On April 28, 2025, the people of Battle River - Crowfoot went to the polls to participate in the Canadian political system, and chose their candidate of Damien Kurek to carry their desires to Federal Parliament. On that same day, three thousand kilometers away, the people of Carleton, Ontario also went to the polls, and rejected Pierre Poilievre's bid to continue to represent them. He had been representing people in that area for two decades, and was now the leader of a major federal party. Both of those facts should have made his campaign a shoe-in, and yet despite his incumbency, his visibility, and his name recognition, he lost his own seat.
The people of Battle River - Crowfoot deserve better than a parachute candidate who was, after all, already rejected for this parliament. The people of Battle River - Crowfoot made their choice, for a local who knew them and worked for them. Through political maneuvering, their choice has been taken away from them. This by-election is disrespectful to the will of the community, who are being treated as merely a banner upon which to brand a political career.
My name is Caitlyn Baker. While I am indeed affiliated with the Longest Ballot Committee, I treat this election quite seriously. I find this election to be the epitome of the way that Canadian political processes have become little more than bureaucracy to recreate entrenched interests. Power in name changes hands from one party to another, but the population sees no change in the lived world. The public interest comes second to the profits of mega-corporations, and the needs of the community are never met, with municipalities, provinces, and federal parties all blaming each other for deficiencies. It must stop somewhere, and with this farcical by-election to cover up hubris and arrogance, I have decided to try and be part of the change.
Government must serve the interests and needs of the people, not the other way around. To rebuild this relationship is a large problem, not one that can be solved with a single step, but as with all large measures it must begin with a single step. It is my belief that this first step should indeed be electoral reform, to return the voice of the people to the people. In the case of the Battle River - Crowfoot by-election, the voice of the people is currently in danger, the choice they made negated, the decision ignored for the sake of the aggrandizement of a person who already lost the election, and refuses to accept that outcome.
If you trust me to speak with your voice, I give you my word to shout your desires and needs as loudly and fervently as I can, while also pursuing the goal of strengthening the power of your choice and your voice, so that you will be heard that much more clearly in future.
Humbly yours,
Caitlyn Baker
Authorised by the official agent for Caitlyn Baker