The Pollcast: The Bernier Bombshell
The impact of Maxime Bernier's split and how the first week of the New Brunswick election campaign went down
The Conservatives have a problem on their hands, and his name is Maxime Bernier. But just how much of a negative impact he will have on the party's chances in the 2019 federal election remains to be seen.
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On the first day of the Conservatives' policy convention in Halifax last week, Bernier dropped a bombshell when he announced he was leaving the party and would start his own, calling the party he nearly came to lead "intellectually and morally corrupt."
The CBC's John Paul Tasker was in Halifax to cover the convention, and joins Pollcast host Éric Grenier to discuss the fallout of Bernier's announcement, Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer's speech to members and the policy votes and debates that followed.
Jacques Poitras, the CBC's provincial affairs reporter in New Brunswick, then breaks down the first week of the New Brunswick provincial election campaign, including the introduction of the federal carbon tax issue into the campaign, the cancelling of the French-language leaders' debate and the potential electoral impact of the smaller parties in the race.
Listen to the full discussion above — or subscribe to the CBC Pollcast and listen to past episodes of the show.
Follow Éric Grenier, John Paul Tasker and Jacques Poitras on Twitter.