Strong showing for People's Party of Canada in Burnaby South,,,

In the other two ridings contested in by-elections yesterday -- Outremont and York Simcoe -- not so much. But for a movement which only became an official party in January, it was a decent showing, holding promise of becoming a real force in the federal election in October. The PPC, founded last fall by Maxime "Mad Max" Bernier, a Conservative Member of Parliament and former minister in the government of Steve Harpoon, got 10.6% of the vote in Burnaby South, and an average of only 2% in the other two ridings -- a mixed bag but at least Canucks weary of liberalism now know they have a real choice.

The PPC standard-bearer in Burnaby South was Laura-Lynn Tyler Thompson, mentioned with approval here a couple of times. A former Christian talk show host, Ms Tyler Thompson had some name recognition before launching her candidacy. She ran a decidedly populist campaign, using the slogan "Canada for Canadians", which played well to her base of evangelical Chinese-Canadians.

Jugmeat Singh, the leader of the socialistic New Democratic Party -- 58 years "new" -- won the riding, so finally will get to sport his turban inside the House of Commons. The Liberal and Conservative candidates, both Chinese-Canadian, finished second and third, respectively, with Ms Tyler Thompson a strong fourth.

In Ontario and Québec, the voters did about what was expected, staying home in droves. In the Ontario riding of York-Simcoe, the turnout was only some 20% of eligible voters. The riding has been held by the Conservatives since 2004 and continues that way, with the Tory candidate getting more than half the votes, finishing some 20 points ahead of the Liberal. PPC candidate Robert Geurts, a criminal lawyer [clarify, please. Ed.] placed a distant sixth out of nine candidates with only 1.9% of the vote.

In the Québec riding of Outremont, People's Party candidate James Seale, a Canadian Army veteran, did a little better, with 2.1% of the vote. A member of the armed forces for more than 30 years before retiring, Mr Seale said he was attracted to the PPC because of M Bernier's promise to increase investment in Canada's defence. Apparently that doesn't go over very well, especially when said in English, in the up-scale part of Montréal. The Liberals took back the traditionally Liberal riding from the NDP, while the Conservatives finished fifth.

Even before the final results were in, M Bernier tweeted that volunteers should be proud of what they accomplished so soon after the party was founded. "The hundreds of volunteers who helped our candidates in Burnaby South, York–Simcoe and Outremont can be proud of what they achieved," he said. "They blazed a trail that thousands of others will follow across the country in October."

Walt sez: Canadians had better hope Mad Max is right! The People's Party is the only party which stands for "Canada for Canadians!"