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2025 Battle River—Crowfoot federal by-election
By-election in Canada From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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A by-election was held in the federal riding of Battle River—Crowfoot in Alberta, Canada, on August 18, 2025, following the resignation of Conservative MP Damien Kurek to allow Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre an opportunity to return to Parliament following his defeat to Liberal candidate Bruce Fanjoy in his former riding of Carleton, Ontario.[1][2]
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Poilievre won the riding by receiving 80.86% of the vote, allowing him to return to Parliament as both a sitting MP and as Leader of the Opposition. Independent candidate Bonnie Critchley won 9.82% of the vote, placing second.
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Background
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On May 2, 2025, Prime Minister Mark Carney affirmed his commitment to promptly ask Governor General Mary Simon to issue a writ for the by-election when requested, stating, "If it's the decision of him and the Conservative Party to trigger ... a by-election, I will ensure that it happens as soon as possible."[3] Kurek announced his resignation later that day. Kurek said in a statement his resignation is what is best for the party and his constituents.[4] Kurek said he intends to run again in the riding in the next general election.[5]
By law, Kurek's resignation could not be officially tendered until 30 days after the publication of the election result in the Canada Gazette,[6] which occurred on May 15, 2025.[7] Kurek officially resigned on Tuesday, June 17, 2025.[8] The governor general, who could issue a writ of election no sooner than 11 days after notice is given of a vacancy, dropped the writ on June 30, 2025, for a by-election to be held on August 18, 2025.[9] The riding is considered a "stronghold" for the Conservatives.[10]
The riding was targeted by the Longest Ballot Committee which pushed the number of registered candidates to a record 214. Elections Canada opted to use write-in ballots instead of standard ballots, normally used for early voting at Elections Canada offices or when using a mail-in ballot. This is permitted by the Canada Elections Act during "an unusual or unforeseen circumstance."[11]
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Timeline
- April 28: 2025 Canadian federal election
- Damien Kurek wins the Battle River—Crowfoot seat
- Pierre Poilievre loses the Carleton seat in Ontario
- June 17: Kurek resigns his seat
- June 18: The Speaker informs the Chief Electoral Officer of Canada that the seat is vacant[12]
- June 30: Writ of Election is dropped by Governor General Mary Simon on the instruction of the prime minister
- July 28: Nomination period closed[13]
- Elections Canada announces that write in ballots will be used[14]
- July 29: Candidate forum, hosted by the Camrose & District Chamber of Commerce[15]
- July 30: Official candidate list published[13]
- July 31: Candidate forum in Tofield, hosted by Talk Truth[16]
- August 5: Candidate forum, hosted by the Drumheller & District Chamber of Commerce[17]
- August 7: Candidate forum, hosted by the Stettler Public Library and the Stettler Regional Board of Trade[18]
- August 8–12: Advance voting[19]
- August 13: Elections Canada reports that 14,454 votes were cast in advanced voting[20][21]
- August 18: Election day. Polls close at 8:30pm MDT (UTC−06:00)[22]
- Pierre Poilievre wins the Battle River—Crowfoot seat
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Candidates
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Grant Abraham
Abraham is the leader of the United Party of Canada. He is also a lawyer, author, and columnist. He ran for leader of the Conservative Party of Canada in 2022,[23] but was disqualified.[24][25][26]
He was a candidate in Ponoka—Didsbury in the 2025 federal election receiving 2,129 votes (3.1%). He also got 238 votes (0.7%) in the 2024 Durham federal by-election. He was also an unsuccessful candidate in the 2019 United Kingdom general election in the constituency of Strangford, where he stood for the Northern Ireland Conservatives.[27]
Abraham lives in Calgary.[28] He attended high school in Abbotsford, British Columbia, before completing bachelor's degree in business and English at Trinity Western University.[29] He completed a law degree at Queen's University Belfast.[29]
Abraham's campaign focused on advocating for Alberta separatism.[28][30]
Jonathan Bridges
Bridges was the candidate for the People's Party of Canada,[31] and is a heavy equipment mechanic[32][33] who lives in Linden, Alberta.[34] Bridges ran in the 2021 federal election as the PPC candidate in Bow River. After the 2022 Canadian federal electoral redistribution, his community of Linden was moved to Battle River—Crowfoot, and ran there in the 2025 federal election. He received 5,108 votes (10%) and 1,022 votes (1.5%) in those elections, respectively.[35][36][37]
Bridges said that he believes that Canada's major parties have drifted away form the values of Canadians, which he described as Judeo-Christian values. Maxime Bernier, the leader of the PPC, campaigned with Bridges,[33] and voiced support for Alberta's secession from Canada.[38]
Bonnie Critchley
