Conservative MP Damien Kurek resigned his Alberta seat Tuesday, clearing the way for party leader Pierre Poilievre to run in a byelection after losing his own riding in last month’s federal election.
Kurek, who has represented Battle River-Crowfoot since 2019, sent a letter to the Speaker of the House of Commons announcing his resignation effective at the end of the day as Member of Parliament for the rural Alberta constituency.
“Today I am resigning my seat in the House of Commons so that a by-election can be called as soon as possible to allow for our Conservative Party Leader, Pierre Poilievre, to run in Battle River-Crowfoot and earn a seat in the House of Commons where he will continue fighting for Canadians and holding the Liberal government to account,” Kurek said in a statement posted on X.
The move comes after Poilievre suffered a surprising defeat in his Ottawa-area riding of Carleton on April 28, losing to Liberal candidate Bruce Fanjoy by about five percentage points after representing the area for more than two decades.
Kurek won Battle River-Crowfoot with 82.8% of the vote in the recent election, making it one of the safest Conservative seats in the country. His resignation will trigger a byelection that could see Poilievre return to Parliament within months.
Prime Minister Mark Carney has promised to call the byelection “as soon as possible,” with the vote potentially occurring as early as August if the minimum 36-day campaign period is used.
“I want to thank my incredible constituents who gave me the honour of being their representative in Ottawa since 2019,” Kurek wrote. “It has been a tremendous honour to serve the good people of Battle River-Crowfoot as their Member of Parliament since 2019.”
Andrew Scheer, the former Conservative leader, has been serving as interim Opposition leader in the House of Commons while Poilievre lacks a seat.
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