The People’s Party of Canada's Sault Ste. Marie-Algoma candidate does not appear on the Elections Canada list of candidates for this riding in the current federal election campaign.
Candidate nominations closed Monday, April 7. The full list of candidates was released on Wednesday, April 9.
Harry Jaaskelainen replaced former Sault Ste. Marie-Algoma PPC candidate Arnold Heino, who withdrew his candidacy for personal reasons on March 27.
In an interview with SooToday’s James Hopkin, Jaaskelainen said the PPC wants to address mass immigration, tighten border security, do away with woke culture and erase Canada’s deficit.
An Echo Bay resident, Jaaskelainen was the PPC candidate in the now-defunct riding of Algoma-Manitoulin-Kapuskasing during the 2021 federal election. The former federal forestry employee drew 2,840 votes - 7.2 per cent of the vote - in that riding in 2021.
Sheldon Michael Jaaskelainen - the former PPC candidate’s son - spoke out against his dad in an April 1 Facebook post.
“Is Harry my father? Yes. Do I agree with his political platform? Absolutely not,” Sheldon wrote.
Neither Jaaskelainen nor the PPC were immediately available for comment on Thursday.
Jaaskelainen's name and photo do not appear on the PPC website's list of candidates.
The PPC has taken a populist view on many issues.
“We’re suggesting a moratorium on immigration until the whole housing situation and the crisis from mass immigration is resolved,” Jaaskelainen said in a story by SooToday's James Hopkin that ran April 1.
He called the sexual orientation and gender identity agenda “crap.”
He also criticized former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government for pushing the national debt up to $1.2 trillion.
Jaaskelainen claimed there have been 20 million deaths due to the COVID-19 vaccine worldwide.
He also said Canada’s tariff war with the U.S. - in response to President Donald Trump’s tariffs on Canadian goods - is “insanity.”
The Elections Canada list of candidates for Sault Ste. Marie-Algoma confirmed April 9 includes:
- James Collins, Christian Heritage Party of Canada
- Robyn Kiki Eshkibok, Green Party of Canada
- Laura Mayer, New Democratic Party
- Terry Sheehan, Liberal Party of Canada
- Hugh Stevenson, Conservative Party of Canada
The federal election will be held April 28.
With files from James Hopkin.