$12.89 million raised. Zero seats won. The PPC isn’t a party, it’s a grift

Maxime Bernier’s PPC spends big, but mostly on itself. The numbers don’t lie.

Since its founding in 2018, the People’s Party of Canada has contested three federal elections. It has never elected a single MP - not even its leader. Its support has stalled, its membership is stagnant, and its presence in Canadian politics is marginal at best.

In the most recent federal election, the PPC captured just 0.7% of the national vote - its worst performance yet.

And despite terrible electoral performance, over the course of just five years, the PPC has reported $12.89 million in total revenue in Elections Canada filings.

What’s more shocking than the number itself is where the money goes.

Rather than investing in national campaigns, competitive ridings, or voter outreach, the PPC has channeled the bulk of its spending inward - on salaries, consultants, and party overhead. It operates less like a movement and more like a self-sustaining financial vehicle for its leader, Maxime Bernier, and a select few around him.

Millions raised. No MPs. And yet, donors keep giving.

The question is: do they know what they’re funding?

Let’s follow the money.

Paycheques first, politics last

In 2024, the PPC brought in about $1.5 million. It spent $653,880 on salaries and benefits and another $224,106 on professional fees - together accounting for nearly 59% of all expenses.

This isn’t new. In 2022, that combined figure was over 54%. In 2020, salaries alone consumed more than 50% of the budget.

More than half the party’s spending - year after year - goes to pay people inside the party or close to it. Not voters. Not candidates. Not campaigns.

There’s no public breakdown of who’s collecting the cheques, but it’s widely assumed that a large portion of those funds go directly to Bernier himself. For a man who hasn’t won an election in nearly a decade, it’s turned out to be a lucrative business model.

Compare that to the Conservative Party of Canada. In 2023, the CPC spent just 21.9% of its much larger budget on salaries. In 2022? 11.2%. Even when you add in professional services - 5.1% in 2023 and 1% in 2022 - the total is still dramatically lower than the PPC’s inward-facing costs.

The CPC runs full-scale national campaigns, manages regional staff in every province, and manages real party infrastructure across the country.

Consultants, not campaigns

The PPC’s consulting bills aren’t the sign of a growing party - they’re the sign of a party focused on raising money for itself.

These aren’t investments in winning ridings. In 2024, the PPC ran just one rally, spent zero dollars on radio or TV ads, and transferred only $20,000 to local candidates.

Even promotional materials - basic campaign necessities - were almost nonexistent: just $608 spent in 2024.

Every dollar the PPC uses to pay its own staff or consultants is a dollar not spent supporting a candidate, organizing a riding, or actually trying to win an election.

And based on their early branding, the money clearly wasn’t going to design. The original logo looked like something whipped up in Microsoft Word the night before the official launch of the party.

The PPC’s original logo. Not where the money went.

Why the CPC comparison is fair

Some may ask why I’m comparing a fringe party like the PPC to the Conservative Party of Canada.

Three reasons.

First, the CPC is the benchmark for political fundraising and campaign operations in Canada. It raised over $48 million last year, has built a permanent infrastructure, and has already filed a full and complete return for 2024, something neither the Liberals nor NDP have done - they asked for extensions as the deadline passed.

Second, Maxime Bernier is a former Conservative cabinet minister. He left the party after losing the leadership race to Andrew Scheer in 2017 and now pitches the PPC as the “real” conservative option. So I’d say comparing him to his former political home is not just fair - it’s necessary.

And third, I speak from experience. As someone who’s led national campaigns for the Conservative Party and served on four different CPC national campaign teams, I know what effective political infrastructure looks like. The PPC is not it.

The audit red flags

From 2019 through 2024, the PPC’s auditors have issued a qualified opinion every single year - saying they could not verify whether all donations and revenue had been properly recorded. That’s six years in a row where no one can be sure how much money the PPC actually raised.

That would never fly in the private sector - or in a serious political party. It’s a warning sign that’s gone unheeded by many of its donors, who may not realize just how little transparency or accountability surrounds the party’s financials.

And while we don’t yet have numbers for 2025, the pattern is clear - and it’s not improving.

Vanity project or grift machine?

Taken together - bloated salaries, outsized consulting fees, zero electoral wins, and six years of unverifiable revenue - this party starts to look less like a political force and more like a personal enterprise.

It’s not designed to win seats. It’s designed to stay visible, raise money, and fund itself. The people it serves aren’t Canadian voters. They’re the ones on payroll.

This isn’t a movement. It’s a money machine.

The PPC didn’t harness public frustration, it monetized it.

Because if you’re giving money to the PPC today, you’re not funding a political movement.

You’re bankrolling a very effective grift machine, one that exists to make sure its leader gets paid.