New Blue Party draws 100 supporters to Ottawa

Ottawa, Nepean sector, Wednesday evening. More than a hundred residents crowded into a community hall to listen to New Blue Party founders Belinda Karahalios and her husband Jim, candidates and members sing about their new party.

Some came out of simple curiosity, while others have a really strong interest in this new political formation.

I’m really tired of the other party [n.d.l.r. : le Parti conservateur]explained Reneta Lapenat at the end of the meeting. The New Blue Party is like a breath of fresh air. They have new ideas, energy and a lot of honesty. I am amazed and impressed by their frankness.

All the parties already established make the same promises. They all have the same policy argued for his part Robert Wood. It gives me nothing to vote for them.

” We need change. The Liberal Party and the Progressive Conservative Party are the same thing. It does not work. It’s getting worse and worse. »

The most convinced seem to put all their trust in the founding couple, who are described as two trustworthy people who are not afraid to say what they think out loud. Their message of change resonates a lot with those who come to meet them.

This is what seems to have encouraged Michel Bastien to run for the New Blue Party in the riding of Ottawa—Vanier. This artist does not like the behavior of traditional parties who say one thing during the campaign, but do another once elected, he says.

A popular momentum

Every time we take a step forward, we gain momentumrejoices Jim Karahalios. At each new meeting, I am pleasantly surprised to see that the number of participants exceeds the capacity of the room.

” We take nothing for granted. The choice is up to the voters. We only share our values ​​of principles. And it pays, because we get a lot of support. »

Jim Karahalios unsuccessfully tried to run for president of the Progressive Conservative Party and then ran for the leadership of the Conservative Party of Canada. His wife, Belinda, is an MP who was kicked out of Doug Ford’s party for opposing health measures.

Mr. Karahalios has already explained on several occasions in the past that “the party is what the Progressive Conservatives pretend to be: a real right-wing party which campaigns against health measures, subsidies for political parties and the media as well as than the abolition of provincial carbon pricing.

Not enough support yet

The New Blue Party does not seem to lack ambition. He presents candidates in all the ridings of the province and hopes for good results.

We want to cross the finish line with our 124 candidates [sans en perdre un, en chemin]. It would be unprecedented for a political party in Ontario to achieve this in its first election campaign.said Mr. Karahalios.

But for now, that’s all this guy can really hope for. small party who has not yet managed to stand out in the voting intentions, explains Éric Grenier, polling analyst for CBC.

It’s entirely possible that the New Blue Party will be able to snatch votes from the Progressive Conservative Party and that in tighter counties it will impact the outcome, he says.

But for now, we do not see enough support in the small parties [comme celui de Jim Karahalios] so that they can successfully change the government or have a decisive impact on the outcome of these elections .

With information from Rémi Authier