Ottawa, ON – Maxime Bernier, leader of the People’s Party of Canada (PPC), is calling out what he describes as a “phony process” designed to exclude him from the upcoming leaders’ debates. Bernier’s frustration stems from a televised report on Radio-Canada’s Le Téléjournal, where host Céline Galipeau prematurely declared that he would not be participating in the debates.
The segment, which aired last night, referred to Bernier as “a leader who won’t be at the debates, Maxime Bernier” (translated). Bernier expressed outrage at this assertion, questioning how Galipeau could already know the outcome before an official announcement. “How is it possible that Ms. Galipeau knows this already? I think I have the answer,” he said. “Radio-Canada/CBC will produce the debates, so they’re talking to the Commission, and I presume everybody there already knows that I won’t be invited. And she spilled the beans live on TV, probably unintentionally.”
Bernier shared the clip on his X account, which can be viewed here: https://x.com/MaximeBernier/status/1904532215859487087.
The PPC had been invited to send a representative to a preparation meeting at La Maison Radio-Canada in Montreal next Monday, March 31, just one day before the Commission is set to announce its decision on Bernier’s participation. However, the party has opted out, refusing to “waste precious time during an extremely busy campaign to play this silly game and legitimize the Commission’s phony process.”
“The dice are loaded,” Bernier declared, pointing out that under the 2021 rules, the PPC would have automatically qualified for participation after securing nearly 5% of the vote in the last election. “But it’s obvious that the Commission changed the rules only to exclude us,” he concluded.
As the debate controversy unfolds, PPC supporters and political observers alike will be watching closely to see whether the Commission acknowledges these concerns or continues with what Bernier calls a pre-determined outcome. The battle for fair representation in Canadian political discourse is far from over.
