The People's Party of Canada is hoping to get a footprint in the federal riding of Moose Jaw-Lake Centre-Lanigan.

Last week, a local riding association with the party officially formed, with retired Canadian Forces member Lloyd Hackel taking the reins as the association's CEO.

“The overall national membership at the moment is in excess of 37,000 I believe, and in this district we are right around 55 at the moment,” said Hackel.

Hackel said they aim to have a candidate in place for the federal election in the fall. Federally, the party is led by Maxime Bernier, a former Conservative party leadership candidate.There were people unhappy with the outcome of the Conservative Party leadership race in 2017, which was won by Andrew Scheer, and Hackel said there were grassroots groups forming across Canada in the wake of the result.

“Over the winter, various executive groupings for each electrical district association were formed,” he said. “At the moment we’re in the process of going through the selection process for candidates in the form that we’re accepting members... who want to become nominees for the candidacy. In this particular case, Moose Jaw-Lake Centre-Lanigan.”

The riding was won in 2015 by Conservative member Tom Lukiwski, who won with 55.5 per cent of the vote compared to 23.8 per cent from New Democratic Party candidate Dustan Hlady.

Lukiwski endorsed Scheer in the leadership race and has announced he will run again this year.