Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is calling for urgent reforms to Canada’s election laws in response to an ongoing protest campaign that has flooded ridings with dozens of candidates — a tactic he describes as a “scam.”
Speaking at a town hall in Stettler, Alberta, Poilievre criticized the “long ballot” protest strategy orchestrated by the electoral reform advocacy group known as the Longest Ballot Committee. The group has pledged to register as many as 200 candidates in the Alberta riding of Battle River–Crowfoot, where Poilievre is running to re-enter the House of Commons after losing his seat in Ottawa.
“We have to take action because this is a scam. It is unfair, it is unjust and it must stop,” Poilievre told the crowd. He proposed new requirements for candidacy, including raising the nomination threshold from 100 to 1,000 signatures and restricting voters from signing more than one nomination paper.
The Longest Ballot Committee, which previously ran 91 candidates in Poilievre’s former riding of Carleton, says its aim is to pressure politicians to support electoral reform and the creation of a citizens’ assembly on voting system changes. In a statement, the group dismissed Poilievre’s suggestions as “dangerous” and “self-serving,” vowing to continue their legal protest tactics.
Chief Electoral Officer Stéphane Perrault has also weighed in, appearing before a House committee last fall. While Perrault supports reducing the signature requirement to 75, he recommended introducing penalties for those who abuse the nomination process by signing or encouraging others to sign multiple papers to flood the ballot.
The protest campaign has also sparked backlash from other candidates in the byelection. Independent candidate Bonnie Critchley, a local from Beaver County, published an open letter urging the protest group to stop. She said the tactic is confusing voters and undermining legitimate candidates.
“I have to go door to door and explain to my neighbours that I have nothing to do with you,” Critchley wrote. “Please do not bury me with your ‘legal’ election interference.”
Michael Harris, running for the Libertarian Party, echoed the frustration, calling the protest a “mockery of the democratic process” that harms serious alternatives to the major parties.
The deadline to register as a candidate in Battle River–Crowfoot is July 28. Voters will head to the polls on August 18.
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