Poilievre in Manitoba Ahead of Byelection, Shoring Up Support Against Bernier

Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre speaks to media in Winnipeg on June 2, 2023. (The Canadian Press/John Woods)

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre went after People’s Party of Canada Leader Maxime Bernier while visiting Manitoba on June 2 as a federal byelection is set to be held in Portage-Lisgar later this month.

Bernier has registered as a candidate in the Manitoba riding for the June 19 byelection. The riding was previously held by former interim Conservative leader Candice Bergen, who resigned her seat in February.

Bergen’s former campaign manager, Branden Leslie, is running to represent the riding for the Conservatives, who have won the riding with large margins in past elections.

People's Party of Canada Leader Maxime Bernier leaves a protest against COVID-19 restrictions in Peterborough, Ont., on April 24, 2021. (The Canadian Press/Fred Thornhill)

The Conservatives and the People’s Party of Canada (PPC) are competing to win the conservative vote in the byelection.

“Only the Conservative Party will bring home lower prices by axing the carbon tax. Only Conservatives will bring home powerful paycheques with lower taxes to reward hard work. Only conservatives will protect farmers, hunters, and licensed sports shooters against the attacks of Justin Trudeau,” Poilievre told reporters.

He added that splitting the vote in future elections would mean ending up “with a Liberal government.”

Bernier in turn said Poilievre’s comments demonstrate he’s “terrified” of having a “true conservative opponent” running in Portage-Lisgar.

“He can’t attack me on PPC principles and policies because he knows they’re very popular among his base. All he can do is repeat the nonsense about ’splitting the vote,' or invent stuff about me being woke that nobody will believe,” Bernier said in an interview.

Bernier lost his seat in Quebec in the 2019 federal election after he left the Conservative Party to start his own party in 2018. The PPC didn’t win any seats in the 2019 and 2021 elections, but obtained its best results in Portage-Lisgar in 2021 with a little over 20 percent of the vote, coming in second after Conservative candidate Bergen, who received over 50 percent.

To shore up the vote ahead of the byelection, Poilievre will be hosting a “special meet and greet” rally on the evening of June 2 in Winkler, a small city south of Winnipeg.

Trading Barbs

Taking jabs at Bernier, Poilievre said he’s “just like Justin Trudeau,” with his support for free trade with China and stance on drug policy.

“Both of them supported woke policies in the House of Commons even though they put on a big act outside of the House of Commons,” he said.

Bernier has also attacked Poilievre for supporting “woke” policies in the House of Commons—citing as examples his vote to pass Bill C-4 that prohibited conversion therapy in Canada, and characterizing his stance on abortion, climate change policies, and immigration as weak.

Poilievre previously defined the term “woke” to mean dividing people “by race, by gender, by ethnicity, by religion, by vaccine status.”

“Pierre [Poilievre] clearly doesn’t understand what woke means. To him it’s just another buzzword or slogan he can use for clicks and views on social media,” Bernier said. “I am focused on the here and now, the issues affecting our country today, and I will continue to do so as the next MP for Portage-Lisgar.”

Bernier previously spoke favourably of strengthening ties with China, including through concluding a free trade deal with the country in 2017 when he was a Conservative MP. In 2016, Bernier also listed China along the countries that he said were able to lift millions of people out of poverty through “less government and more freedom,” which he said Canada had before Trudeau became prime minister.

Bernier has changed his tone on the Chinese regime since then, however, calling China in 2022, “the biggest threat to our security,“ and blaming Western leaders for having ”horribly managed relations with Russia and pushed Russians in the arms of the Chinese.”

The Canadian Press contributed to this report.