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By The Canadian Press

Federal Politics

Longest Ballot Committee adds 132 names onto candidates list for Battle River-Crowfoot byelection

Jul 22, 2025 | 9:46 AM

An advocacy-protest group that broke its own record last week for putting the most candidates on an election ballot has now registered 132 for the federal Battle River-Crowfoot byelection in Alberta.

Elections Canada reported that 132 candidates sponsored by the Longest Ballot Committee were registered for the August 18 byelection as of Monday.

The byelection has been in the spotlight because federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is also running in the riding.

The Longest Ballot Committee’s previous record of 91 candidates set in the April general election was broken last week when it registered 100 candidates on the Alberta byelection ballot.

The group has helped dozens of candidates register in multiple contests in Ontario, Quebec and Manitoba since 2022 to draw attention to its cause.

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It has said it wants a citizens’ assembly put in charge of crafting a new electoral system, arguing that political parties are reluctant to make the government more representative of a diverse electorate.

Poilievre has criticized the long ballot initiative, suggesting it undermines the spirit of the democratic process.

Candidates can continue signing up for the Alberta byelection for another week ahead of the July 28th cutoff.

Earlier this week, the Longest Ballot Committee provided a statement to rdnewsNOW following our interview with another candidate in the byelection, who is not affiliated with them, Bonnie Critchley.

Tomas Szuchewycz says for a few years now, they’ve been calling on politicians such as Poilievre to recuse themselves from deciding election rules, and that’s because, in their opinion, politicians have “too much skin in the game.”

“There is a clear and inappropriate conflict of interest. After all, what Prime Minister would reform the system which brought them to power?,” asks Szuchewycz.

“Poilievre’s proposal for a new 1,000 signature requirement would have a profound and negative impact on Canadian democracy. In most of Canada it would turn every election into a two party race, and in safe ridings, like Battle-River Crowfoot, we would likely see no election at all, races would simply be won by acclamation.”

Szuchewycz calls the idea ill-conceived, self-serving and downright dangerous.

“[It] reinforces our conviction that politicians are not well-suited to decide the rules of their own elections. Our democracy should be designed to serve voters, not the short term political interests of those in power,” says Szuchewycz.

“So long as we are legally permitted to do so we will continue to use long ballots as a platform to call on politicians of all stripes to do the right and ethical thing: recuse yourselves and pass responsibility for deciding election rules to a permanent, independent, and non-partisan body, such as a citizens’ assembly.”

That story is available here.

(with files from The Canadian Press)