Nail-biter it was not.

The midnight oil need not have burned to learn late Monday that Pierre Poilievre would banish the 213 candidates running against him—a large turnout, dominant as Shohei Ohtani would be this week if he were playing in the Little League World Series.

The Conservative leader, on a five-month involuntary leave after losing his seat of 21 years, can now reclaim his lone adult-age job in the House of Commons when it resumes in mid-September. His central Albertan summer holiday in—probably his foreseeable trek to—Battle River-Crowfoot is done. Four-fifths of a healthy 58-per-cent turnout fully restore his status, and of course that isn’t all he wants.

But his electoral return is less like getting back on a bike and more like getting back on a rodeo bull. The byelection affirmed his base but didn’t extend his brand. The road ahead, after snatching defeat from the jaws of victory, is a test of character—his and the country’s—if he really and truly believes he ought to be the prime minister one day.

There were many noteworthy accomplishments for the Conservatives in April, like the largest vote share since 1988, 25 more seats, a breakthrough in attracting younger and working-class support, and steps in the seat-rich cities around Toronto and NDP territory in northern Ontario. But does anyone in politics really get a second chance anymore? The country is about to tell us.

Only nine months ago, a 25-point poll........

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