MP Damien Kurek officially resigns, paving way for Poilievre's byelection

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Alberta MP Damien Kurek officially stepped down on Tuesday, paving the way for a byelection in which Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre intends to run and regain a seat in the House of Commons.

Alberta MP needed to clear mandatory waiting period before stepping down

Darren Major · CBC News

· Posted: Jun 17, 2025 2:00 PM EDT | Last Updated: 12 minutes ago

Conservative MP Damien Kurek, who announced he would give up his seat so party leader Pierre Poilievre can run in a by-election, arrives for meeting of the Conservative caucus on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, on Sunday, May 25, 2025.

Alberta MP Damien Kurek officially stepped down on Tuesday, paving the way for a byelection in which Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre intends to run and regain a seat in the House of Commons.

"Today I am resigning my seat in the House of Commons so that a byelection can be called as soon as possible," Kurek said in a social media post on Tuesday.

"I want to thank my incredible constituents who gave me the honour of being their representative in Ottawa since 2019. It has been nothing short of a privilege to serve and be a rural Alberta voice in Parliament."

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… <a href="https://t.co/YuiofSHbSS">pic.twitter.com/YuiofSHbSS</a>

—@dckurek

Kurek signalled his intention to resign last month so that Poilievre could run in his riding of Battle River-Crowfoot — one of the safest Conservative seats in the country.

But according to House rules, Kurek needed to wait 30 days after his election was posted in the Canada Gazette before he could actually step down.

Now that Kurek has officially resigned, the Speaker of the House of Commons has to inform the chief electoral officer of the vacancy, at which point the government would have 11 to 180 days to call a byelection.