Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is expected to
with his family while he seeks a seat to return to the House of Commons.
Poilievre lost his Ottawa-area Carleton seat in the federal election last month and is no longer recognized as the official leader of the Opposition in the House. It was
initially unclear if Poilievre would remain
at the taxpayer-funded residence, which has been
reserved for the leader of the Opposition since 1950
.
Former Conservative leader and MP Andrew Scheer has been selected to take Poilievre’s place temporarily until Poilievre runs in a byelection.
To regain his seat in Parliament, Poilievre has said he will run in a byelection in the Alberta riding of Battle River—Crowfoot, after re-elected Conservative MP Damien Kurek said he was stepping aside to make that seat available for the leader. Prime Minister Mark Carney has said he will call the byelection as quickly as possible to allow Poilievre to return to the House as Opposition leader.
“Given that Mr. Poilievre hopes to be re-elected as a Member of Parliament in a few months and Prime Minister Carney promised to hold the byelection quickly, it would be more costly to taxpayers to move the family out and then right back into the residence,” Scheer said in a statement to CBC News.
“I have no intention to move into the residence and so we expect the family will just remain there through this short transition phase.”
It is with humility and appreciation that I have accepted Damien Kurek’s offer to resign his seat in Battle River-Crowfoot so that I can work to earn the support of citizens there to serve them in Parliament.
Damien’s selfless act to step aside temporarily as a Member of…
— Pierre Poilievre (@PierrePoilievre) May 2, 2025
However, Kurek will have to wait at least 30 days until after his federal election result is published in the federal government’s official publication, the Canada Gazette, in order to resign, The Canadian Press reported.
On May 15, Kurek’s election result was published in the
Canada Gazette, Part I, Volume 159, Number 10: Extra edition
.
After recording a notice of resignation, the House speaker must report it to the chief electoral officer in order to hold a byelection to fill the vacancy,
.
The date of that byelection must be called between 11 and 180 days after the chief electoral officer receives the warrant from the Speaker,
. “The Governor in Council also fixes the date for election day, which cannot be earlier than 36 days, or later than 50 days,” after the formal order for the byelection has been given. That would mean the earliest Poilievre could be elected would be in August.
Meanwhile, Poilievre has moved out of his Parliament Hill office as well as his constituency office. His
on the House of Commons website indicates that he is “no longer a Member of Parliament.”
The results of the federal election are expected to be officially finalized by May 19, according to the federal government. Parliament will return on May 26 and King Charles will deliver the throne speech on May 27.
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