National

Clock starts on timing of byelection Poilievre hopes to use to return to Parliament

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 16 May, 2025 10:34 AM

The Conservatives know more today about when their leader could return to the House of Commons, now that Damien Kurek has been officially declared the member of Parliament for Battle River—Crowfoot.

Kurek, who won the election in the rural Alberta riding with more than 80 per cent of the vote, has promised to step aside to give Pierre Poilievre a chance to run for a seat.

The riding results are considered official once they're published in the Canada Gazette, which happened on Thursday.

According to federal law, Kurek must sit as a member of Parliament for 30 days before he can tender his resignation.

After that, the Speaker of the House of Commons would have to report the vacancy to the chief electoral officer, at which point the government would have 11 to 180 days to call a byelection.

Byelection campaigns last at least 36 days — so the soonest Poilievre could be elected is in early August.

Prime Minister Mark Carney has said he will not delay Poilievre's chance to become an MP.

If Kurek's resignation is reported to the chief electoral officer as soon as possible, and if Carney calls the shortest possible byelection campaign period — 36 days — the vote would fall on the Monday after July 31.

But because Aug. 4 is a holiday, it's likely the byelection would be pushed to Aug. 5.

Voters in the Ottawa-area riding of Carleton, where Poilievre had been elected seven straight times since 2004, chose a Liberal MP in the April 28 election.

Without a seat in the House of Commons, Poilievre cannot act as the Opposition leader in question period or participate in debate.

The Conservative caucus has chosen former party leader Andrew Scheer to lead the Opposition in the House of Commons on a temporary basis.

The next Parliament is set to begin on May 26 with the election of a new Speaker. King Charles III is set to read the Carney government's throne speech on May 27.

Picture Courtesy: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Spencer Colby

Prev Next

MORE National ARTICLES

Poilievre's proposed incentives for First Nations water, resource projects draw fire

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says he would incentivize First Nations to support natural-resource projects through industry taxes and revisiting how much sway Indigenous Peoples and environmental considerations have over approving projects. The proposals drew swift criticism from some experts and researchers.

Poilievre's proposed incentives for First Nations water, resource projects draw fire

Indigenous kids in care more likely to experience poor health later in life: report

Indigenous people who were in government care as children experience poorer health and socioeconomic outcomes later in life than those who were never in care, a new Statistics Canada report says. They suffer higher rates of disability, lower self-rated health levels and more homelessness, and are more likely to struggle to meet basic household needs, the report says.

Indigenous kids in care more likely to experience poor health later in life: report

Ex-coroner says B.C.'s drug policy overhaul looks like 'impulsive political decision'

British Columbia's former chief coroner says she's disappointed by the province's overhaul of its program that provides prescription alternatives to toxic street drugs, a shift she says "feels like a really impulsive political decision." Lisa Lapointe said the move to a "witnessed-only" model in which people are supervised while consuming their prescription drugs appeared to ignore scientific evidence.

Ex-coroner says B.C.'s drug policy overhaul looks like 'impulsive political decision'

Internal military report blames botched shooter drill on poor organization

During the drill, which took place on Nov. 12 at a service depot at CFB Longue-Pointe in Montreal, military police also confused a racialized employee with a drill participant playing an active shooter and wrestled him to the ground.

Internal military report blames botched shooter drill on poor organization

70% of Canadians support retaliatory tariffs on United States: poll

Seventy per cent of Canadians are in favour of dollar-for-dollar retaliatory tariffs on the United States, a new poll suggests. Nearly half of respondents to the Leger poll — 45 per cent — said they were strongly in favour of such tariffs, while 25 per cent said they were somewhat in favour.

70% of Canadians support retaliatory tariffs on United States: poll

Police release names of victims in Abbotsford double homicide

Police have released the names of the two victims in an Abbotsford double homicide in January. A statement from the province's Integrated Homicide Investigation Team says police responded to a vehicle fire in Sumas Mountain Regional Park on Jan. 3 and found a 2014 Mitsubishi Outlander engulfed in flames.