KENORA – Bryce Desjarlais says he was once “politically homeless” but has found a home in the People’s Party of Canada.
He’s now the PPC candidate in the federal riding of Kenora-Kiiwetinoong. Election day is April 28.
“I guess over the last 10 years I’ve just been, you know, frustrated,” he told Newswatch in an interview.
“I feel like we’re not being represented anymore and we’ve been watching our government spend all of our money like it’s free money. Now it’s often spent when you don’t have to earn it.
“I used to support the Conservative party, and I just felt like they’ve moved so far to the left. I was politically homeless until the PPC.”
A Kenora native, Desjarlais works as a locomotive engineer for the Canadian Pacific Kansas City railway.
His volunteer activities have included coaching hockey and, in his youth, volunteering with the city’s fire department.
The party’s website says Desjarlais has “a strong dedication to the community” and “stands for the core values of freedom, personal responsibility, respect and fairness.”
This is his first time running for public office.
Affordable housing and “a pretty bad homelessness issue” are key local concerns in the riding, Desjarlais said.
He added that he’s concerned about the fiscal side of government.
“I feel like we need to balance the budget. Once that’s done then you can start reducing taxes and trying to get more investment in Canada.”
Government “can’t really be doing a whole lot” to tackle important problems until it gets its fiscal house in order, he said.
Desjarlais said he’s on the ballot for the People’s Party because “I want people to have the choice to vote for a true conservative party.
“We’re not the kind of party that’s going to bend our values based on popular opinion. We are what we are and we’re staying there.
“The same reason that I vote for them is one of the main reasons that I actually wanted to run (for the PPC). I want to give other people that choice too.”
Desjarlais said he’s noticed that not many people in Kenora know much or anything about the PPC.
“So I’m just going to try and really push awareness and get the platform out there so people can actually read it and know that they have that option.”
Desjarlais said the PPC is a grassroots party, “not full of career politicians. Most of us are working jobs while we’re trying to campaign.”
The party’s website mentions balancing the budget as a priority.
At a March 27 campaign stop in Quebec, PPC Leader Maxime Bernier said the party has a plan to eliminate the federal deficit in one year.
Bernier listed a number of federal programs he contends are poorly managed or unnecessary and could be either eliminated or diminished.
