PPC Leader Maxime Bernier (left) speaks to James Peters for Balance of Power (Image Credit: CFJC Today)

By James Peters

Election 2019

Bernier says PPC candidate for Kamloops riding coming soon

May 30, 2019 | 10:50 AM

KAMLOOPS — The leader of the fledgling People’s Party of Canada (PPC) says the party should have a candidate in place in Kamloops-Thompson-Cariboo in about one week.

Maxime Bernier toured through the area earlier this month, announcing a slate of Interior candidates. At the time, he said the party was still vetting a potential candidate for the Kamloops area.

“I’m travelling across the country and doing these kind of announcements,” Bernier told CFJC’s Balance of Power. “Our goal as a party is to have 250 candidates up and running before the end of this month. And we’ll have… candidates in every riding before the end of June. So that’s going very well.”

Bernier left the Conservative Party of Canada (CPC) last August, 15 months after losing the CPC leadership race to Andrew Scheer. He founded the PPC three weeks later, saying it will represent “real free market” Canadians.

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The MP from the Quebec riding of Beauce said he is happy with his party’s growth, especially when compared to another party operating on the fringe.

“After the first month, we had 30,000 founding members and now we’re around 40,000 members. If you look at the Green Party, after 35 years they have only 19,000 members. And us, after six months we have 40,000 members. It’s going well,” said Bernier.

“With our membership, we built riding associations all across the country. PPC organization all across the country. Look at the Greens right now, they have only 150 riding associations out of 338 (ridings in Canada).”

The Conservatives, Liberals and NDP already have candidates in place for Kamloops-Thompson-Cariboo. Incumbent MP Cathy McLeod will run again for the CPC, former Kamloops mayor and BC cabinet minister Terry Lake will carry the banner for the governing Liberals, and political newcomer Gina Myhill-Jones has won the nomination for the NDP.

The Green Party is expected to nominate a candidate in late June.