Local MP has faith in Poilievre’s leadership following byelection win

Aug 19, 2025 | 11:55 AM

The MP for Vernon-Lake Country-Monashee is confident in the leader of the Conservatives ability to continue to lead the party.

Pierre Poilievre won the August 18 by-election in Battle River-Crowfoot with 40,548 votes, or 80.4 per cent of the ballots cast. That figure was based on all but one polling station reporting as of 11:55 a.m. Tuesday, August 19.

In response to the resounding win, Scott Anderson said he was confident in Poilievre’s ability to garner the support needed to earn a seat back in the House of Commons.

“I’m not shocked [by the win there] at all. The previous MP was quite popular, and he won by quite a landslide as well,” Anderson told Vernon Matters.

Elections Canada reported 50,434 ballots cast in this byelection, representing just 58.82 per cent of eligible voters in the Battle River-Crowfoot riding. However, Anderson said the low voter turnout was not unexpected.

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“I think people in the riding understood what the dynamics were, and I think there was a lot of ‘Well, he’s going to win anyway,'” Anderson said.

“It was a foregone conclusion for anybody that knew what the dynamics in that riding were. It’s an interior Alberta riding, it’s not going to vote anything other than Conservative.”

The local MP said he was a bit concerned about the long ballot campaign and the “disruption” it caused. He acknowledged the original intent of the long ballot was to try to encourage electoral reform, but says he thinks it has veered away from that original goal.

“I believe in a democracy that anybody who wants to run should be allowed to run, but I think just putting names on a ballot just with the expressed intent to disrupt the democratic process is not a good way of going about it,” Anderson said.

“I know [electoral reform] is their goal, but their tactics, the intent, is disruption. Their goal may be that, and I would encourage them to pursue that as it has been pursued, unsuccessfully, through the electoral process, not through disruption.”

The long ballot campaign was also run in Poilievre’s past jurisdiction of Carleton, and in Mark Carney’s riding of Nepean, during the last election. It had also been used in previous elections, including in Justin Trudeau’s riding when he was prime minister.

Parliament resumes in September, and Anderson said he believed Poilievre will return to a round of applause from his side of the aisle and take the reigns of the party once again.

“He has always been the leader, he will continue to be the leader in caucus,” Anderson said.

“It’s a pretty seamless transition for the Conservative Party.”

He also said he believed Poilievre would continue to focus on a “common sense” approach in leading the party when Parliament resumed.

The Conservatives will hold a leadership review in January of 2026, but the local MP said he does not believe that will result in any changes.

“If there are any [dissenters], they are hiding it very very well,” Anderson told Vernon Matters.

“I see a standing ovation every time in caucus when [Poilievre] appears. I’ve never heard any rumblings behind the scenes. So whoever has malicious intent, if they do, I’m not aware of it and they’re going to have a heck of an uphill battle.”

Parliament will resume after the summer break on September 15.

by Liam Verster

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