Good afternoon.

Wendy Cox here. Mark Iype is off for a break.

Albertans in Battle River-Crowfoot go to the polls today in a by-election to determine whether Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre will win a seat in the House of Commons.

The outcome isn’t really in doubt: Former MP Damien Kurek, who won with almost 82 per cent of the vote in the April election, agreed to give up his seat to trigger the by-election.

Still, that doesn’t mean everyone agrees that having an MP who represents a national party and whose main goal is to one day become prime minister is necessarily a good thing for the riding.

Globe reporter Emma Graney spoke with Mathew Banack at the Round Hill Agricultural Society’s annual Bench Show. The self-described political junkie expects Poilievre to win, but wonders how much time the federal leader will have to devote to an area he has never represented, much less lived in.

“We’ve been represented by backbenchers for as long as I’ve been alive,” Banack told Graney with a shrug.

“Alberta is such a conservative stronghold, we are unlikely to see cabinet appointments because they don’t have to throw a bone to this part of the world to get conservative seats.”

Late last month, Poilievre attended an all-candidates debate in the riding and was greeted with cheers and applause by hundreds of Albertans.

“My mission here is to give national leadership to the issues that are of local importance,” he told the sold-out crowd.

But even Poilievre chuckled when Liberal candidate Darcy Spady introduced himself and quipped: “I’m from Three Hills, and I don’t want to be prime minister.”

Poilievre argued that electing the leader of a political party is a trade-off. Leaders are on the road much of the time, he said. “The other side, though, is that leader can bring a very powerful megaphone to the local issues of the community.”

Bonnie Critchley is not convinced.

She told Graney she is running as an independent as a resident in the riding – she lives in Tofield, roughly 50 kilometres north of Camrose. Mostly, she hopes to take enough of the vote share away from the Conservatives to send a message that “we’re not impressed with this stunt.”

“It’s just not right to have him come in as a parachute candidate like that,” she said over peppermint tea at a local diner.

As far as she’s concerned, Mr. Poilievre “doesn’t give a rat’s backside” about the people of the riding.

But Debbie Blouin, a Round Hill show committee member and keen gardener, told Graney that Poilievre seemed “to be very visible in our area at this time.

“I think he’ll work for us, but he’ll work for us in a different way than being here,” she said.

Camrose resident Ron Holt said his hope for a Conservative win outweighs his concern that Mr. Poilievre doesn’t live in the riding.

“I have a gut feeling that he kind of wants what’s best for everybody. I can’t say the same for other candidates,” Mr. Holt said, adding, “I’ve got absolutely no use for Carney whatsoever.”

The sheer size of the riding will be a challenge for whoever wins. At 52,589 square kilometres, it has geographic and social diversity that includes several First Nations, Canadian Forces Base Wainwright, oil and gas development, rolling green farmland and scrubby desert badlands.

And if Poilievre is the winner, his professional challenges, extracurricular to representing the riding and running the Official Opposition in a Parliament narrowly divided, will not be over.

He is set to face a leadership review in January, after his party failed to win the April election despite a strong lead in the polls throughout 2024.

This is the weekly Alberta newsletter written by Alberta Bureau Chief Mark Iype. If you’re reading this on the web, or it was forwarded to you from someone else, you can sign up for it and all Globe newsletters here.