Canada Election: Ex-prime minister Stephen Harper to introduce Poilievre at Alberta rally

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Some parents brought their kids. Others brought their dogs.

People we’ve spoken to say they are coming out, potentially driving for hours, to meet Poilievre and support his call for change.

A few “F--- Carney” flags can be seen outside. But overall, the vibe is rock concert-like.

People have to park far away to walk to the building. Hundreds of people took a shortcut to the venue by crossing a muddy hill, navigating puddles and what’s left of the snow.

The Conservative Party is expecting its biggest rally of the campaign so far tonight. It’s taking place in a warehouse in an industrial park next to an Amazon facility in Nisku, just south of Edmonton.

Thousands are already here. There won’t be an official count until everyone is inside.

Throughout this campaign, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has been somewhat of an outlier amongst her provincial premier counterparts.

Responding to criticism tied to her outreach to the United States, Smith said she would need to be rolled off “in a stretcher” before she stopped fighting for the province. That was prior to an appearance at a fundraising event in Florida with U.S. Podcaster Ben Shapiro.

Smith has made no secret that she’d prefer Poilievre to come out the victor in the upcoming federal election.

But should things go the other way, she’s threatened a series of responses — potentially taking cues from Quebec on provincial sovereignty or forming a second Fair Deal Panel should Ottawa not meet a list of demands.

Hello, I'm your evening live page writer. Poilievre is set to get a big endorsement tonight as the parties take their campaigns west this week.

My colleague Kate McKenna confirmed earlier today that former prime minister Stephen Harper will introduce Poilievre at his rally tonight.

It's not the first time Harper has backed Poilievre — he did so in the party's 2022 leadership race as well. But the support now comes at a crucial time for the Conservatives.

Though the party's rallies have drawn crowds of thousands of people, its support in the polls has weakened in recent months.

Poilievre served in Harper’s cabinet as minister of democratic reform and minister of employment and social development.

I’m Joel Dryden, a reporter based in Calgary. As Trevor put it: Alberta has gone reliably blue throughout most of its history in federal elections and some ridings haven’t historically seen much intrigue.

Take Lethbridge, which hasn’t gone to a progressive politician since the 1920s (Lincoln Henry Jelliff of the Progressive Party of Canada and the United Farmers of Alberta, for the history buffs out there).

Still, you can find elements of intrigue no matter where you look. This time around, a former two-term mayor of Lethbridge is running on the Liberal ticket. Political watchers say he’s probably the biggest named candidate ever to run for the Liberals in that riding.

Voters in Lethbridge say they are looking for the candidate they see as best suited to handle the challenges of trade, agriculture, drought, housing and coal mining.

While Conservatives traditionally dominate in Alberta, there are a few battleground ridings in the Edmonton area and some electoral division changes that could shake things up.

Two new ridings are up for grabs in Edmonton Gateway and Edmonton Southeast, formed out of the old Edmonton Mill Woods riding that was represented most recently by Tim Uppal.

Uppal is running in Edmonton Gateway. The Conservatives are pitting Jagsharan Singh Mahal against former Liberal cabinet minister and current Edmonton Mayor Amarjeet Sohi in Edmonton Southeast.

Another riding to watch is Edmonton Centre, which has flip-flopped between Liberals and Conservatives over the years. Liberal incumbent Randy Boissonnault is not running this time around.

Many Albertans believe this is a high-stakes election, with Calgary-based pollster Janet Brown saying she's expecting a high voter turnout because of the current political climate.

The Conservative rally is being held tonight in an industrial area south of Edmonton. It's the first rally Poilievre has held in Alberta, where his party held most of the seats in the province at dissolution last month.

I’m a senior writer on the national desk based in Vancouver. The two frontrunners in the federal election are both holding rallies in western Canada tonight: Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre first in Edmonton, followed by Liberal Leader Mark Carney in the Metro Vancouver city of Richmond.

Both provinces have billions at risk over the ongoing trade war with the United States on account of their vast resources — B.C. With its softwood lumber and agricultural industries, to name a few, and Alberta being the nation’s oil and gas capital.

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