Battle River-Crowfoot voters head to polls in byelection with Poilievre's name on ballot
Voters head to the polls today in a rural Alberta byelection that's getting an unusual level of national attention.
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Battle River-Crowfoot was left vacant when Conservative Damien Kurek stepped down shortly after the spring election to make way for his party's leader, Pierre Poilievre, to run for a seat.
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Poilievre lost in the April election after being elected in the Ottawa-area riding of Carleton seven straight times.
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The byelection is in one of the safest Conservative seats in the country, and the Tory leader is widely expected to win by a large margin.
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More than 200 people are running against Poilievre, most of whom are part of a protest movement called the Longest Ballot Committee.
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As a result of the record number of people in the running, Elections Canada says voters will need to write in the name of their preferred candidate on a modified ballot.
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Polls will be open from 8:30 a.m. until 8:30 p.m. MT. Elections Canada says it expects the vote count will take longer than usual, given the unique blank ballot.
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More than 14,000 people already cast a vote in advance polls. There are more than 86,000 eligible voters in the riding.
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Vancouver Sun
3 hours ago
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Anaida Poilievre says she's writing a book in Montreal
After dedicating a chunk of her summer to a rural Alberta byelection campaign to get Conservative Party of Canada Leader and husband Pierre Poilievre back in the House of Commons, Anaida Poilievre is poised to spend a month in Montreal writing a book. Poilievre, editor in chief and frequent contributor to the Pretty and Smart Co. lifestyle platform she founded, revealed her intention to take her authorship to the next level in a Facebook post about accommodations in the city's Griffintown neighbourhood. In the late July message in Nous sommes des citoyens du Griffintown (We are citizens of Griffintown), Poilievre said she was in search of a short-term, furnished rental with a gym and swimming pool. Start your day with a roundup of B.C.-focused news and opinion. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder. The next issue of Sunrise will soon be in your inbox. Please try again Interested in more newsletters? Browse here. 'A little getaway while I write a book,' she wrote. 'I will be coming in and out and at times bring my two kids for a weekend with me, etc. But it's mainly just me parked at a desk writing all day.' Poilievre said she'd had 'no luck' because many buildings in the area have bylaws that explicitly prohibit short-term rentals, such as Airbnb or Vrbo. Earlier this year, Montreal restricted such rentals to operating solely in the summer months , except for a small zone. The former political staffer and mother of two didn't say what the book was about, but later replied to the post that 'It's full of hope and positivity, and I think you'll love it. 'After all, kindness doesn't cost much.' National Post has contacted Poilievre for comment and to learn more about the forthcoming book. Under her bio at Pretty and Smart, it describes her as the 'author of Strong Pillars: Building an Unshakable Foundation (coming soon).' Monday night, the Poilievres were in Camrose, Alta., celebrating Pierre's byelection win in a safe Conservative seat vacated by Damien Kurek, who stepped down to make way for the party leader. Across her social media channels, Poilievre shared a 'We're back' message along with a collage of photos featuring kids Cruz, 3, and Valentina, 4, and one of her and Pierre. In her note, she addressed the 'up and down' nature of political life and the sacrifices it takes. She also talked about the 'ugly side.' 'Friendships come and go as if dictated by the polls,' Poilievre stated. 'Just like the weather, people come and go. So remember, family is everything and fighting for hope is still worth it all.' We're back. 🫶🏻💙 Poilievre, who immigrated to Canada from Venezuela with her family in 1995, obtained a bachelor of arts in communication from the University of Ottawa. At 19, she began working as a parliamentary affairs adviser for Senator Claud Carignan, during which time she met her would-be husband. In 2015, she began working for Alberta MP Michael Cooper, but resigned after the 2022 leadership convention. Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark and sign up for our daily newsletter, Posted, here .
