Maxime Bernier’s People’s Party of Canada (PPC) has “wind in its sails” according to spokesperson Martin Masse after a recent poll by Mainstreet Research revealed that the party was polling at 6.6% nationally.
The survey, which was commissioned for iPolitics, shows that the PPC is outpolling both the Bloc Québécois who only has 5.9% of the vote and the Green Party which is only sitting at 3.3% nationally.
“We’ve seen a marked uptick in funding, requests for signs by ordinary citizens, level of organization and activity on the ground since the campaign started a week ago,” Masse told True North.
Mainstreet Research is a Canadian research firm with headquarters in Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal. The company has received flack in the past for incorrectly calling the Calgary mayoral election in 2017.
Last week, the Leaders’ Debates Commission announced that Bernier and the PPC would not be allowed to partake in this year’s federal debate.
According to the Commission’s 2021 requirements, parties must have either one MP in the House of Commons, show that they are polling at a minimum of 4% national support five days before the election call or have received at least 4% of the vote in 2019.
Masse told True North that the latest polls show that the Commission erred in barring the party from the national debates.
“The most recent polls that all put us clearly above the 4% threshold are proof that the Leaders’ Debates Commission made the wrong decision to exclude us, based on outlier results in some polls, including one ridiculous poll by IPSOS that put us at 0.7% support,” said Masse.
“The political and media establishment would prefer to exclude us, ignore us, and pretend that we don’t exist, but they will have egg on their face if our support continues to grow.”
Other polls, including an August 22 survey released by EKOS, seem to also corroborate a surge in PPC support. According to that survey’s results, the PPC is polling at 6.1% and is tied with the Bloc Québécois.
