Battle River—Crowfoot

A federal by-election was held in Battle River—Crowfoot on August 18, 2025, after Conservative MP Damien Kurek resigned his seat on June 17, 2025, to allow party leader Pierre Poilievre to re-enter Parliament. Poilievre had lost his longtime riding of Carleton in the April 2025 general election, and Kurek—who had represented Battle River—Crowfoot since 2019—stepped aside to open a path for his leader. The writ was issued on June 30, 2025. The by-election also drew national attention after more than 200 candidates associated with the Longest Ballot Committee registered in the riding as an electoral-reform protest, pushing the total to a record 214 names and prompting Elections Canada to use write-in ballots.

Candidates

Pierre Poilievre (Conservative) has been leader of the Conservative Party of Canada since September 2022. Born in Calgary and adopted as an infant, he was raised there and earned a Bachelor of Arts in international relations from the University of Calgary. First elected to Parliament in 2004 at the age of 25, he served in a variety of roles under Prime Minister Stephen Harper, including Minister of Employment and Social Development and Minister of State for Democratic Reform. He represented the Carleton riding in the Ottawa area for over two decades before his defeat in the 2025 general election.

Bonnie Critchley (Independent) is a retired Canadian Armed Forces veteran who served 22 years in the Canadian Army, reaching the rank of master corporal. She served with the King’s Own Calgary Regiment and deployed to Afghanistan in 2011. After retiring from the military, she settled in Beaver County within the riding. She ran as a self-described centrist independent, pledging to represent rural Alberta without partisan affiliation.

Darcy Spady (Liberal) is a professional engineer who grew up in Three Hills, within the riding. He graduated from the University of Alberta with a degree in petroleum engineering and went on to become the first Canadian to serve as international president of the Society of Petroleum Engineers, holding the position in 2018. He manages a carbon-emissions-reduction company and has served on boards involved in helium exploration and energy-poverty awareness.

Katherine Swampy (NDP) is a former band councillor for the Samson Cree Nation, where she served for six years. She works as a business development manager supporting Indigenous women in business and has held board positions including with Peace Hills Trust and Maskwacis Cultural College. She previously ran as an NDP candidate in the 2025 general election in Leduc—Wetaskiwin.

The remaining candidates included Grant Abraham (United Party of Canada), Jonathan Bridges (People’s Party), Ashley MacDonald (Green Party), Jeff Willerton (Christian Heritage Party), Michael Harris (Libertarian), Sarah Spanier (Independent), Kenneth Kirk (Marijuana Party), and Ahmed Hassan (Centrist), along with over 200 independents affiliated with the Longest Ballot Committee.

About the Riding

Battle River—Crowfoot spans roughly 52,000 square kilometres of east-central Alberta, making it one of the country’s most expansive federal ridings. The city of Camrose anchors the riding’s northwest, while the town of Drumheller—home to the Royal Tyrrell Museum—sits near its southwestern edge along the Red Deer River valley. Military life is woven into the area through Canadian Forces Base Wainwright, one of the Canadian Army’s primary training centres. The local economy is built on grain farming, cattle ranching, and energy extraction, with oil and gas operations concentrated in the eastern portion near Provost and Hardisty. Median household income in the riding runs well below the provincial average, and the population is spread thinly across dozens of small communities connected by long stretches of highway.