Edmonton Journal
3 hours ago
- Edmonton Journal
Anaida Poilievre says she's writing a book in Montreal
Article content After dedicating a chunk of her summer to a rural Alberta byelection campaign to get Conservative Party of Canada Leader and husband Pierre Poilievre back in the House of Commons, Anaida Poilievre is poised to spend a month in Montreal writing a book. Article content Poilievre, editor in chief and frequent contributor to the Pretty and Smart Co. lifestyle platform she founded, revealed her intention to take her authorship to the next level in a Facebook post about accommodations in the city's Griffintown neighbourhood. Article content Article content Article content In the late July message in Nous sommes des citoyens du Griffintown (We are citizens of Griffintown), Poilievre said she was in search of a short-term, furnished rental with a gym and swimming pool. Article content Article content Poilievre said she'd had 'no luck' because many buildings in the area have bylaws that explicitly prohibit short-term rentals, such as Airbnb or Vrbo. Earlier this year, Montreal restricted such rentals to operating solely in the summer months, except for a small zone. Article content The former political staffer and mother of two didn't say what the book was about, but later replied to the post that 'It's full of hope and positivity, and I think you'll love it. Article content 'After all, kindness doesn't cost much.' Article content Article content Article content Under her bio at Pretty and Smart, it describes her as the 'author of Strong Pillars: Building an Unshakable Foundation (coming soon).' Article content Monday night, the Poilievres were in Camrose, Alta., celebrating Pierre's byelection win in a safe Conservative seat vacated by Damien Kurek, who stepped down to make way for the party leader. Article content Across her social media channels, Poilievre shared a 'We're back' message along with a collage of photos featuring kids Cruz, 3, and Valentina, 4, and one of her and Pierre. Article content In her note, she addressed the 'up and down' nature of political life and the sacrifices it takes. She also talked about the 'ugly side.' Article content 'Friendships come and go as if dictated by the polls,' Poilievre stated. Article content 'Just like the weather, people come and go. So remember, family is everything and fighting for hope is still worth it all.'
National Post
4 hours ago
- National Post
Michael Taube: Poilievre proved Alberta separatists were never a force to be reckoned with
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre easily won Monday's Battle River-Crowfoot byelection with 80.4 per cent of the vote. If anyone actually expected a different outcome in this extremely safe Alberta riding, they were fooling themselves. Article content While his victory wasn't surprising, the fact that he was in this potentially precarious position to begin with certainly was. Article content Article content Article content Poilievre had served as an MP since 2004 in two Ottawa-based ridings: Nepean-Carleton (redistricted in 2012) and Carleton. He lost to little-known Liberal candidate Bruce Fanjoy in the April 28 election. Several factors likely contributed to it, including: voters having turned away from Conservative candidates in the Ottawa region, concerns related to U.S. President Donald Trump and tariffs, and, as Poilievre suggested in a July 12 interview with CBC's The House, his campaign promise to cut public service jobs led to a 'very aggressive campaign, particularly the public sector unions … to defeat me on that basis.' Article content Article content No matter the reason or reasons, Poilievre needed to find a new parliamentary seat. This occurred when Conservative MP Damien Kurekresigned from his Battle River-Crowfoot seat and opened the doors to a byelection. Article content Battle River-Crowfoot has long been regarded as one of the safest Conservative ridings in Canada. Many residents in this rural Alberta riding have a fiscally conservative approach to politics and economics and socially conservative sensibilities. While the independence movement in Western Canada has some sway in these parts, its overall impact clearly didn't affect the byelection result. Article content The safeness of the seat didn't stop a slew of comments from the media and candidates like Bonnie Critchley, the independent military veteran who finished a surprising second in Battle River-Crowfoot, that Poilievre was an outsider in this race, and so would be at a disadvantage. While it's true that he had never lived in the riding, he was born and raised in Calgary and didn't move to Ottawa until 2000. Nevertheless the separatists in the riding pushed the narrative that because he called himself patriot, he didn't have the riding's best interests at heart — or the province's. They also pointed to his support of equalization payments and supply management as evidence of this. Article content Article content It didn't amount to much. This is one of the safest Conservative seats in Canada, and any perceived weaknesses in Poilievre's policies and beliefs was clearly exaggerated by his opponents. Article content The riding's current boundaries were created during the federal re-election distribution in 2012. There hasn't been a close election result to date. Kevin Sorenson won with 47,552 votes, or 80.91 per cent of the vote, in 2015. He was replaced by Damien Kurek, who won with 53,309 votes (85.49 per cent), 41,819 votes (71.3 per cent) and 53,684 votes (82.84 per cent) in 2019, 2021 and 2025, respectively.
