Right-Wing Populism Emerges in South Western Ontario

Right-Wing Populism Emerges in South Western Ontario

One of the interesting features of 2021 election was the emergent strength of the People’s Party of Canada (PPC) in a number of South Western Ontario ridings. Nationally the People’s Party accounted for 5.09% of the popular votes, however, in the London and Windsor region PPC support ranged from a low of 5.2% in London West to a high of 14.6% in Chatham Kent Leamington. In the urban ridings of London North Centre and London West the results were slightly above but in line with the national results at 5.2% and 5.4% respectively. However, in other ridings the percentages went up, in London Fanshawe the party achieved 9.4% in Elgin Middlesex London the result was 11.9%, around 10% in Windsor Tecumseh and Essex, and 8.6% in Windsor West.

London West as a close-run riding is significant because the Liberal win with 36.4% was less than the 37.4% combined total of the Conservatives (32.2%) and PPC (5.2%). In other words, without the PPC candidate, the Conservatives would very well have been victorious. A similar observation can be made in the close race in Windsor-Tecumseh where the combined total of the CPC candidate (25.7%) and the PPC (10.5%) at 37.2% outstripped the popular support for the first place Liberal at 31.6% and the second place NDP candidate at 30.7%. Again, without the PPC in this race the Conservative could have won.

While the PPC as spoiler of Conservative fortunes holds only in these two ridings, the increased strength of PPC returns should attract attention as it illustrates the strength of the far-right in the region. For the most part this increase in voter support did not affect the outcomes for Conservatives in the region’s rural ridings: Karen Vecchio in Elgin Middlesex London and Chris Lewis in Essex maintained similar levels of support to their 2019 results. However, in Chatham Kent Leamington where PPC candidate Liz Vallee received 14.6% support, incumbent Conservative Dave Epp’s support decreased by 6% from his 2019 results.

The question of why this strength of the far-right emerged this election most likely mirrors the rise of voter interest in the PPC nationally, although when levels are compared to the national average there seems to have been special resonance in the London and Windsor area. Much of this has to do with the pandemic as the PPC was the only party to campaign on the rejection of masking vaccine mandates, vaccine passports, and further lockdowns. However, while new supporters may have initially been attracted by the anti-COVID measures messaging the underlying stances on reproductive choice, anti-gun control, and anti-immigration can’t be ignored. The PPC is not a centrist party. The efforts of Erin O’Toole to move the CPC more to the centre and his statements supporting a women’s right to choose and about-face on gun control would have left the rightwing fringes of the conservatism in Canada looking for a new home. The PPC provided a site to express disdain for centrist Canadian values of multicultural peace, order, and good government, but also to show commitment to a more American vision of freedom, explicitly individual freedom, envisioned as an inalienable individual right. This looks an awful lot alike the messages of Trumpist, MAGAites, and it certainly an indication that we are not immune from the from the far-right populism being propagated through Fox News.

It may very well be that the PPC emergence in this election is a one-off event tied primarily to the pandemic and anti-masking protests. However, with London still coming to terms with the hate crime that took the lives of a local Muslim family, the confirmation of far-right sentiment and support at these levels is not particularly comforting. That this support averaged nearly doubled the national popular support is even less of a comfort.