Poilievre wins Battle River—Crowfoot byelection

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has secured a return to the House of Commons after winning today’s byelection in the Alberta riding of Battle River—Crowfoot.

Source: Facebook

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has secured a return to the House of Commons after winning today’s byelection in the Alberta riding of Battle River—Crowfoot.

Poilievre won the riding with 80.4 per cent of the vote (40,548 votes). In second place was Independent Bonnie Critchley, who captured 9.9 per cent of the vote (5,013).

The byelection was triggered after Conservative MP Damien Kurek resigned in May to clear the way for Poilievre’s run. Kurek, who secured 82.8 per cent of the vote in April’s general election, said his decision was about ensuring strong Conservative leadership in Ottawa.

“I know we need Pierre fighting in the House of Commons to hold the Liberal minority government to account,” Kurek said at the time. “This is what’s best for Canada, and is what’s best for Battle River—Crowfoot.”

Poilievre lost his longtime Carleton riding in Ottawa earlier this year following changes to the riding’s boundaries. He framed the Battle River—Crowfoot race as critical to amplifying rural Alberta’s concerns at the national level.

“I'll be honest, having a leader of a political party as your local member of parliament is a trade-off,” Poilievre told voters at a July 30 candidate forum. “The other side, though, is that leader can bring a very powerful megaphone to the local issues of the community.”

The contest was overshadowed by the Longest Ballot Committee, an activist group that registered 201 of the total 214 candidates, forcing Elections Canada to issue write-in ballots.

Despite the controversy, Poilievre focused his campaign on policy priorities ranging from scrapping electric vehicle mandates to fighting Chinese tariffs on Canadian canola.

“These local issues require strong national leadership, and it would be the privilege of my life to provide both the local representation and the national leadership for the community,” he told voters.

The Battle River—Crowfoot riding spans more than 52,000 square kilometres of east-central Alberta and is one of the safest Conservative strongholds in Canada. A June poll placed Conservative support at 81 per cent in the riding.

WATCH Poilievre’s victory speech!