Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre speaks to supports after his by-election win in the riding of Battle River-Crowfoot in Camrose, Alta., on Monday.Amber Bracken/Reuters
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has been elected in a federal by-election in the Alberta riding of Battle River-Crowfoot, setting the stage for his return to the House of Commons after he failed to win his Ottawa-area riding in April’s election.
Mr. Poilievre was leading by about 5,500 votes with almost 20 per cent of polls reporting just over an hour after voting closed.
“Thank you very much to the great people of Battle River-Crowfoot,” Mr. Poilievre told supporters at a gathering in the riding. “If I stand before you here today, it is by the grace of God and the good generosity of so many people.” Foremost among them, he said, was his wife, Anaida.
Mr. Poilievre and Anaida Poilievre celebrate the by-election win on Monday at a gathering of supporters.JASON FRANSON/The Canadian Press
Since the federal election, Mr. Poilievre has been unable to debate Prime Minister Mark Carney in the House of Commons. Instead, he has been forced to raise concerns about federal Liberal policy from the political sidelines.
Despite Monday’s by-election win, Mr. Poilievre will face further challenges. In January, Conservative Party members are scheduled to vote in a review of his leadership prompted by the party’s defeat in the federal election.
With Poilievre on the ballot, voters in an overlooked corner of Alberta look for a brighter future
The by-election was called after Damien Kurek, the Conservative elected in the April election, stepped down to allow Mr. Poilievre a chance to seek a seat. In April, the Conservative Leader lost his Ottawa-area riding to Liberal challenger Bruce Fanjoy. Mr. Poilievre had represented the area since 2004.
Mr. Kurek, elected for the first time in 2019, was re-elected this spring with 82.8 per cent of the vote.
On the campaign trail ahead of the by-election, Mr. Poilievre had said he would bring national leadership to issues of local importance in Battle River-Crowfoot, an eastern Alberta riding that spans almost 53,000 square kilometres.
Wood Buffalo
National Park
THE GLOBE AND MAIL, SOURCE: ELECTIONS CANADA
Wood Buffalo
National Park
THE GLOBE AND MAIL, SOURCE: ELECTIONS CANADA
Wood Buffalo
National Park
THE GLOBE AND MAIL, SOURCE: ELECTIONS CANADA
The by-election was targeted by the Longest Ballot Committee, a protest group whose method of advocating for electoral reform is to stack ballots with dozens of independent candidates who are not trying to win. The group had previously targeted Mr. Poilievre’s Ottawa riding in the April election, leading to a ballot with 91 candidates on it.
In Battle River-Crowfoot, the list of registered candidates stretched to 214 names, 201 of them associated with the Longest Ballot Committee. The result, ironically, was the creation of the shortest ballot possible.
Elections Canada announced that, rather than print all the names on each ballot, it would print none of them and instead conduct the election by write-in. The elections agency said each ballot would be counted as long as the voter’s intention was clear.
Elections Canada had said that it would take special steps to process the vote as a result of the write-in measure.
In a statement, Elections Canada spokesperson Matthew McKenna said that additional staff had been hired for the by-election, and that the count of advance ballots began earlier than would be routine, two hours before polls closed.
More than 14,000 people cast ballots in advance polls held in the riding, which has more than 86,000 eligible voters.
A voter heads to the polls in the Battle River-Crowfoot riding. More than 14,000 people cast ballots in advance polls.Amber Bracken/Reuters
During the campaign, Mr. Poilievre called for changes to election laws. Government House Leader Steven MacKinnon’s office has said the government is examining the issue.
Among the candidates in the by-election were Mr. Poilievre, Darcy Spady of the Liberals, New Democrat Katherine Swampy and Bonnie Critchley, an independent candidate.
The specific timing of Mr. Poilievre’s return to the House of Commons remains unclear.
Elections Canada said the results of the by-election will have to be validated in a process scheduled for this coming Saturday.
Ahead of Monday’s results, Olivier Duhaime, a spokesperson for the House of Commons, said that a newly elected MP must be sworn in before they can take their seat in the Commons Chamber.
But Mr. Duhaime said the swearing-in is only scheduled after a certificate of election has been issued by the Chief Electoral Officer.
Mr. Duhaime said specific timelines for swearing-in ceremonies are not shared by the House of Commons.
The Commons is now on a summer break, and members are not scheduled to return until Sept. 15.
Earlier Monday, Ontario Premier Doug Ford, a Progressive Conservative, said if Mr. Poilievre is re-elected he should set aside his partisanship.
“Work with the Prime Minister,” Mr. Ford said, as he left a meeting with Prime Minister Mark Carney on Parliament Hill.
“It’s Team Canada. Let’s put our political stripes aside and start working together collectively on large infrastructure projects, and other areas that he can co-operate with the government.”
With reports from Laura Stone and The Canadian Press