He will make the official announcement on Friday in Portage la Prairie.
Maxime Bernier has been observing this election campaign since the last parliamentary elections in 2021. With the exception of Beauce, we had our best result in Canada with 22% of the votes, remembers Martin Masse, spokesman for the PCP.
“This is also where we held our biggest rally of 2021,” he adds.
Running in this rural and very conservative area of Manitoba is an opportunity to reach out to people who share our party’s values and give them a different choice.
Portage-Lisgar’s post has been vacant since former interim Conservative leader Candice Bergen announced this winter that she is leaving politics.
For Maxime Bernier, running for office in rural Manitoba is one last chance to see if his libertarian and antisanitary message still resonates.
During the last federal election campaign, Maxime Bernier took part in numerous rallies in western Canada.
Photo: The Canadian Press/Jason Franson
For Maxime Bernier, it’s a risky bet, says Frédéric Boily, a professor and associate dean at the University of Alberta’s Saint Jean campus.
He needs media attention now that the pandemic is over. But losing gives him an image of a loser, which isn’t good for him, says Mr. Boily.
The Conservatives have already selected Branden Leslie as their nominee to replace Candice Bergen, whose campaign manager he was in the 2019 and 2021 elections.
The battle between the Conservative Party and the People’s Party could cause both parties to break out in a cold sweat, believes Stephanie Chouinard, associate professor of political science at the Royal Military College, Kingston.
If he fails to outperform his relatively unknown candidate as party leader in 2021, it will signal that his appeal is stretched and his carrots are overcooked, she stresses.