Battle River-Crowfoot byelection runner-up Bonnie Critchley sits down with Alberta Primetime host Michael Higgins to discuss running against Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre, her future in politics and more. This interview has been edited for clarity and length. Michael Higgins: You were, by and large, the candidate to watch – you generated your own headlines, and that translated into capturing almost 10 per cent of the vote. How does that outcome mesh with the motivation that drew you to run in the first place? Bonnie Critchley: Well, I came. I showed up. I stood up, because I wanted to explain to the Conservative Party that we were not tools to be stepped on and discarded in one man’s ego-driven trip. So with 10 per cent I think we sent that message that it’s not a free trip. You’ve got to work for it. MH: So finishing second, that’s okay by you? BC: That’s okay by me. Honestly, I’m not going to lie – I’m a little disappointed. I did expect a higher percentage of the vote. My polling showed me running a little bit higher. But then a disinformation campaign came in, and there were shenanigans during election day. So I’m not 100 per cent surprised by how everything turned out. MH: What does it say to you that as an independent, you came in second? You finished ahead of candidates with party affiliation. BC: That tells me that my neighbors and our communities - my message resonated with them because it is our home, it is our riding. I still live there. He is now my MP so he’s going to get all sorts of letters from me if he doesn’t show up. Yesterday I said I challenge Monsieur Poilievre to actually come back to Battle River-Crowfoot and prove me wrong. Because I don’t think we’ll ever see him again. MH: You mentioned a moment ago election day shenanigans. BC: Yes. I am going to leave whether it was legal or illegal up to the Commissioner for Canadian Elections and the RCMP, but there were mocked up Elections Canada signs that had the appropriate disclaimer in font about that big on a three-by-six foot sign in a slightly different shade of yellow. There were issues where Deputy Returning Officers were handing out the large print books only with all the parties up front and all the independents in the back. Plus there were some other issues reported by my scrutineers that have been reported to the commissioner. MH: Ahead of election day, you expressed frustration with the Longest Ballot Group flooding the byelection with candidates. What do you feel their impact was on the outcome? BC: Oh, they cost me votes. They may have cost me the election. As I was going door-to-door, I had to say I am not a part of the longest ballot. This is not who I am with. I am here because I’m your neighbour, and this isn’t right. I had a few doors slammed in my face before I could get that out. Of course, the rest of the parties with the way things were done - with the change in the ballots and everything, I was the only one who really had a problem. Because I had the exact same party marking: “independent,” underneath my name as everybody else. MH: Do you take your concerns further, or is it over and done with as far as the Longest Ballot Group? BC: I’m going to look into options, because I really do think that is legal election interference. If nothing else, I want the regulations changed so that you have one official agent for one candidate - not one official agent for 204 candidates. MH: Let’s put the focus back on the gentleman who will now be your MP. As a resident of the riding, at any point during the election or afterwards, did you have the opportunity for a one-on-one conversation with Pierre Poilievre? BC: He avoided me any time we were at an event together. I had people saying he’s all over the place, he’s over there - and if I went looking, he’d be gone. He avoided me. We had a super brief conversation backstage at the forum in Camrose. He decided the rules didn’t apply to him, so he didn’t show up with the rest of the candidates in the green room. He felt the need to make a spectacle through the front door. So he showed up in the back just in time to shake everybody’s hand, and then we had to form up to go out on stage. Just showed up very, very briefly backstage during the intermission, shook hands again and disappeared again. So he did his utmost to avoid talking to me. I would absolutely welcome a conversation. I really would. MH: How do you expect Pierre Poilievre now to fare as a rural Alberta MP? BC: Like I said, I don’t think he’s going to show up. It is unfortunate, but it was really interesting, because his only platform points were blaming the Prime Minister for things. Let’s say removing the Trudeau-era firearms regulation and repealing that because it unfairly targets legal gun owners. That’s been on my platform since May, when I started. The first time I heard him speak about it was the Camrose forum and then come Drumheller he’s talking right to repair. So at the very least he was listening to me during the campaign. It will be very interesting to see if he listens to anybody moving forward. As for his leadership review, he’s got the lowest numbers of a Conservative leader in recent history, so we may be doing this again in March. MH: Does that mean Bonnie Critchley will seek office again? Will you take another stab at running for federal politics? BC: I can tell you I’m going to go sleep for a week first, because I didn’t come off the campaign trail until 11:30 Sunday night. I’m going to go sleep for a week, and then we’re going to see what happens. But I can tell you, I’m not done yet.
