(OTTAWA) The leader of the People’s Party of Canada, Maxime Bernier, seems ready to announce his candidacy in an upcoming by-election for a federal seat in Manitoba.
A news release says Bernier, a former Harper cabinet minister who left the Conservative caucus in 2018 to found the party, will make an important announcement about the Portage-Lisgar riding by-election on Friday.
The by-election was prompted by longtime MP Candice Bergen, who served as interim Conservative leader last year and resigned in February.
Bernier has previously said he plans to run for the seat, in part because it’s in a rural area with a large French-speaking community.
The People’s Party of Canada candidate for the 2021 election lost to Mme Bergen, but still got 22% of the vote.
Maxime Bernier did not confirm his potential candidacy during an interview, but indicated that he wanted to become an MP again — and that the people of Portage will be able to write history.
“I can tell you that I believe the people of Portage, or those other ridings where there’s a byelection, will have the opportunity to make history,” he said.
“We are the only real conservative political party with common sense policies,” he added.
Mr. Bernier said he wanted to give more visibility to his right-wing party and participate in a debate of federal leaders during the next federal election campaign.
The former MP served for nine years in Parliament and held several positions in Stephen Harper’s Conservative government, including as head of the Departments of Industry and Foreign Affairs.
He quit the Conservative Party in 2018, a year after losing the party leadership as a close runner-up to Andrew Scheer.
Bernier ran in his former seat of Beauce, Que., in the 2019 and 2021 elections under the purple banner of the People’s Party of Canada. Each time, he lost to a Conservative Party candidate.
He spoke out against lockdowns and other restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic and was arrested in Manitoba for violating public health orders in 2021.