Julien
Côté, running as an independent candidate in the riding of
LaSalle–Émard–Verdun, says he wants voters to call him and let him know
what issues matter most to them. (Submitted by Julien Côté)
EDITOR'S UPDATE: CBC News has learned Julien Côté is a former spokesperson for a white nationalist group
called ID Canada, which was responsible for posters put up in Edmonton
in early 2018 claiming an "ethnocide of old stock Canadians" was
underway. Côté told CBC he is no longer with the group but stands by the
statements he made at that time.
An independent candidate in LaSalle–Émard–Verdun wants to hear from voters in a big way.
Julien
Côté has put his phone number front-and-centre on bright yellow
campaign signs across the riding, with the tagline: "Call me,
seriously."
"People
are just calling up!" Côté said in an interview with CBC News. "And I
love that. That's the whole idea … I really want to represent what the
constituents are concerned about, and I just really need to be in touch.
I need to know what people are thinking."
Formerly a computer
programmer for the federal government, Côté said that he quit his job so
that he could run. This election is his first time throwing his hat
into the political ring.
But since starting his campaign on
Monday, he said curious residents have been getting in touch. Côté said
he's had conversations on everything from GMO labelling to neighbourhood
safety — things that he feels are not being discussed by the big
political parties.
"There's a palpable sense that people are ready to step outside of the status quo," he said.
"Let's consider something new."
Julien Côté's campaign signs include his real phone number and an email address. The sign says 'Call me, seriously.' (Laura Marchand/CBC)
Running a grassroots campaign
Côté said he was inspired to run after the SNC-Lavalin affair, which saw cabinet minister Jody Wilson-Raybould ousted from the Liberal caucus, especially after her own decision to run as an independent candidate.
"This
political cycle, there is so much apathy and disgust towards the
traditional parties that folks are ready to consider voting for an
independent," he said.\
Côté argues that candidates running with
the major parties may be forced to defend ideas and policies that go
against the interest of the people in their ridings, as opposed to
someone who is representing the riding on a "community level."
But
he acknowledges that he doesn't have the resources of the big parties,
either. He's been making his own election signs, and putting them up
with his "top volunteer" — his mother.
"This is all really really fresh, and obviously I'm a novice at this," Côté said, laughing.
"But the response that I've been getting is tremendous!"
Despite
not having his face on any of his posters, Côté said he's already been
recognized in the community. After spending an hour speaking to clients
of a local food bank, he said he ran into a man later when putting up
posters, and struck up a conversation.
"That's just for being present there, just one day's worth of work," Côté said. "But it's such a wonderful, magical thing."
Julien
Côté, pictured putting up one of his signs on Wellington Street in
Verdun. He's hoping to convince voters that have become disillusioned
with the main political parties to vote for him. (Submitted by Julien Côté)
An uphill battle, says analyst
\
But that might not be enough to win the seat, said P.J. Fournier, analyst and founder of 338Canada.
"I
don't want to discourage anyone to participate in public life,"
Fournier said. "But if we're talking about odds here, there's very
little historical precedent to suggest that an independent candidate can
win."
Fournier cited the case of Gilles Bernier, who was
re-elected in 1994 as an independent in the Beauce riding, but only
after he had already been an MP under the Progressive Conservatives.
"To
win you need a split vote," Fournier said. "But right now, the voting
intention that we have in Montreal, all around the island, shows that
the Liberals have a strong lead."
Fournier said the chances of someone taking one of those seats as an independent were "slim to none."
But
Côté said that, despite the odds, he's remaining optimistic about his
chances. He believes that few voters are married to any one political
party, and that many of them engage in strategic voting to keep out the
party they disagree with the most.
"Or they just look at all the parties and hate them all," Côté said.
He
hopes to reach those who feel like there isn't a point in voting
anymore, and show them that "there is great power in our democratic
system."
"And if I can reach these people, enough of them, then I think I have a shot."
Julien
Côté, pictured here putting up one of his signs on Wellington Street in
Verdun in early October, said he cut ties with ID Canada in 2018,
however, he told CBC, he stand by statements he made while with the
group and still sees Canada 'as being imperilled.' (Submitted by Julien Côté)
An
independent candidate running in the Montreal riding of
LaSalle-Émard-Verdun is standing by comments he made when he was
associated with a known xenophobic white nationalist group.
Julien Côté, whose bright yellow posters encourage constituents to call him,
acted as the spokesperson for ID Canada, a group which put up posters
in Edmonton last year claiming there was an "ethnocide of old stock
Canadians."
On its website, ID Canada describes itself as
"Canada's leading identitarian movement" and as a group created in 2014
"as a response to Canada's decaying identity, increased third-world
immigration and the prevalence of anti-European sentiments in this
country."
Edmonton police confirmed to CBC that they investigated the posters put up by ID Canada. (CityNews Edmonton)
The posters erected in Edmonton included a banner intended as a stark warning that read, "You're being replaced."
In
an interview with CityNews Edmonton in January 2018, Côté said the
group was "standing up for our European identity" and that he "didn't
want to become a minority."
Edmonton police confirmed to CBC that they investigated the posters at the time.
