Pierre Poilievre now faces tougher challenges ahead after Monday's overwhelming byelection win
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Poilievre won the rural east-central Alberta riding with 80.4 per cent of the vote, down slightly from the 82.8 per cent that former Battle River-Crowfoot MP Damien Kurek got in the spring federal election. Kurek stepped down in June to allow the Conservative leader to run in the byelection after Poilievre lost his Ottawa-area riding in the April 28 election.
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Independent candidate Bonnie Critchley finished a distant second, receiving 9.9 per cent of the 50,434 ballots cast, a turnout of 58.8 per cent. Liberal candidate Darcy Spady was third, with 4.3 per cent support, in a byelection featuring over 200 candidates, the vast majority of them signed up by the Longest Ballot Committee, which has been running many candidates in high-profile ridings in an attempt to bring about electoral reform.
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'Getting to know the people in this region has been the privilege of my life. In fact, I've had a hell of a lot of fun,' said Poilievre in his victory speech Monday night in Camrose.
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This fall, Poilievre said the Conservatives will take on the Liberals over 'out-of-control' inflation, crime, immigration, cost of living and house prices.
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'US and Chinese tariffs have actually worsened since Mr. Carney got elected. That was the election that he ran on getting a better deal,' he said before striking a conciliatory note, saying the Conservatives 'want to work with any party to put an end to the tariffs and get a fair deal for Canada.'
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Critchley said Tuesday she was expecting more of the vote share, with polling suggesting she would win 16 per cent.
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'I didn't lie, I didn't cheat — I did what integrity actually looks like — and I worked hard for it. Because I worked hard, I made (Poilievre) work hard for it.'
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While Poilievre overwhelmingly won Monday, Mount Royal University professor Duane Bratt said Tuesday the Conservative leader's poll numbers against those of Carney heading into a leadership review early next year are going to matter more than winning the safest Conservative seat in the country.
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With Poilievre at the helm, the Conservatives had a big lead heading into this spring's election, but ended up losing to Mark Carney's Liberals, who formed a minority government.
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'He's been given time, but that doesn't mean that the grumbling is over,' said Bratt on Tuesday. 'There are still Conservatives who are upset with an election that they thought they had won.'
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