Now that the dust has settled from Monday's federal election, the People's Party of Canada (PPC) candidate for Provencher has had some time to reflect on the five week whirlwind. The election was called on August 15th and 36 days later, Canadians went to the polls.

In Provencher, incumbent Ted Falk claimed the highest percentage of votes at 48.7 per cent, followed by Liberal candidate Trevor Kirczenow (17.0 per cent), PPC candidate Noel Gautron (16.4 per cent), NDP candidate Serina Pottinger (12.6 per cent), Independent candidate Rick Loewen (2.7 per cent) and Green Party candidate Janine Gibson (2.6 per cent).

"I'd say they went excellent," admits Gautron, referring to how things ended up on Monday. "We expanded our voter base by roughly eight times."

Noel GautronIn the 2019 election, Provencher PPC candidate Wayne Sturby collected 1,066 votes, which works out to 2.2 per cent of total votes.

"I'd say that's tremendous in comparison to what our performance was in 2019," he says. "And ultimately we're looking to build upon it."

Gautron says while out on the campaign trail, he could certainly sense that about one out of every six households was a PPC supporter. However, he says many voters did not make up their mind until election day.

"On Sunday we did some door-knocking and I think about sixty per cent of them were maybe unsure, undecided," he recalls.

Gautron says his support was strongest in the southern portion of the constituency, near the border and also in the northwest corner, closer to where he lives.

According to Gautron, there was definitely a contingent of constituents who voted PPC as a protest vote.

"However, I can definitely see that crystallizing into our solid support base being that the Conservatives have a lot of difficulty typically these days of adequately servicing fiscal Conservatives, social Conservatives and gun owners," he says.

Meanwhile, Gautron says it was also an excellent showing nationally for the PPC, which claimed five per cent of all votes. In the 2019 election, the PPC ended up with less than two per cent of the vote.

"I feel that's a very good turnout for us," he says, even though they failed to claim a seat. "Something to build on."

And, with the potential that another federal election might only be a year or two away, Gautron says he believes the PPC can carry this momentum into that vote.

As for his future, Gautron, who is Provincial Coordinator for PPC Manitoba, says he would definitely be interested in being on the ballot again, but notes that is ultimately a decision to be made by the party members in Provencher.