Battle River-Crowfoot candidates predict a tougher byelection for Pierre Poilievre than landslide April election win

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Battle River-Crowfoot candidates say many voters are unhappy about having to go back to the polls less than four months after re-electing their Conservative Party of Canada MP.
Residents of the rural Alberta riding overwhelmingly voted for Damien Kurek in April's general election, when the now former MP received more than 82 per cent of the vote.
But following Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre's defeat in his Ottawa-area riding in April, Kurek officially stepped aside in June to allow Poilievre to run in what's regarded as a safe Conservative riding. A byelection will take place Aug. 18 in Battle River-Crowfoot, a huge riding spanning close to 53,000 square kilometres that includes the communities of Camrose, Drumheller, Wainwright and Stettler.
Independent candidate Bonnie Critchley, who lives in the central Alberta town of Tofield, in the northwest corner of the riding, says a surprising number of Conservative voters feel Kurek 'sold us out.'
Enough are upset that Critchley, a small-c conservative, believes she has a shot at an upset against Poilievre.
'If Mr. Poilievre beats me in the upcoming election, it won't be by much,' said Critchley, who argues the riding needs a local candidate who understands their concerns.
The needs of the Ottawa-area Carlton riding, where the Conservative leader held a seat for two decades, are much different than those of the rural Alberta riding of Battle River-Crowfoot, said Critchley.
'Very few of my neighbours that I've talked to are particularly happy about the idea of Mr. Poilievre just assuming we're going to vote for him because we voted for Mr. Kurek,' said Critchley, adding Kurek is a farmer and understood the riding's needs.
Besides 'being tired and angry, and tired of being angry from the 'American-style politics that keep leaking over the border,' Battle River-Crowfoot residents are mainly concerned with the increasing cost of living, said Critchley, a retired military veteran who served more than 22 years.
Critchley said some of her platform points, such as the right to repair, address ways to reduce this.
'As (appliances) become more and more proprietary, it costs us more and more, and we have lost work hours because we have to sit there and try to work around broken equipment that we can't repair on our own . . . because companies are refusing to provide parts.'
Another independent Battle River-Crowfoot candidate, Sarah Spanier, says her frustrations led her to run for political office for the first time.
'We voted for Damien, over 82 per cent, and now we've had that taken away from us without as much as a conversation,' said Spanier, who was born and raised in Calgary.
'We're being called the easiest riding in the country (for the Conservatives), which is a little bit insulting.'
Poilievre has many 'loud' supporters in his corner, but Spanier says she's been getting 'quiet support' from people worried about their personal safety or their business suffering if they publicly support her.
Asked if there's a chance anyone other than Poilievre could win the byelection, Spanier replied: 'If enough people are willing to listen, then yes, 100 per cent.
'Obviously I'd like to come away with a win here, there's no denying that. As long as I can get people to really understand where I'm coming from and that I'm actually doing things to change, I think that will be a small win for me.'
Spanier said she's worked in a wide range of fields, including security, supporting the unhoused and working with people with developmental disabilities.
'But the heart of my professional life has been in child care and management, especially working with kids who have learning and developmental disabilities,' Spanier said on her website.
One anchor of her platform is reducing the cost of living, and she has written a bill, the Affordable Food Act for All, aimed at reducing the cost of groceries.
'It would kind of help reduce the price gouging that we see sometimes,' she said, adding it would also reduce food waste by ensuring edible food thrown out by grocers is instead donated.
Spanier is also running on improving government accountability, wanting both the Conservatives and Liberals to do better, as well as rural economic development.
'(Kurek) hasn't actually brought anything back for us,' she said. 'No grants, nothing. It's time that somebody actually does that.'
People's Party of Canada candidate Jonathan Bridges said he's heard plenty of talk that residents aren't pleased the Conservatives have a parachute candidate — 'somebody who's coming from living so far away for so long, trying to just take the riding simply because it's the strongest in the country for his party.'
While Bridges, who also ran this spring in Battle River-Crowfoot — finishing fourth — says the party's policies resonate with many in the riding, so they seem hesitant to 'make any real change.'
