Riding the Populist Wave? Populist Contagion in the 2021 Canadian Federal Election

Abstract

The 2021 Canadian federal election witnessed the emergence of a stronger People's Party of Canada (PPC) and its populist communication style. Although the party ultimately failed to secure seats, previous research suggests that populist parties can disrupt electoral dynamics through populist contagion, wherein established parties adopt a populist communication style to contend with the threat of emergent populist competitors. Using a mixed-methods approach, this thesis examines whether the populist communication style employed by PPC candidates resulted in a contagion effect in the rhetoric of Conservative Party of Canada’s (CPC) local campaigns in the same district. To test this, this study analyzes the extent of populist rhetoric utilized by PPC and CPC candidates in 60 electoral ridings, drawing from an original dataset of over 7,500 tweets. Additionally, the study presents findings from a semi-structured interview with a PPC campaign official to further explore the context of the 2021 election.