The former Quebec prime minister says the Poilievre campaign’s claim that they have registered 311,958 Canadians so far to support their group is “a pivotal one”. “As it goes, we call it ‘Pierreinflation’ when it comes to recruiting members. “I think he has recruited members in the states of Maine and New Hampshire, if you want to follow his logic. He keeps inflating the numbers, nobody believes the numbers,” he told CTV’s Question Period. Charest would not say exactly how many subscriptions his base has acquired, arguing that the number is irrelevant as the match eventually ends in a points system. “You can have 10,000 members in one ride, worth 100 points… If you have 100 members in another ride, it is worth 100 points. “It’s 100 points per ride,” he said. “We based our campaign on having a broad support base across the country in all riding, because this is how the race was designed so that whoever wins has the widest support base across the country.” Patrick Brown is the only other candidate to announce the number of members so far in the race, noting that it amounts to 150,000. Last week, Conservative Party chief executive Wayne Benson said candidates had said they expected “over” 600,000 members to vote to decide which of them would take the top spot. During the 2020 leadership race, the party counted 269,469 eligible voters. Due to the record number of potential voters, the party said it was “a few weeks behind in terms of processing” the list of members so it could be sent to candidates before a new leader is elected on September 10th. However, National Council President Robert Batherson confirmed in a separate interview with CTV Question Time that the time frame is still applicable. “We are more than prepared in terms of our internal verification, processing, ensuring that there is a preliminary list of leadership campaigns that they will verify and challenge themselves and then we will have the final list on which to base the ballot packages coming out. “, he said. Charest said he and other campaigners had requested that a temporary list be sent as a matter of urgency. “If we do not have access to the list of members so that we can campaign, reach out to them and convince them, then what is the point?” he said.
