Provincial version of the People’s Party of Canada in ‘exploratory stage’

A group affiliated with the federal People’s Party of Canada (PPC) may be working to form a provincial version in Ontario.

Speculation about a party forming in time for the 2022 Ontario provincial election began with a now-deleted tweet from the “@iMikeofStaff” account Monday morning.

“PPC is launching a provincial party in Ontario! They are gearing up for an election which must be held by June 2, 2022…so if you’re thinking about running, now is the time. Jim Torma is the guy,” the tweet said.

CityNews reached out Jim Torma, who’s the regional co-ordinator with the federal PPC for southwestern Ontario. He said the PPC is currently looking at their options.

“We are exploring all options at our disposal provincially,” he said. “We are currently in the exploratory stage and no decision has been made yet.”

The federal version of the party, founded in 2018 and led by former Conservative MP Maxine Bernier, positions itself further to the right than their Conservative Party rivals.

During the last federal election, the PPC tapped into anti-lockdown and anti-vaccine sentiments. They managed to get a 4.9 per cent share of the national vote— but failed to land any seats in Parliament.

Bernier ran for his old seat in Beauce, Que., but failed to win it back, losing to incumbent Conservative Richard Lehoux.