Thursday June 19, 2025 | OTTAWA, ON – reporting from VICTORIA, BC [Posted at 7:54 am PT]
by Mary P Brooke | Island Social Trends
Yesterday Conservative MP Damien Jurek Kurek officially resigned his seat on Tuesday — the first day he was able to do so, according to parliamentary procedure — to pave the way for Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre to try to win back a seat in the House.
He had given his farewell speech in the House of Commons last month.
Kurek ends up positioning himself just four months shy of achieving six years of service as an elected member of Parliament, the eligibility threshold for a pension.
He told national news media yesterday that he intends to run again in the next federal election. Having now stepped aside for the leader to return to the House in the 45th Parliament is a surefire path to being a cabinet minister in any future Conservative-led federal government so long as current party loyalties hold.
Meanwhile he no doubt calculated the benefit of spending time with his family and reconnecting with his farming business over the next couple of years.
===== As first posted on May 29, 2025:
As a kid he preferred watching Question Period instead of doing his math homework. So it should be no surprise that Conservative MP Damien Kurek ended up as member of parliament in 2019. He won again in 2021 and 2025. Now he’s resigning but he plans to be back.
Based on his remarks in the House of Commons today, It sounds like Kurek will take off three years to be “the best dad, husband and rural farmer” before running again in the next federal election.
Remarks of thanks or congratulations upon his departure from the House of Commons as Kurek today resigned his seat for Battle River-Crowfoot, were delivered in the House by NPD MP Gord Johns (Courtenay-Alberni), Liberal MP Kody Blois (King-Hants, NS), Conservative MP Warren Steinley (Regina-Lewvan, SK), Bloc MP Alexis Deschenes (Gaspesie-Les Iles-de-la-Madeleine-Listuguj, QC), and Green MP Elizabeth May (Saanich-Gulf Islands).
Kubek can’t legally resign until after 30 days since being elected. That will come to about June 8, 2025 (considering results delays during recounts).
Future Kubek career:
It’s no small thing in politics to give up one’s seat for the broader interests of the party. In doing just that, Kubek will be honoured in the Conservative Party going forward. His temporary political sacrifice will almost certainly not go unrewarded.
On May 2 his intention to vacate his seat to allow Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre to return to Parliament.
If Poilievre ends up as prime minister after the next federal election, it would be no surprise to see Kubek in the federal cabinet. Not only for this favour today but because he does seem to have a natural gift for oratory and — importantly for how the current first-past-the-post system works in this country — is from Alberta where western political interests seem centralized.
Kubek’s seat was sought as a safe seat for Poilievre to run in an upcoming by-election, for a number of solid political reasons — it’s in Alberta, it’s rural, and was won by the Conservatives by over 80% of the popular vote in the 2025 election.
The Battle River-Crowfoot riding is bordered by several key areas of Alberta including Calgary, Edmonton, Red Deer and Medicine Hat.
The date for the by-election in Battle River-Crowfoot has not been officially announced yet but is expected to happen over the summer so that Poilievre can be in the House for when MPs return in September after their summer break.
How Poilievre lost:
In the federal election on April 28, 2025 Poilievere was defeated in his long-time home riding of Carleton in the Ottawa area. That was achieved largely by the Liberals whose candidate won by some intense vote-splitting (the ballot had 91 names). For now, Andrew Scheer represents the Conservatives in the House of Commons, as the leader of the Official Opposition.
Yet on election night his speech was fairly jubilant given that the overall Conservative seat count had been substantially increased to 144 (compared to 119 in the 2021 election / 120 at dissolution on March 23, 2025).
Poilievre is a career politician. He likely sees the 2025 election result as a stepping stone to Conservatives holding government three or four years from now.
Poilievre has built enough solid loyalty within the party over the past few years to feel confident about having a by-election seat to run in.
Two-party tango:
Prime Minister Mark Carney has not stood in the way of a by-election for Poilievre, in fact he has nearly expedited it.
For people who seek to see electoral reform in this country, there’s one more example of highlighting how the Liberals and Conservative by ‘natural expectation’ expect to form government to hold power in this country.
While the might of the electoral process seems to carry on, some Canadians are not impressed with the process or Poilievre as the Conservative leader.
===== RELATED:
Alberta MP steps down to make room for Poilievre by-election (May 29, 2025)
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