 |
| Maxime Bernier has quit the Conservative Party of Canada, months after losing its leadership race. Getty Images |
A new political party in Canada hopes to capitalise on the global rise of populism during this autumn’s election. But can the People’s Party get people’s attention?
Around the world, voters have chosen what political scientists call “populism” — a rejection of the established order and so-called “elites”.
It happened in the US with Donald Trump, and in Brazil with Jair Bolsonaro. Some would argue that Brexit, and the triumph of Boris Johnson during the Conservative leadership race, would also fit the definition.
On the left, Bernie Sanders has been labelled populist for shaking up the old guard in the Democratic Party.
While the traditional political order has undergone an enormous upheaval around the globe, Canada has been something of a steady eddy since the election of Justin Trudeau in 2015.
But a new political party in Canada hopes to change that.
The People’s Party of Canada was formed last summer, when MP Maxime Bernier quit the Conservative Party after a fallout over statements he made online about immigration and multiculturalism.
“I have come to realise over the past year that this party is too intellectually and morally corrupt to be reformed,” Mr Bernier said at the time.
Who is Maxime Bernier?
Mr Bernier was elected to parliament in 2006 for the district of Beauce, Quebec — the same district once held by his father Gilles Bernier, a radio DJ-turned politician.
Back then, Mr Bernier made waves for himself as a “freethinker” not afraid to challenge some of the Conservative Party’s sacred cows, like supply management in the dairy industry. The long-running scheme provides dairy farmers with a guaranteed price for milk, but runs counter to Mr Bernier’s small-government ideals.
“It was clear he was not afraid to break rank with the Conservatives on occasion — he was a bit of a maverick,” says Martin Croteau, a reporter for La Presse who covered Mr Bernier for several years.
It made him a hero in Canada’s libertarian west.
Source: Robin Levinson-King | BBC News
No comments:
Post a Comment