Maxime Bernier’s path to the 2019 leaders’ debates is suddenly less clear.

On Thursday, Democratic Institutions Minister Karina Gould suggested to iPolitics that Bernier would qualify as a People’s Party MP under new eligibility criteria for the debates introduced by the governing Liberals last month.

She made the remarks after she was asked to clarify whether Bernier would still be deemed an MP for the party under the criteria, even though he was elected as a Conservative in 2015.

Under these rules, political parties must satisfy at least two out of three requirements for their leaders to be included in debates organized by the new federal-election commission for leaders’ debates. Parties must either have an elected MP or intend to run candidates in 90 per cent of the ridings, or have won at least four per cent of the vote in 2015 — or at least stand a “legitimate chance” of winning seats in the next vote.

Gould said the eligibility requirements were designed to offer the leaders’-debates commission, headed by former governor general David Johnston, “flexibility” in determining participants.

However, Gould’s office told iPolitics late Thursday that Bernier would actually not qualify as an elected MP under the criteria. Instead, an MP has to have been originally elected as a candidate for the party.

Amy Butcher, Gould’s director of communications, said in an email the People’s Party would need to nominate candidates in at least 90 per cent of the ridings and stand a “legitimate chance” of winning seats by the commission for Bernier to appear in the debate.

She said Gould was answering the question about the criteria in a “broad” manner, and framed the suggestion that Bernier would qualify as a People’s Party MP as a misunderstanding.

A former cabinet minister in Stephen Harper’s government, Bernier left the Conservative caucus in late August, calling the party “too intellectually and morally corrupt to be reformed.” He has said the People’s Party intends to run candidates in all 338 federal ridings in 2019.



In addition to Johnston, the commission will have a seven-member advisory board. It’s mandated to produce at least two debates in each official language during the 2019 campaign. The commission, Gould said, will contract out the production of the debates.