Conservative MP Damien Kurek gave his farewell address to the House of Commons as he waits to officially relinquish his seat so that Tory Leader Pierre Poilievre can run in a byelection in Kurek’s riding and rejoin Parliament.
Kurek delivered his speech during time allotted for MPs to provide their responses to the speech from the throne, which was read by King Charles III on May 27.
Kurek mostly used his time to thank his constituents, his team of “grassroots Conservative supporters,” and his spouse. “I say to my wife, Danielle, that it is one person’s name on the ballot and on the election sign, but it is a team sport,” he said.
Kurek represents the rural Alberta riding of Battle River-Crowfoot, which he won on April 28 by a landslide. Kurek received 53,684 votes, while the Liberal candidate came in at a distant second with 7,566 votes.
Poilievre, meanwhile, lost his long-held Ottawa-area riding of Carleton to new Liberal MP Bruce Fanjoy.
Conservatives lost the election after leading in the polls by a large margin up to late 2024. Despite the election loss, the party gained 25 seats and obtained its highest share of the popular vote since 1988.
Poilievre’s leadership of the party has not been openly challenged, contrary to past Tory election losses in 2019 and 2021 after which party leaders were ousted, even though the caucus has adopted the powers under the Reform Act to conduct a leadership review.
Kurek will be able to officially step down once Elections Canada publishes the official results of the April 28 vote. It can take weeks for that to happen, and the timeline has likely been impacted by several close races in the election, with four judicial recounts now being completed.
Prime Minister Mark Carney has previously said he would trigger a byelection as soon as possible to give Poilievre the opportunity to win back a seat, and that no political “games” would be played around the issue.
Kurek encouraged his constituents to put their trust in Poilievre, saying he will fight for rural east-central Alberta. He also said the country is facing a “national unity crisis” and that it should not be “flippantly dismissed by those in other parts of the country who would suggest that Alberta, for example, should simply ‘pay up and shut up.’”
MPs reacted to Kurek’s departure speech in the House with well wishes.
NDP MP Gord Johns said though their politics could not be more different, they shared the same rural background.
“We wish him well as a farmer supporting Canadians,” Johns said.
Liberal MP Kody Blois, who also represents a rural riding, struck a similar tone. “We may not always see every issue the same, but I know he has been a great champion for rural Canada,” he said. Blois also said some MPs will be thankful that Kurek’s “booming voice” and ability to hold the government to account will be gone, but that “others will probably miss it.”
Bloc Québécois MP Alexis Deschênes said he never got to know Kurek, but he said he “seems to be a real team player.”
In reaction to Kurek’s announcement in early May, Poilievre had said that “Damien’s selfless act to step aside temporarily as a Member of Parliament shows his commitment to change and restoring Canada’s promise.”
Kurek, who was first elected in 2019, would have been eligible for his MP pension this fall after serving for six years.
