Get to know your candidates.

You'll have a chance to do just that this weekend, as federal Conservative leadership candidate Maxime Bernier will be in Portage la Prairie.

"Saturday at 2 p.m. at the Canad Inns there will be a meet and greet with Maxine Bernie and it's open to the public," says William Pallister, co-host of the event. "He's one of the frontrunners of the Conservative campaign for leadership which is will be on May 27th, and he's basically trying to meet Canadians from all over the country and Portage la Prairie's on his list. He's doing event stops in Manitoba (this week), two in Winnipeg, then Saturday he's going to Steinbach, Winkler, then Portage and later on he'll be in Brandon."

Introductions will begin just after 2 p.m. and Bernier will have a short speech just after.

"After that, he'll talk with people in the crowd and answer questions. It's free to attend, open to the public, and he's going to be spending time just meeting people."

Pallister says the number one thing Bernier is focusing on is lower taxes to create economic growth.

"His nickname that he likes to call himself is the 'Albertan from Quebec'," adds Pallister. "His policies would be great for Manitoba and our local economy here in Portage. I believe he's going to be the next Prime Minister. He wants to meet people in the local area, and wants to help garnish support for when he wins the leadership."