A newcomer to politics, Bow River candidate Jonathan Bridges is hoping his relatability will translate to votes on Sept. 20.
The Linden, Alta. resident is running on behalf of the People’s Party of Canada (PPC) in the upcoming federal election. Bridges said he currently works as a heavy-equipment technician in Three Hills, and has 12 years of experience in that field. He’s also worked as a car sales rep in the past.
“I think the fact I’m an everyday normal guy, a tradesman, I understand what it’s like to have had very little money at times in my life,” he said. “I think in that regard, I can resonate with a lot of people, because a lot of Canadians – especially now – barely have enough money to get by.”
Bridges said he has found his inaugural political campaign to be a new challenge, but said responses have been positive when he’s spoken to potential voters about the PPC’s platform.
A right-wing party led by former Conservative MP Maxime Bernier, the PPC espouses many libertarian, small-government ideologies, such as freedom of expression, eliminating inter-provincial trade barriers, reducing immigration levels, respecting the rights of legal firearm owners, balancing the federal budget and cutting taxes, and rejecting what the party calls “global alarmism” surrounding climate change.
While the PPC only garnered 1.6 per cent of the vote in the 2019 federal election and failed to secure a seat in the House of Commons, Bridges said he feels the party has made in-roads since then. This election, the party is fielding 331 candidates – more than both the NDP and Green Party.
“I still get surprised when some people I talk to have never heard of the party at all, but when we start to talk policy and platform, they agree with everything we are talking about,” Bridges said.
“Back in 2019, I knew about the party but very little. They didn’t have much time to prepare and seemed a little unprepared to me. But at this point, they’ve had a lot more time to polish their platform so that it’s more understandable.”
The party’s Bow River candidate said he became involved with the PPC after attending one of Bernier’s “freedom rallies” in Edmonton in 2020. Bridges said he agreed with many of Bernier’s ideas relating to personal liberties and fiscal responsibility on the part of governments.
“I don’t like governments that just shower money over everything, and then we’re eventually so far in debt that taxes have to go up to ridiculous levels,” he said. “That seems to be where we’re coming up to right now.”
After sending Bernier an email after the rally, Bridges said he was eventually contacted by the party leader’s staff, who suggested he apply to run as one of the party’s candidates.
He added he feels the PPC takes a “common-sense” approach to its platform, highlighting the party’s laissez-faire stance on climate change as an example.
“With global warming and the environment, we’re not denying that the climate is changing,” he said. “But we want to take a more common-sense approach to how we deal with it so that we don’t end up bankrupting our industries by trying to fix less than two per cent of the world’s problem here in Canada.”
Bridges is vying for votes against five other candidates in the Bow River riding, which includes the easternmost communities in Rocky View County. His opponents include incumbent Conservative Party MP Martin Shields, Liberal representative Getu Shawile, Maverick Party candidate Orrin Bliss, Christian Heritage Party candidate Tom Lipp and NDP candidate Michael MacLean.
When asked what personal attributes would make him a suitable MP for Bow River, Bridges said the fact he is an “ordinary guy” with no intentions of being a career politician.
“I hear a lot of people over the years say they dislike career politicians,” he said. “Even talking to some politicians, they say during your first term, you’re learning, during your second term, you’re becoming effective, and then during your third term, you start to believe your own nonsense. And then everything after that, you’re just along for the ride.”
Scott Strasser, AirdrieToday.com
Follow me on Twitter @scottstrasser19
