By Fareed Khan
On the day the federal election was called, the far right People’s Party of Canada (PPC), led by former Conservative Maxime Bernier, was polling at 3.3 per cent, below the Green Party. A month later, the PPC has surged past the Greens, and as of September 18th it is polling at 7.3 per cent, placing it fourth nationally for voter preference.
If voter turnout in this election is the same or surpasses that from 2019 it means that more than 1.34 million Canadian voters are thinking of casting their ballot for a party that would undo measures to curb hate speech and fight racism, reverse climate change initiatives, whose leader has refused to get a Covid vaccine and supports Covid conspiracy theorists, is seen as anti-science, anti-immigrant, anti-refugee, has promoted homophobic and anti-trans messaging, and is okay with having extremist right-wing and white supremacist voters among its supporters. This ideological and policy direction of the PPC makes it no different than the “Make America Great Again” (MAGA) cult of Donald Trump in the US.
Given Bernier’s embrace of far right ideology, the Conservative Party seemingly dodged a bullet when he lost the leadership of that party to Andrew Scheer in 2017. However, if current polling trends hold Bernier could be back in the House of Commons in the next Parliament with a level of voter support that the Green Party has only managed to achieve once (in the 2019 election). Even if Bernier does not win his seat, gaining the support of over 1.3 million voters will give him a platform and financial resources that could make him a bigger threat to Canadian political discourse in the future than he and his party already are.
This surge in support for the PPC is a potentially dangerous trend that has not received the media coverage or analysis it should since the start of the election. If there are well over a million Canadians thinking about voting for a political party rooted in far-right ideology, that is reminiscent of the worst elements of Donald Trump’s MAGA extremists, then Canadians should be worried and prepared to see a level of political ugliness in our future similar to what we have witnessed from Trump supporters in the US.
Canadians have already seen a very disturbing side of politics in this election with PPC supporters showing up at campaign stops for Justin Trudeau to shout racist and misogynistic obscenities at him, and in one instance assault him by throwing gravel at him. Within their midst have been known white supremacists who the PPC has not disavowed. This should not be surprising considering that Bernier expelled a candidate from the party during the 2019 election for calling on him to denounce white supremacy and racism.
Bernier’s affinity for far right (and frankly fascist) ideology is a draw to the anti-vax crowd, white supremacists, Islamophobes, anti-Semites and other hateful elements in society. If a PPC candidate were to be elected on Monday it would be like having a neo-Nazi sitting in Parliament and showing a middle finger to Canadian soldiers who fought and died to defeat Nazism in World War 2.
To get a sense of the hateful nature of the PPC, one only needs to look at a media release put out by them last week where they opposed Bill C-16 – an amendment to prohibit discrimination based on gender identity and gender expression – and parts of C-6 – an amendment to outlaw activities related to conversion therapy. In public statements the PPC made outrageous and bigoted statements conflating transgender identity with homosexuality by claiming, “Boys and girls suffering from gender dysphoria are being encouraged to start transitioning, when most of them would grow up to become healthy gays and lesbians.”
The latest polls show that the PPC has more than tripled its support from what it received in the 2019 election. If political developments in the US over the last decade are any indication, this evolution should be considered a danger to political and social stability in Canada, and Canadians need to be worried if we want to avoid falling down the same black hole that American politics has fallen into during and after the Trump era.
The danger posed by the PPC should not be underestimated given its embrace of the most extreme right wing elements of society. Even if the party does not win a seat the support of almost 1.4 million Canadians would give this anti-science, homophobic, white supremacist and racism friendly party a level of legitimacy that would be detrimental to Canada’s political culture. Should their polling numbers translate into votes on Election Day then Canadians who believe in a diverse, accepting and progressive society with a progressive political culture had better get prepared for political discourse in this country that is more like the distasteful and hostile politics that we have witnessed in the US over the past several years. All signs point to Trump style populist politics becoming a reality in Canada. How much prominence it will have and how long it will be a factor in Canadian politics remains to be seen.
© 2021 The View From Here. © 2021 Fareed Khan. All Rights Reserved
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