Pierre Poilievre wins Alberta byelection, regains seat in House of Commons

Nearly four months after losing his seat in the House of Commons, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is heading back to Ottawa after a resounding victory in a rural Alberta byelection Monday night.

Poilievre’s victory in Battle River—Crowfoot was hardly in doubt after polls closed and results began trickling in, with the Tory leader jumping to a commanding lead that never really narrowed.

The Calgary-born Poilievre was leading by about 19,000 votes with just over 69 per cent of polls reporting.

“I say to all of the people, not just in the great region of Battle River—Crowfoot, but right across the country, to anyone who has been knocked down but has got back up and kept on going, you haven’t given up, so I won’t give up,” Poilievre told the crowd at a victory party in Camrose, Alta.

“We will work together, we will fight together, we will sacrifice together to restore the opportunity that our grandparents left for us so that we can leave it for our grandchildren. So that we can once again restore a country that is strong, self-reliant and sovereign.”

His nearest challengers were far behind. Military veteran Bonnie Critchley, who ran as an independent, was second, while Liberal candidate Darcy Spady, from the energy sector, was third as results continued to come in.

Battle River—Crowfoot, the sprawling eastern Alberta riding that stretches from Edmonton to Calgary, was left vacant when Conservative Damien Kurek stepped down shortly after the spring election to make way for Poilievre, who lost in the Ottawa-area riding of Carleton after being elected there seven straight times.

Poilievre thanked Kurek and his wife Danielle in his victory speech.

The byelection was in one of the safest Conservative seats in the country, and many expected the Tory leader to win by a large margin.

“Getting to know the people in this region has been the privilege of my life,” Poilievre told the crowd. “In fact, I’ve had a hell of a lot of fun.

“I really love the people of Battle River—Crowfoot. They are the kind of ‘what you see is what you get,’ give you the shirt off your back, tell it like it is, common sense people.”

There were a record 214 names on the ballot, most of whom are part of a protest movement called the Longest Ballot Committee, which is pushing for electoral reform to replace the first-past-the-post system.

As a result of the number of people running, voters had to write the name of their preferred candidate on a modified blank ballot, which was expected to slow down the vote count.

–With files from The Canadian Press