A third candidate has joined the field for the upcoming federal election in Souris-Moose Mountain.
Travis Patron of Redvers is currently on the ballot as an independent, but he is hoping to be a candidate for the Canadian Nationalist Party. Patron is the leader of the party, which has yet to be approved by Elections Canada.
If the party receives the green light, then he hopes they will have some candidates for the Oct. 21 federal election. Patron said they have some people who are interested.
He decided to run in Souris-Moose Mountain because it鈥檚 his home riding. He knows more people here than in any other constituency, so as a new political party, he believes it鈥檚 easier to spread their message.
鈥淚 feel like I can serve this district better than any other, given my background in the agricultural community as well as the financial technologies industry. In this district, having a background of agriculture, oil and gas and some of the development in terms of start-up businesses and start-up technology is uniquely fitted towards my skill set.鈥�
He said it would take a lot of hard work, a good strategy and some luck to win. He has been visiting communities, distributing pamphlets and letting people know there would be another option on the ballot.
鈥淚 find that people are interested in a new party regardless,鈥� said Patron.
Patron also hopes to get their ideas out.
鈥淚n order to effectively get our ideas out into the public consciousness so to speak, it鈥檚 important to actually be able to compete and win electorally,鈥� said Patron.
He has received criticism online for statements that have been described as anti-Jewish. The party lists anti-Zionism for party ideology, saying that the State of Israel has acted in a way that does not meet the standards of an ally.
He also calls for immigration reform and demographic change, which he said are based on the feedback they have received from Canadians.
鈥淒emographic stability is something that people implicitly want to see. And we are a political party that has this at the forefront of our campaign. We believe our current system is unsustainable, not only in the rate of immigration, but the type of immigration and the sources of immigration that we are using.鈥�
He would also like to see Canada drop the British monarchy and have its own domestic head of state.
Patron joins incumbent MP Robert Kitchen of the Conservative Party and Phil Zajac of the People鈥檚 Party of Canada in the field for the riding.
