With Poilievre on the ballot, voters in an overlooked corner of Alberta look for a brighter future

Long tables line the community hall in Round Hill, weighed down by hundreds of items of baking, flowers, crops, crafts and canned goods, all entered by locals hoping to snag a coveted prize ribbon at the Agricultural Society’s annual Bench Show.

But standing by the woodwork he was judging, self-confessed politics junkie Mathew Banack has the area’s imminent federal by-election on his mind. He’s sure Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre will win the Battle River—Crowfoot by-race when he and other voters head to the polls on Monday in Alberta.