People’s Party of Canada founder and leader Maxime Bernier will be in Montreal on Sunday to introduce the party’s candidate in the newly restructured federal riding of Outremont.
Bernier will speak at a ceremony at 4:00 p.m. on behalf of James Seale, a former member of the Canadian Armed Forces who is running in the Feb. 25 federal by-election.
Seale served in the military for 30 years and was stationed in Israel, Germany, Haiti and Bosnia-Herzegovina. He also spent two years as the Director of Internal Control at the Canadian Economic Development Agency for the Regions of Quebec.
Seale faces a tough battle in Outremont. In 2015, former NDP leader Thomas Mulcair won the riding with 44 per cent of the vote, with Liberal Rachel Bendayan coming in second with 33 per cent.
Bernier, the MP for Beauce, founded the party after a public split with the Conservatives in which he strongly criticized the leadership of Andrew Scheer last year.
Party spokesperson Martin Masse said the PPC has raised nearly $1 million since the end of August.
A poll released in late December indicated the PPC would garner 1.5 per cent of the vote across Canada if an election were immediately called.
On Saturday, Bernier gave a speech to the Freedom Conservative Party of Alberta in Calgary. In his address, Bernier said Canada was treating Alberta unfairly in the matters of oil pipeline projects and the equalization payment system.
Seale's opponents will include Bendayan for the Liberals, international development specialist Julia Sanchez for the NDP, Jasmine Louras for the Conservative Party and artist Michel Duchesne for the Bloc Quebecois.
