OTTAWA — Maxime Bernier plans to unveil his nascent political party’s name and logo next week, but already his team says he has growing political support across the country, from former MPs who want to run under his banner, and from three sitting MPs who have initiated talks with the maverick Quebec MP.Bernier declined a request to speak to the Star however in a written statement said he would reveal more before Parliament resumes Sept. 17. “We are still in the process of working on the documents (constitution, platform, etc.) and finding people for the executive committee,” Bernier said, adding “we’ve raised a good amount of money so far.” While Bernier awaits Elections Canada’s go-ahead on his chosen party name (the elections agency ensures registered party names are not confusing for electors), there are indications of a public appetite for his small-c conservative message, including a national opinion poll conducted by Nanos Research for the Globe and Mail. Published Tuesday, it found 22 per cent of Canadians believe there is a need for a new conservative party federally, and 17 per cent of Canadians are open to voting for a Bernier-led conservative party. While a majority disagreed there is a need or that they would be open to voting for such a party, the apparent willingness of a good chunk of people (and not just those who identify as Conservative-leaning voters) was hailed by Bernier.He posted a tweet saying it was “another very encouraging poll, for a party that doesn’t even have a name yet (coming soon!). It can only grow from this base.”Bernier didn’t directly address the Star’s question about whether he would run candidates in possible upcoming byelections in Montreal’s Outremont riding, eastern Ontario’s Leeds-Grenville-Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes riding, and B.C.’s Burnaby South riding. (The latter has not yet officially been declared a vacancy but ...
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