'Getting out and talking to people is an important thing, and helping people become more aware of what our party is and what we stand for,' he said.
Bridges believes the level of support this time will return, or even surpass, the 10 per cent support that the party got in the 2021 general election. In the neighbouring riding of Bow River, Bridges received 10 per cent of the vote in a second-place finish to former Conservative MP Martin Shields.
Bridges, a heavy equipment mechanic with a family, said he is unable to spend as much time campaigning as he would like, still having to work during the campaign.
But the PPC has more volunteers this time around, so will be able to visit more places than this spring, said Bridges.
The Longest Ballot Committee has also said it plans to field an 'enormous' number of candidates in the byelection.
'The LBC looks forward to the continued discussions regarding how elections are held in this great nation, and the continued gift-giving that is Long Ballots,' committee spokesman Donovan Eckstrom has said.
While Bridges believes Canada needs some election reform, he said the LBC is going about it the wrong way.
'It creates a lot of confusion and a great deal of annoyance to the electors, which is their point,' he said.
Meanwhile, Canada's three national parties, headlined by Poilievre, are all running different candidates than they did in the spring. Those candidates could not be reached for comment.
On the Conservatives' Battle River-Crowfoot Association website, Poilievre and the party say their mission — 'to put you back in charge of your life' — remains.
'Give everyone who works hard a fair shot at an affordable home in a safe community. That includes fairness for the West by unleashing our oil and gas, supporting farmers, and cutting the size and cost of the federal government. A smaller federal government will make room for a bigger Alberta.'
​On the website, Poilievre also praised Kurek, whom he called a 'great Canadian patriot.'
​'​Pierre is working closely with Damien and his big team of volunteers on the local Conservative board, speaking to folks in the region, and continuing the fight to restore the promise of Canada.'
Going up against Poilievre for the Liberals this time is Darcy Spady, a 'seasoned energy leader, community advocate and proud Albertan.' In April, Liberal candidate Brent Sutton finished a distant second to Kurek, receiving 11.7 per cent of the vote.
According to a brief biography on the Liberal party's website, Spady spent most of his youth in Three Hills, a community in the riding, where he met his partner, Laurie. Spady's family farmed west of Acme, near the southwest corner of the riding.
The professional engineer, who earned a bachelor of science degree in petroleum engineering from the University of Alberta, is currently the managing partner and co-founder of Carbon Connect International, a Canadian emissions reduction company with offices in Calgary, Ecuador and Chile. Spady also serves on several boards in Canada and internationally, 'advancing cleantech, energy poverty awareness, and more,' according to the website of Global Helium, where he's listed as a director.
'As the next Member of Parliament for Battle River-Crowfoot, Darcy will be a strong voice for the people and communities across the region, working tirelessly with Mark Carney and the Liberal team to bring down costs, create good-paying jobs, and build a stronger Alberta and Canada,' the Liberals say.
The NDP have also got a new candidate contesting the byelection — Katherine Swampy, an Indigenous leader, advocate and academic. in the spring, the NDP's James MacKay ran for the party and received 3.2 per cent of the vote.
'As your MP, she will fight for everyday people in Battle River-Crowfoot struggling to buy groceries, pay rent and afford their electricity,' says the NDP. 'She believes that housing is a human right and will make affordable housing initiatives a priority.'
Swampy, who served as a band councillor for the Samson Cree Nation for six years, is a business development manager, supporting Indigenous women in business.
'Katherine dances and teaches young girls the jingle dress dance and how to sew traditional regalia. Katherine also counsels youth in her community,' said the NDP.
'She is a fierce advocate for women's rights, Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, Indigenous Peoples, the environment, and LGTBQ2S+ rights.'
Two other candidates are running in the riding — the Green Party of Canada's Douglas Gook, who received less one per cent of the vote in Battle River-Crowfoot in April, and Christian Heritage Party of Canada's Jeff Willerton, an author who says on his website that he's run in a dozen elections in Alberta and Saskatchewan.
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