Meet the military trailblazer who's gunning for Pierre Poilievre in rural Alberta byelection
Story by Rahim Mohamed
Bonnie Critchley.
OTTAWA — Bonnie Critchley is used to defying expectations.
A trailblazer in uniform, Critchley was just 17 years old when she became the second woman ever to serve as an armoured crewman in her unit. She and dad Steve later made history as the first father–daughter gunnery crew in the Royal Canadian Armoured Corps.
She’s now looking to take out Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre in one of the safest Conservative ridings in Canada, running as an independent in the upcoming Battle River—Crowfoot byelection.
Critchley, who’s been traversing the rural Alberta riding for about a month, says she sees a path to an upset victory over Poilievre.
“Honestly, a good result for us would be a win,” Critchley told the National Post on Wednesday.
Conservative Damien Kurek easily won the riding in April’s election, with 82 per cent of the popular vote, announcing his
intention to step aside just a few days later.
Critchley said that Poilievre is starting off on the wrong foot after supplanting the just-reelected Kurek and sticking taxpayers with
a hefty byelection bill .
“I’ve been talking to a lot of ‘small-c’ conservatives around here who aren’t thrilled that the ‘big-C’ Conservatives are spending an extra two million dollars on a mulligan for a guy who failed in his duty to his constituents and was fired,” said Critchley.
Poilievre lost his Ottawa-area riding to Liberal Bruce Fanjoy by a five-point margin in April’s federal election, after holding the seat for two decades.
Critchley also says that the Calgary-born Poilievre has put off residents with early gaffes, including his clumsy attempts to appropriate western attire and accoutrements.
“Whether it’s
the backwards cowboy hat at the Wainwright Stampede or
sitting in a (Rolls Royce) in Drumheller, it just hasn’t landed,” said Critchley.
22-year army reservist who later rode her bike across Europe to raise money for veterans and first responders, Critchley has a CV that would be attractive to any major political party.
She says she’s running as an independent because she’s grown disillusioned with partisan politics.
“One of the things that I think we’re having issues with is team politics. It’s my team versus your team, and it doesn’t matter what my team does or says, my team is better than your team,” said Critchley.
She added that she’s finds it especially concerning when party politics prevents constituents from being properly represented, pointing to the Poilivre-Kurek switcheroo as a prime example of this problem.
Critchley also says she doesn’t have much time for the budding Alberta separatist movement, having fought under the Canadian flag in Aghanistan.
She recalls that one of her hardest days in uniform came when she took part in a press conference announcing the combat death of a close friend in September 2007.
Critchley calls herself a centrist and says she objects to “performative policies” on both the left and right.
She was one of many who welcomed the termination of the Liberals’ consumer carbon tax, calling it more symbolic than substantive.
“I’m not going to offer soft, easy answers to complex questions,” said Critchley.
She’s also said that she’ll work to repeal Trudeau-era gun control laws if elected to Parliament.
Critchley, who’s openly queer, says she also objects to right-wing points of view on trans issues.
She said that a
recent Alberta court injunction stalling the province’s ban on transgender medicine for minors was “good news.”
“The (previous) supports for trans youth were in place to prevent youth suicides,” said Critchley.
Critchley said that she’ll be spending the next few weeks convening town halls to hear from voters in the riding.
She’s pre-emptively putting out an invitation to both Poilievre and Liberal candidate Darcy Spady to join her at one of these town halls.
“I will be welcoming those two for sure,” said Critchley.
Critchley has been less welcoming to some other potential candidates, though. She
released an open letter to the Longest Ballot Committee — an activist group protesting former prime minister Justin Trudeau’s broken 2015 election promise on electoral reform — asking the group to “not come here and muddy the waters further.”
The group, which
gets headlines by swamping the ballot with dozens of candidates, also targeted Poilievre’s Ottawa-area riding of Carleton during the federal election in April.
Critchley said the “tomfoolery” would only make it harder for a candidate like her to knock off Poilievre in the August byelection.
