The People’s Party of Canada (PPC) has candidates for both Richmond Centre and Steveston-Richmond East in the Sept. 20 federal election.
James Hinton is the PPC candidate in Richmond Centre and Jennifer Singh is running in Steveston-Richmond East.
The right wing party, led by former Conservative Maxime Bernier, has never elected an MP despite running candidates in most ridings in the 2019 election.
The PPC claims COVID-19 restrictions are “unconstitutional” and argues for building herd immunity, saying only the vulnerable need to be protected. They want to repeal vaccination passports and vaccine mandates.
Bernier himself is not vaccinated and was arrested for defying public health orders.
The party’s platform also includes reducing the number of refugees coming to Canada. On immigration, the PPC states it shouldn’t “forcibly change the cultural character and social fabric of our country.” The PPC argues the goal of immigration should be to “economically benefit Canadians and Canada as a whole.”
The party platform also advocates for a mixture of private and public health care.
Bernier uses inflammatory language to describe other candidates – such as “fan of terrorist sympathizers” – and has taken shots at the media for not allowing him to take part in the leaders’ debate.
In order for a leader to take part in the debate, their party needs to have at least one MP, received four per cent of the vote in 2019 or be polling at four per cent five days after the election is called. The criteria are decided by the Leaders’ Debate Commission.
