ideas are shared by many Canadians, even if the establishment ignores them and tries to convince people otherwise,” he continued.
Mr. Bernier had notably argued that the recent forest fires of the last month in Canada were the fault of “green terrorists” and had “nothing to do with climate change”.