COCHRANE— Over 200 people made a show of support for the People’s Party of Canada leader Maxime Bernier’s campaign stop with Banff-Airdrie riding candidate Nadine Wellwood at the Lions Event Centre on Monday (Aug. 30).
The town hall marked Bernier’s first stop in Alberta on his self-dubbed “Mad Max Tour” across Canada with the upcoming federal election on Sept. 20. The party leader made speeches to the crowd along with Wellwood, both of them leaving time for and encouraging questions from attendees.
Bernier said his party's platform has not changed since the 2019 election, except that he plans to balance the budget within four years instead of two blaming COVID-19 expenditures.
"We are running on the same platform that we ran in 2019, and that will be the next one in 2025 because we are doing politics differently based on principles and strong conservative values," he said.
Vocal in his distaste for the government’s handling of COVID-19, Bernier said one of their first moves if the party gains power will be to cut spending related to the virus including the $1 billion that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has pledged to help impose vaccine passports. The party will also seek to fire Canada’s Chief Public Health Officer Theresa Tam and will no longer follow advice from the World Health Organization.
“A real expert will come to power in commission, and take the truth based on facts and like that would be able to inform the population about the reality of COVID-19. Do you want more and more of the same Draconian restrictions on your freedoms? Or do you want to go back to your life?" he asked the crowd.
“I can tell you that I feel that we have a momentum,” Bernier said. “When tyranny becomes the law, revolution becomes our duty.”
The People’s Party of Canada was unable to gain a seat in the 2019 election bringing in only 1.6 per cent of the vote, but the party seems to be picking up steam in parts of Alberta.
The party platform also proposes more provincial independence, withdrawing from the Paris Climate Accords and major changes to federal equalization payments.
Citing that Conservative party leader Erin O’Toole and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau are one in the same and will not help Alberta build pipelines across the country, Bernier vowed that he will find a private buyer for the Trans Mountain Project and create a more streamlined approval process for future pipelines.
Born in Quebec, Bernier said he feels at home in Alberta, believing that he shares many of the same values as Albertans. Wellwood, who resides in Cochrane, said that having Bernier visit the Banff-Airdrie riding re-enforces the People’s Party of Canada’s commitment to Albertans.
"The issues today are really about whether the government chooses to make decisions on our behalf, or whether we're free to make those decisions ourselves," Wellwood said. "I think Max taking the time to come here, especially now more than ever in this riding, just represents his confidence and his faith in Albertans, and he's demonstrating that a little bit maybe in this riding through myself as the candidate."
With 331 candidates, the People’s Party of Canada has more up for election this year than the NDP and the Green Party. Wellwood, who said she was asked to step down from her candidacy, had a clear message about the election for any doubters.
“We have three Albertans to choose from, our incumbent received 71% of the vote — we are a conservative riding,” Wellwood said. “There is no way that we are not sending a conservative, a real one, to Ottawa. Split that three ways, the NDP and the Liberals, 10 and 11 per cent respectively. We’re not sending a liberal, we’re not sending NDP, we’re not sending a Green Party. So, your choice is myself, an Ontarian, or a fake conservative who wears blue, but should be wearing red.”
Conservative Party incumbent Blake Richards will face off against at least eight opponents in the Banff-Airdrie constituency, including David Gamble of the Liberal Party, Sarah Zagoda for the NDP, Tariq Elnaga of the Maverick Party, Nadine Wellwood of the People’s Party of Canada, Aidan Blum for the Green Party and Caroline O’Driscoll, Derek Sloan and Ron Voss who are all running as independents.
Bernier spoke at a similar event in Airdrie later that evening and also made stops in Red Deer, Didsbury, Sylvan Lake and Lacombe on Tuesday (Aug. 31).
