After a summer of rodeos, dinosaurs and door-knocking, Pierre Poilievre is now officially heading back to Ottawa as a Conservative member of Parliament for Alberta.
The Tory leader will represent the sprawling rural riding of Battle River—Crowfoot after winning a byelection on Monday with more than 80 per cent of the vote.
"Getting to know the people in this region has been the privilege of my life," Poilievre told a crowd at a victory party in Camrose, Alta., on Monday night. "In fact, I've had a hell of a lot of fun."
Pierre Poilievre spent weeks this summer meeting constituents, attending events and stopping by local businesses in his new riding.
It was precisely the kind of boots-on-the-ground campaign he ran in 2004 when he became an MP for the first time in the Ontario riding of Carleton.
It's also exactly the kind of local campaign he could not run in Carleton in the spring, when his leader's tour criss-crossed the country for 36 days before holding a final rally in his home riding the night before the April 28 election.
Poilievre lost to Liberal MP Bruce Fanjoy, who had spent more than two years campaigning against him in the Ottawa-area riding.
Poilievre's return to the House of Commons in one of the safest Conservative seats in the country was all but guaranteed, observers said.
On Tuesday morning, he reposted a short statement by his wife, Anaida Poilievre, on social media that was captioned "We're back."
"Politics is up and down. People do it because they believe in something," the statement began.
It went on to say that politics has an ugly side.
"Friendships come and go as if dictated by the polls. Just like the weather, people come and go. So remember, family is everything," Anaida Poilievre said.
The Conservative leader will need to keep his friends close this fall, as he's facing a mandatory leadership review in the new year.
When Parliament resumes on Sept. 15, Poilievre will square off with Prime Minister Mark Carney in the House of Commons for the first time.
Carney congratulated Poilievre in a social media post on Tuesday morning.
"Congratulations to Pierre Poilievre on returning to the House of Commons, and gaining the honour of representing the people of Battle River—Crowfoot in Parliament," he said.
Poilievre is returning to a role he has proven to be very good at when sitting across the aisle from Justin Trudeau.
"We're now in a new government. He's going to have to show that he's really good at holding their feet to the fire," said Amanda Galbraith, a Conservative strategist and partner at Oyster Group.
Poilievre has already signalled some of what he plans to focus on. At a press conference on Aug. 7, he said he will introduce a bill in the House of Commons called the Canadian sovereignty law.
He also said Conservatives were calling on Carney to begin construction of at least two pipeline projects, a new natural gas liquefaction project and a road to the Ring of Fire in Ontario by March 14.
While many Tory faithful are eagerly awaiting the return of Poilievre's pointed partisan jabs in Parliament, Ontario Premier Doug Ford urged him to find ways to co-operate with the federal government as the country faces down the economic shockwaves of U.S. tariffs.
"Let's put our political stripes aside and start working together collectively," he told reporters on Monday.
With Poilievre once again leading the party in Parliament, there will be changes to the party's front bench.
The Conservative leader pledged in the spring to shuffle his "shadow cabinet," a group of 74 MPs appointed to critic or leadership roles in the House of Commons, this fall.
"We've seen which ministers are performing, which ministers are not, where the weaknesses lie in that government. So they'll realign," said Galbraith.
Poilievre's former campaign manager, Jenni Byrne, said in a recent podcast interview that the fall House sitting is when "the real next chapter starts" for the party.
Byrne, who said during the interview that she's still involved as an adviser to Poilievre and takes calls on a daily basis, also said the Conservatives will focus on issues like immigration and crime.
The cost of living will likely remain a top priority for the Opposition, particularly as trade and U.S. tariffs command the government's attention.
Ginny Roth, a partner at Crestview Strategy and a Conservative commentator, said Poilievre has been successful as Opposition leader in pointing out the places "where Canadians are struggling and where the government is failing."
The Conservative party will hold a national convention in Calgary in late January. The party's constitution stipulates that any leader who has just lost an election will face a secret-ballot vote on their future.
Running a byelection campaign all summer has meant Poilievre has not been travelling the country.
The rallies that were a fixture of his leadership since 2022 have been scrapped in favour of door-knocking. And while that's likely given him a good window into the mindset of Conservative voters during the Carney government's post-election honeymoon, it's also meant he has not been in the national spotlight.
"While that might feel frustrating when you come off this high-energy election, I think it was the right approach. Lie low, get back to basics," Roth said.
The Tory caucus has been firm in its support for Poilievre, and it is widely expected that he will win the leadership review — not least because no one has so far publicly challenged his leadership.
"There's a lot to be excited about and I think Conservative members will recognize that in the leadership review," Roth said.
Galbraith said things can shift quickly, and Poilievre can't take the leadership review for granted.
"For example, he was going to be prime minister until he wasn't going to be prime minister, right?" she said.
Picture Courtesy: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason Franson
