After the Conservatives lost a fourth straight election, Pierre Poilievre is tasked with convincing supporters that he is still the right person to lead the party to victory in the next election, despite losing his own seat.
Poilievre’s path to returning to the House of Commons requires replacing an elected member of Parliament in a yet-to-be-called byelection in rural Alberta.
When votes were tabulated on election night, Poilievre lost his Ottawa-area riding to Liberal rookie candidate Bruce Fanjoy by more than 4,000 votes, a riding he held for more than two decades.
Meanwhile, Damien Kurek, who was re-elected in Battle River-Crowfoot in a landslide victory with more than 82 per cent of the vote, is stepping aside so Poilievre can run in the Conservative stronghold.
“Canada first now. Canada first always and it’s an honour to be able to continue serving and putting our country first,” Kurek said in comments to a CTV News producer as he walked into his party’s post-election caucus meeting on Tuesday.
When asked about Poilievre’s ability to represent a riding thousands of kilometres from his home, Kurek responded that Poilievre is from Alberta and “knows the issues and the people very well there.”
Poilievre was born in Calgary, but has lived in Ottawa since 2000.
Both Poilievre and Kurek say the decision to step aside is temporary, but have not elaborated on what that means.
Loss of parliamentary salary
While Poilievre waits for a byelection date to be set, both he and Kurek will be facing a substantial hit in the pocketbooks.
Poilievre, 45, is facing the loss of his parliamentary salary, which he had been collecting since he was first elected in 2004.
Before the dissolution of government, Poilievre was receiving $309,700 annually, an amount that includes an MP’s base salary of $209,800, plus an additional $99,900 he received as leader of the Opposition.
Poilievre was also entitled to living at Stornoway, the official residence for the Opposition leader, as well as access to a driver and a security detail.
On Tuesday, in the Conservative caucus’ first meeting since the election, the party selected Andrew Scheer as the interim Opposition leader in Parliament. Scheer will debate Prime Minister Mark Carney in Question Period when Parliament resumes at the end of May. He previously served in the same role when he was Conservative leader between 2017-2019.
Caucus sources say there isn’t interest in having Poilievre and his family move out of Stornoway, given that they expect that he will easily win the Battle River-Crowfoot byelection and hopefully return in time for the fall sitting of Parliament.
After the writ was dropped, Poilievre lost his top-up pay, but continued to get paid as an MP. According to the Parliament of Canada Act, only the additional salaries of the Speaker and Deputy Speaker continue during dissolution.
The House of Commons director of media relations, Olivier Duhaime says after Parliament is dissolved, MPs are paid up until the day before an election.
If members don’t get re-elected, they will get some funds to help them transition out of parliamentary life. According to a House of Commons fact sheet, after the 2021 election, members who did not get re-elected had “access to an allocated amount of $15,000 to help them re-establish themselves.”
After losing his riding, Poilievre loses his House of Commons salary, but would be entitled to severance, which according to the HOC documents is equal to “50 (per cent) of the sessional allowance that Members are eligible to receive (plus additional salary to which they may be entitled) as of the date of the general election.”
This means Poilievre would qualify for approximately $154,850 in a severance payment, since he is unlikely to claim the $15,000 to re-establish himself.
A ‘selfless’ act
But according to the rules, Kurek, who is 10 years younger than Poilievre, will not qualify for a severance. Only MPs who lose their seat, or resign during Parliament because of an illness or a disability, are eligible for a severance package.
By stepping down, Kurek is foregoing his annual MP salary of $209,800. However, he will be paid until he officially submits his resignation to the Speaker of the House or the party Whip.
Kurek, 35, is also quitting before he qualifies for an MP pension, which requires at least six years of service. Prior to entering politics, Kurek was a farmer. He was first elected in October 2019. The parliamentary pension plan also includes benefits for surviving spouses and dependent children in the event of an MP’s death.
Kurek is married with three young sons.
When Kurek announced he was stepping down so Poilievre could run, the Conservative Party leader called Kurek “selfless” on social media and said that he was accepting the MP’s offer “with humility and appreciation.”
“I will work to earn the trust of the good people of Battle River-Crowfoot and I will continue to hold the Liberal minority government to account until the next federal election, when we will bring real change to all Canadians,” Poilievre wrote on “X.”
The Conservatives did not respond to multiple emails and phone calls prior to publication on Thursday.
But on Saturday, when pressed again, the Conservatives said that Poilievre would not be taking his severance.
“Given that Mr. Poilievre expects to be back in the House of Commons by this summer, he will not take the House of Commons severance,” wrote Sarah Fischer, the party’s director of communications.
Fischer did not answer CTV queries asking if the party will subsidize their leader’s salary or if they intended to provide financial assistance to Kurek.
Correction: The story originally reported that Poilievre would qualify for $169,850, which included the $15,000 that is allocated to help former MPs re-establish themselves outside of politics.
