People's Party of Canada (PPC) leader was in Red Deer on Wednesday, a Conservative stronghold, speaking out against late-term abortion and medical assistance in dying — hot-button issues that could siphon votes from the Conservative Party of Canada in the April 28 federal election.
The Western Standard asked Bernier if his advocacy for conservative values could create more harm than good within his movement, causing vote splitting on the political right — potentially costing Conservative seats.
"No, I don't think so," Bernier said at an outdoor event with local PPC candidate Kyla Courte.
"Fighting for what is right is the only thing we must do — that is what we are doing, that is what the People's Party is doing. And you know, we must end the culture of death and start the culture of life in this country."
The PPC has 312 candidates running in the federal election across the 338 electoral districts.
The PPC was cited by CBC as contributing to Conservative Party losses in previous elections due to vote splitting. In the 2019 federal election, the PPC, led by Bernier, ran candidates in 315 of 338 ridings and secured about 1.6% of the national vote.
Analyses suggest this cost the Conservatives up to seven seats, with six going to the Liberals and one to the NDP, as PPC votes in close ridings exceeded the margin of Conservative losses.
For example, in ridings such as Miramichi—Grand Lake and Kitchener—Conestoga, adding half the PPC votes to the Conservative total would have flipped the seats from Liberal to Conservative.
