Podcast: Who the heck is Bonnie Critchley? She’s the opponent of Pierre Poilievre in federal byelection who’s now up against 100+ others

Speaking to rdnewsNOW and The Everything Red Deer Podcast, Critchley, who’s running as an independent, answers the question about who she is.

“I am a 22-year veteran of the Canadian Armed Forces with an Afghan tour. Upon my dad’s retirement, my folks moved to the Kneehill County area, and we breed and raise horses. I’d moved temporarily up to Beaver County, north of Camrose,” she says.

“Getting into this was interesting because we all voted for Damien, who asked us for a mandate, and we gave him one. Then he immediately turns around and goes, ‘Yeah, nevermind.’ And I’m not the only one a little incensed about it. People are struggling, living paycheque to paycheque, and now we have another $2 million byelection so that the guy who was fired by his previous constituency can run here, and we lose our guy.”

Notably, Critchley was for several days listed as the only opposition to Poilievre, but most people knew that’d change eventually.

In the last few days, it did just that, and quite drastically.

Grant Abraham will run for the United Party of Canada again, after doing so as the little-known party’s leader a couple months ago in the riding of Ponoka-Didsbury.

Michael Harris will run for the Libertarian Party of Canada.

Jeff Willerton will seek the seat on behalf of the Christian Heritage Party of Canada.

And… as of 5 p.m. on July 18, a staggering 103 others are listed as independent candidates, with the same agent, and known to be part of what’s called the ‘Longest Ballot Committee (LBC).’

It’s the same movement which jammed the ballot with nearly 100 names in Carleton, where Poilievre lost his seat to the Liberals. Though, the number of votes all the LBC candidates got wouldn’t have made the difference for Poilievre, who lost by an otherwise substantial enough margin.

Bonnie Critchley while on tour in Afghanistan, 2011. (Bonnie Critchley Independent campaign)

But LBC candidates aren’t listed on the ballot as ‘LBC’ — they’re ‘Independent,’ just like Critchley.

During a town hall in Stettler this week, Poilievre called the long ballot protests a scam, according to a report by the CBC.

While that’s one of the only things Critchley will admit she can agree with the Calgary-born Poilievre on, the reason why is interesting.

“The irony here is that the person this hurts the most is me, because underneath their names for this protest, is the exact same thing under mine. It says ‘Independent.’ He at least has a party name under his, so to vote for me, you have to know my name [well enough] to find me and put the tick beside my name,” she says.

We reached out to the Longest Ballot Committee, and received a statement from the agent for all those 103 candidates.

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.”

Goal one, Critchley clears up, isn’t strictly about preventing Poilievre from getting his coveted spot back in Parliament, it’s to maintain a voice for the communities and citizens of Battle River-Crowfoot.

Critchley believes if she’s elected as an independent, and considering the closeness of seats and what’s keeping the Liberal minority government afloat, her presence could be pivotal.

“Normally, an independent would have very, very little voice and very little power, but this is not most cases. We have an extremely tight minority government, and that makes me a swing vote,” she opines.

“If the government can put together, say, a defense spending bill palatable to my neighbours, I will support that. But to get my support, they would need to support my private member’s bill.”

Asked what more she thinks Ottawa can do for Alberta, Critchley shares she’s particularly interested in the subject of electoral reform.

“I have buried far too many friends under a Canadian flag to ever agree to separatism,” she says. “That being said, there is a history of western alienation, and everyone’s aware the election is over by the time it hits Ontario’s western border.”

rdnewsNOW has reached out to Poilievre’s campaign multiple times over the last two weeks to request an interview, and not yet received a response.

CATCH THE JULY 18 EPISODE OF THE EVERYTHING RED DEER PODCAST, WITH CAMERON DAVIES, LEADER OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY OF ALBERTA, AS WELL AS ALBERTA NDP LEADER NAHEED NENSHI, HERE.

by Josh Hall | @Vancan19

Podcast: Who the heck is Bonnie Critchley? She’s the opponent of Pierre Poilievre in federal byelection who’s now up against 100+ others

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