Critchley ran as a "centrist independent"[39] candidate; she was a master corporal stationed at CFB Wainwright[39][40][41] and deployed to Afghanistan in 2011.[42] Critchley lives in Tofield, Alberta.[15]
Critchley ran as an alternative to Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre.[43] She is a recipient of the General Campaign Star (South-West Asia) and the Canadian Forces' Decoration.[41]
Critchley opposes the carbon tax and recent changes by the Trudeau government to gun control laws.[44] She is in favour of electoral reform, particularly in light of the 'Longest Ballot Committee', is opposed to Albertan Independence,[45] and says that a focus of hers is on tackling the 'increasing cost of living".[46]
She had been described as the "most visible threat to Poilievre’s [re-election] prospects".[47][48]
Michael Harris
Michael Harris is a political sciences student who ran for the Libertarian Party to push forward a referendum on Albertan independence.[15][49][50][51] Harris said he is running on a "platform focused on individual liberty, Alberta autonomy, and ending federal programs like equalization and supply management."[52][53] Harris criticized Poilievre for using the riding as a "stepping stone to national ambitions".[53]
Kenneth Kirk
Kirk was the Marijuana Party candidate,[54] and leader of the party's unregistered provincial counterpart since 2000.[55][56][57] Kirk endorsed fellow candidate Bonnie Critchley, and encouraged people to vote for her despite being on the candidate list himself.[58][59]
Ashley MacDonald
MacDonald was the candidate for the Green Party of Canada. He lives in Red Deer, Alberta and works as a mental health worker.[60]
MacDonald previously ran for the Green Party in Red Deer in the 2025 federal election, receiving 618 votes (1.0%). He also has been involved with the Green Party of Alberta, previously serving as party president,[61] and ran provincially in Red Deer-South in 2023, getting 274 votes (1.1%).[62]
Douglas Gook was originally announced as the candidate for the party. However, he never registered with Elections Canada; thus, he was replaced. Gook ran in the 2025 general election in Battle River—Crowfoot, receiving 474 votes (0.74%).[63][64][65]
Pierre Poilievre
Poilievre worked for Canadian Alliance leader Stockwell Day. He was first elected in the 2004 federal election, initially representing the riding of Nepean—Carleton before it was redistributed as Carleton. Poilievre became the leader of the Conservative Party. He also served as leader of the Official Opposition from 2022 to 2025. In the 2025 Canadian federal election, Poilievre lost his seat of Carleton to Liberal candidate Bruce Fanjoy.
Darcy Spady
Spady was the candidate of the Liberal Party of Canada,[66][67] and is a professional engineer in the energy sector who manages a carbon emissions reduction company.[46] He grew up in Three Hills, in the riding, and was international president of the Society of Petroleum Engineers from 2018 to 2021.[67]
Sarah Spanier
Spanier was running as an independent and lives in Castor, Alberta.[68] She has worked in childcare, security, and social services.[69][70]
Katherine Swampy
Swampy, a band councillor for the Samson Cree Nation and Indigenous advocate, was announced as the candidate for the New Democratic Party for the by-election on July 8, 2025.[71] Swampy previously ran for the party in Leduc—Wetaskiwin in the 2025 federal election, placing third with 3,927 votes (6.1%),[72] and ran in the Edmonton Centre and Battle River—Crowfoot ridings in 2019 and 2015 respectively.
She has also run provincially for the Alberta NDP in 2023 in Maskwacis-Wetaskiwin and in 2015 in Drayton Valley-Devon.[73]
Jeff Willerton
Willerton was the candidate for the Christian Heritage Party of Canada.[54] He is an author, Canadian Armed Forces veteran, and formerly worked for the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.[74] He considers himself to be a social and fiscal conservative.[75] He resides in Airdrie.[76] He has run for seats in various provincial and federal elections in Alberta since 1997. His highest vote shares were 15.8% in the provincial riding of Airdrie-Chestermere in 2008 as a Wildrose Party candidate and 1.4% in the 2017 Calgary Heritage federal by-election as a Christian Heritage candidate. [77]
Longest Ballot Committee
The Longest Ballot Committee announced in May that they were targeting the by-election as part of its campaign protesting the first-past-the-post electoral system and would aim to have as many as 200 candidates placed on the ballot. The committee previously targeted Poilievre's former electoral district of Carleton in the 2025 federal election and claimed responsibility for adding 85 names to the ballot in that vote.[78] All of the declared independents except Colquhoun, Critchley, and Spanier are LBC candidates, a total of 201, far surpassing their previous record set earlier in 2025, and reaching their goal of 200 names. The grand total of 214 candidates on the ballot also more than doubles the previous all-time record of 91 set during the 2025 Carleton election and the 2024 LaSalle—Émard—Verdun federal by-election, both attributed to the LBC's efforts.[79]
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Debates
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Result
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Previous result
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See also
Notes
- Seat was vacant since June 17, 2025.
References
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