By Tyler Marr

People’s Party of Canada nears establishing local administration for federal riding

Nov 5, 2018 | 4:57 PM

The People’s Party of Canada is working to grow its base in the province.

It recently hosted a public meeting in Meadow Lake for the riding of Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River. 

The party was started by Maxime Bernier after he resigned from the Conservative Party this summer. Though not yet an official party, Bernier filed for official party status in mid-October.

Field organizer for Central and North Saskatchewan Ethan Erkiletian said the party continues to establish itself in the province by assembling electoral district associations (EDA) and hosting public information sessions as it aims to have all 14 ridings organized with a local administration or an EDA by mid-December. Erkiletian said an EDA should be in place for Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River in the coming weeks.

Public response, he said, is strong in both urban and rural ridings, with growing energy among constituents wanting to build up party machinery on the ground. The party’s stated goal is to have an EDA in all 338 ridings in Canada and to run candidates in every riding in the 2019 federal election.

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“We are going to be doing our best to help the party nationally meet that goal and I don’t see any reason that we will not be able to,” he said. 

Travelling across Saskatchewan, Erkiletian said people turning out to the meetings are not just disaffected conservatives, like himself, but New Democrats, Liberals, Green Party members, libertarians and even Western separatists.

“They all seem to tell me what ties their common interest together are two things … this party is speaking about contentious issues other parties are either too afraid to talk about,” he said. “or they are satisfied they see a political figure speaking with the courage of conviction.”

He said the party’s appeal is “universal” and “much more substantial than some fringe numbers.”

Erkiletian said nationally, the party has signed up well over 31,000 members at last count weighed proportionally across Canada.

tyler.marr@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @JournoMarr