OPINION

By Ian Pattison

ADVANCE voting is complete in Alberta's Battle River-Crowfoot byelection where Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre is trying to get back into Parliament after losing his longtime seat in Ottawa in April.

More than 14,000 people voted between last Friday and Monday and the turnout was within 20 votes of advance polling in the general election in which Damien Kurek secured 83-per-cent support, continuing the strong Tory trend in the rural riding.

Will Poilievre match it as the rest of the electorate prepares to cast ballots on Monday? If he doesn’t he could be in considerable trouble within his own party. If he does, he will present Mark Carney with the prime minister’s first serious challenge as summer begins to give way to the Sept. 15 return of Parliament.

Wh

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