Peoples Party established in Lanark-Frontenac-Kingston

Jan 16, 2019

The Peoples Party of Canada, which was formed a few months ago by Maxime Bernier has established a riding association in Lanark Frontenac Kingston. They are looking for a candidate to run in the Federal election which is slated for October of this year.

David Motton, of Sharbot Lake, is the riding association President and he said that there are executive members from the Perth area and north Kingston as well. Motton, who describes himself as a life long conservative, joined the new party because, he said, it is the only party that stands up for “real conservative values” which include free speech and small government.

Before starting up the new party, Bernier announced, in August of 2018, that he was leaving the Conservatives. The announcement came 15 months after he was narrowly defeated in a leadership contest by the current party leader Andrew Scheer.

Motton moved to Sharbot Lake three years ago to live in the senior’s housing complex on Clement Road, and is a board member of both the North Frontenac Not-for Profit Housing Corporation and the Central Frontenac Not For Profit Housing Corporation. He said that he prefers to play and administrative and advisory role in the coming campaign in the hope that the party can attract a younger candidate (he is in his 60’s) but said he will step forward as a candidate if necessary.

Scott Reid, who has represented the current riding and its predecessor ridings since 2000, first as a Canadian Alliance party member and since 2004 with the Conservative Party of Canada, indicated in December that he is more than likely to be running again.

In his remarks during the inaugural meeting of the new Frontenac County Council, he talked about his good working relationship with Kingston and the Islands MP Mark Gerretsen, who represents the Liberal Party.

“Mark and I are the only ones here who will be facing an election next year, but given the voting records in our ridings, we will both likely be working together during the next term. When the interests of this region are at stake, we like to work as a team even if we represent different parties’ in the house, he said.

Motton said that he thinks Reid is in for “a big surprise when the election rolls around because the Peoples Party of Canada will be shaking things up. This will be a good riding for us.”

Back when the new People’s Party was forming, Reid explained in a blog why he was not considering leaving the Conservative Party for the new Bernier led party. He pointed out that even though Max Bernier describes himself as a Libertarian, which Reid does as well, his policies are not consistent with Reid’s understanding of Libertarianism.

One issue Reid pointed to was legalizing marijuana, which Reid supported but Bernier did not, and then there is the issue of the position that Bernier has taken on diversity.

“Max’s recent Tweets about the dangers of too much diversity are antithetical to the values of classic libertarianism. The state has no legitimate interest in how much diversity there is (and anyway, how on earth do you measure something as subjective as “diversity” anyway),” Reid wrote in his blog.

“We don’t—or shouldn’t—care what percentage of the population is this race or that race, or is this religion vs. that religion. In a country with a sufficiently strong political culture, our underlying values of openness and of allegiance to freedom and the rule of law will be so attractive that we’ll be able to inculcate these values in any number of citizens, whether they come from a half-dozen different backgrounds, or ten thousand, and regardless of the compass-point to which they bow when they pray,” he added.

The Liberal and NDP riding associations in Lanark-Frontenac-Kingston have not yet selected candidates for the 2019 federal election, which is still 9 months away. The NDP candidate in 2015 was John Fenik, who was then, and still is, the Mayor of the Town of Perth. The Liberal candidate was Phillippe Archambault, who ran unsuccessfully for Mayor of South Frontenac in 2018.