Julien Côté acted as the spokesperson for ID Canada, a far-right group created in 2014. (CityNews Edmonton)
Candidate stands by statements
Speaking
to CBC News, Côté said he cut ties with ID Canada a year and a half ago
over problems with its leadership. However, he said he stands by the
statements he made when he was still with the group.
"I think
there's a European character to Canada, and there's lots of evidence of
that," he said, citing language and a "respect of the law and of
democracy."
"I like the society we live in now," said Côté. "I see this as being imperilled."
On
his campaign website, there is little hint of Côté's white nationalist
politics. He does say he would push for "realistic immigration levels,"
but he does not go into detail about what that would entail.
Côté told CBC he is not a violent person, and he doesn't "know why people are so upset when we talk about issues like this."
"They just have zero empathy, and they have zero desire to hear anybody out who's talking about these issues," he said.
Dangerous rhetoric, says expert
Maxime
Fiset, who at 18 helped found a neo-Nazi group called the Fédération
des Québécois de Souche, now speaks out against far-right extremism. (Danny Braün/Radio-Canada)
Côté's rhetoric is familiar to Maxime Fiset, a former neo-Nazi and now an alt-right expert.
At
18, Fiset was a founding member of a far-right group in Quebec City
called the Fédération des Québécois de souche, or old-stock Quebecers.
He said that group employed similar language.
"We were trying to
make a point that seemed valid for most of the population, but it was
actually some kind of dog-whistling, some kind of way to legitimize our
discourse," Fiset said.
Fiset
said that far-right activists will often refer to "old-stock Canadians"
or "European Canadians" to try to distance themselves from the concept
of white supremacy.
"What these people want to is to open the
debate on what kind of immigration is 'good' for the country, and
obviously in their book, everything that is Muslim or non-white or South
Asian is non-desirable," Fiset said.
We
talk to two independent candidates running in the upcoming federal
election. Michelle Dockrill is a former Member of Parliament under the
NDP banner, now an independent candidate for the riding of Cape
Breton-Canso.
Kenzie MacNeil, best known for composing the Cape Breton anthem The
Island, is running as an independent in the riding of Sydney-Victoria.
candidates in Cape Breton about issues and priorities in the campaign.
Today, meet Clive Doucet, author, former Ottawa city councillor, and
your Green Party candidate in Cape Breton-Canso.
Meet
another of the candidates running in Cape Breton to be your next Member
of Parliament. Kenzie MacNeil is on the ballot for the riding of
Sydney-Victoria. Kenzie's worked as a song writer, a performer and a
producer. He's one of the charter members of the Rise and Follies and
founder of the now defunct Cape Bretoner Magazine.
We're
continuing our series of candidates interviews in this Federal
election. Today we meet one of the independent candidates for Sydney
Victoria, Archie MacKinnon. Archie is a former councillor for Sydney
Mines. He ran twice provincially for the NDP, and back in the 80's ran
Federally as an NDP candidate.
He's a carpenter by trade, he's worked out west and he lives in Little
Bras D'Or.
Independent
Archie MacKinnon says running provincially for the NDP years ago soured
him on party politics, and voters on the doorstep agreed. (Gary Mansfield/CBC)
The
federal election in Cape Breton was mostly a seesaw affair between the
Liberals and Conservatives, but a political scientist says in the riding
of Sydney-Victoria, an Independent candidate fared remarkably well.
Tom
Urbaniak, a political science professor at Cape Breton University, said
Archie MacKinnon got the third highest percentage of votes of any
Independent candidate anywhere in Canada.
Only high-profile Independents Jody Wilson-Raybould and Jane Philpott got higher percentages of the vote.
Urbaniak said MacKinnon's campaign resonated with a large number of voters.
"Here's an
Independent candidate who got more than 14 per cent of the vote... in
part because of a disillusionment with the system generally, the older
parties," Urbaniak said.
"He actually ran a campaign. He was on
the ground, beating the pavement, putting up signs, running on a bit of a
Cape Breton patriotic platform and saying we have to fight the system
the way it's structured now and that resonated with some voters."
Speaks for the people
Leo Seguin, an army veteran who lives in Sydney Mines, said he supported MacKinnon because he spoke for average people.
Seguin said even though MacKinnon came in fourth, his results were fantastic.
"You look at his numbers," Seguin said. "Well over 5,000 votes. Running as an Independent, that's unheard of."
MacKinnon
said running provincially for the NDP years ago soured him on party
politics, and he said voters on the doorstep agreed.
"They were
saying basically that the people we were electing were doing and saying
absolutely nothing about our problems down here," he said.
MacKinnon said he's not done with politics just yet.
He said the minority Parliament might not last long and municipal and provincial elections in Nova Scotia are on the horizon.
Tom
Ayers has been a reporter and editor for more than 30 years. He has
spent the last 15 years covering Cape Breton and Nova Scotia stories.
You can reach him at tom.ayers@cbc.ca.
Meet Charlene Sylvestre, the independent candidate running in the Sudbury riding this federal election
6:54
We
profile another election candidate from the northeast running to be a
member of parliament in the federal election. Charlene Sylvestre doesn't
have to worry about towing the party line. She's running as an
independent candidate in the Sudbury riding...
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