Plethora Of PPC Candidates Could Hit Conservative Election Prospects

The right-wing populist People's Party of Canada (PPC) is standing candidates in 246 of Canada's 338 electoral ridings as of August 18, in a show of force by the party that could hit the electoral prospects of the centre-right Conservatives.

• Publicly announced election candidates as of August 18: Conservative - 308 (of 338), Liberal - 303, PPC - 246, NDP - 205, Green - 106, BQ - 71 (of 78), Maverick - 27 (of 108).
• % of total ridings (federally or in provinces where party is standing), Change from yesterday: Conservative - 91.1% (+2%), BQ - 91.0% (+1.3%), Liberal - 89.6% (+1.1%), PPC - 72.8% (+19%), NDP - 60.6% (+5%), Green - 31.4% (+3%), Maverick - 25.0% (=).
• The PPC remain a minority party with no members of parliament at present. However, some opinion polls over the past several days have shown the party with support as high as 6%.
• With the PPC standing in so many ridings and with a potentially rising level of support, this could be enough to deny the Conservatives victories in tight electoral contests as the PPC is likely to draw voters from the centre-right party more than any other.
• The Conservatives gained a notable boost to morale in the Nova Scotia provincial election on 17 August, where the local Progressive Conservatives secured a shock win over the incumbent Liberals. Nevertheless, at the federal level most opinion polls still point towards the Liberals emerging as the largest party after the election.