WATCH: Nanaimo is bustling with federal party leader visits as the May 6 byelection nears. On Monday, two more leaders toured the city, the NDP’s Jagmeet Singh and People’s Party of Canada Leader Maxime Bernier, to spread their message and try to put their candidates ahead in the minds of voters.
Putting Nanaimo campaign signs around the city is a brand new experience for volunteers with the People’s Party of Canada (PPC).
The just six-month-old party and its leader, Maxine Bernier, attempt to make history in the Nanaimo-Ladysmith byelection and land their first ever win.
“And you can win,” Maxime Bernier told PPC candidate for Nanaimo-Ladysmith, Jennifer Clarke, on Monday.
“You can be the first PPC candidate elected.”
“I think Canada is ready for a change,” said Clarke.
“We’ve seen what the established parties have done and that they haven’t fulfilled their promises.”
“And we are asking people, you know, vote for your values for the first time,” said Bernier.
“Don’t vote against something, vote for something,” said Bernier.
The former federal Conservative Party MP turned leader of the People’s Party of Canada, is one of many leaders making the campaign rounds of this mid-Island riding.
On Monday, federal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh was supporting his candidate Bob Chamberlin and presenting the NDP’s affordable housing plan in Nanaimo.
“What we’re announcing is a plan to build half a million homes across Canada,” said NDP leader Jagmeet Singh.
“That would mean 1,400 new homes for people here in Nanaimo-Ladysmith. ”
“To assist everyday Canadians,” said NDP candidate for Nanaimo-Ladysmith Bob Chamberlin.
“Whether it’s our grandparents that are on pensions, whether it’s the housing crisis that the university students face.”
On Sunday, Conservative Party Leader Andrew Scheer campaigned in the Harbour City. A week earlier, Green Party Leader Elizabeth May was in town supporting candidate Paul Manly and March 24 Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau touched down too, supporting candidate Michelle Corfield.
It’s a way to signal to all voters that while the riding has been held by the NDP for years, it is a critical one that every party is fighting for.
Skye Ryan
