Canada’s Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre is projected to secure a return to Parliament after winning a high-profile by-election in Alberta’s Battle River–Crowfoot riding.
Preliminary results from Elections Canada show Poilievre leading with 80.4 per cent of the vote, with ballots still being counted. His win comes just four months after losing his longtime Ottawa-area seat to Liberal candidate Bruce Fanjoy in the federal election that saw Mark Carney’s Liberals form government.
“This has been the privilege of my life,” Poilievre told supporters Monday night, thanking former MP Damian Kurek for stepping aside to allow him to run in the Conservative stronghold. Kurek had previously carried the seat with 83 per cent of the vote.
The by-election drew a record 214 candidates, many linked to a protest group pushing for electoral reform. Voters were required to cast write-in ballots due to the unprecedented number of contenders.
Poilievre’s victory ensures his return to the House of Commons this fall, ahead of a mandatory Conservative leadership review set for January. Despite criticism from some local opponents who accused him of treating the seat as a political fallback, Poilievre insisted he worked the campaign as though he were “one vote behind,” stressing humility and trust-building.
