OTTAWA—Maxime Bernier claims that his newly-registered People’s Party of Canada raised more than $300,000 in its first weekend as a registered federal party.

In a series of fundraising appeals over the weekend, Bernier announced to supporters that the People’s Party was officially registered with Elections Canada, meaning their donations would be eligible for tax rebates.

The appeals seem to have worked. Bernier told supporters that the PPC had raised $72,000 between Friday and Saturday, climbing to a total of $220,000 by Sunday evening. On Monday, party officials reported the total haul was $301,000.

“Several byelections have just been called, and we have a general election in October to prepare (for),” Bernier wrote.

“Let’s show everyone that we are now a serious contender, with the resources to win.”

Bernier launched the People’s Party after his messy split with the Conservative party last August. Bernier, who finished a close second in the party’s 2017 leadership contest, accused the Conservatives of intellectual and moral corruption and announced he’d start his own party.

Since then, Bernier has steered his new movement to the right of the Conservative party, railing against Canada’s “extreme multiculturalism,” vowing to cut back the number of new immigrants, and suggesting he’d “abolish” foreign aid.

A spokesperson for the People’s Party told the Star that the party has raised approximately $954,000 in total since it launched last September.

To put those numbers in context, both the Liberals and the Conservatives spent more than $40 million each on the 2015 general election. But PPC spokesman Martin Masse told the Canadian Press that the party raised as much over the past three days as it had over the previous three months.

Bernier has said he intends to run People’s Party candidates in all 338 ridings in October’s general election. The party will have its first test next month, when voters go to the polls in three byelections.

The People’s Party has nominated Laura-Lynn Tyler Thompson, a former Christian talk-show host, to carry the party’s banner in Burnaby South. Robert Guerts, a criminal defence lawyer, will stand for the People’s Party in York-Simcoe. A candidate has yet to be nominated in Outremont, but one is expected in the coming days.

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With a file from the Canadian Press.

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