Poilievre to Return to House of Commons

Poilievre is projected to handily win the Alberta riding tonight

Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre will be back in the House of Commons keeping Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney in check.

In today's byelection held in the riding of Battle River-Crowfoot, in Alberta, Poilievre is leading with 80.1 percent of the vote, by far the most ballots compared to Independent candidate Bonnie Critchley (9.9 percent), and Liberal candidate Darcy Spady (4.4 percent).

Kurek gave up his seat for Poilievre to run

Poilievre was expected to win, as Battle River-Crowfoot is considered the most conservative riding in the country. MP Damien Kurek who had handily won the riding for the Conservatives during the general election in April, resigned so that Poilievre could run.

He had lost his seat of Carleton, in Ontario, that he had held for 20 years, which called into question Poilievre's leadership credibility.

But with this predicted decisive win, it signals there is no doubt the voters in Battle River-Crowfoot want him to be the official Leader of the Opposition.

The byelection was not without its controversies, the biggest being the ballot had a whopping 214 candidates on it. Elections Canada made the unprecedented move of getting voters to write down the name of the candidate they wanted to vote for instead of printing such long ballots.

Some critics were concerned that Poilievre was parachuting himself into the riding without even living there, while others were pleased to have the Conservative leader, as he could give the area more attention in the House of Commons.

The ballot with 214 candidates' names on it

"They're the kind of what you see is what you get, give you the shirt off their back, tell it like it is, common sense people," Poilievre said of the voters in Battle River-Crowfoot on Monday night.

"And they reinforced a lot of lessons that all of us in politics have to learn and relearn and relearn again. Humility and hard work. Loyalty and love."

The riding of Carleton bid Poilievre good riddance, while Battle River-Crowfoot has welcomed him with open arms.