Damien Kurek resigns so Pierre Poilievre can lead

Battle River–Crowfoot MP Damien Kurek officially resigned from Parliament today. The move will trigger a by-election for the riding where Pierre Poilievre will throw his hat into the ring in order to secure a seat in the the House of Commons.

Damien Kurek and Pierre Poilievre
Damien Kurek and Pierre Poilievre

Despite growing the Conservative seat count and the party’s popular vote, the Conservative leader lost his own seat to Liberal Bruce Fanjoy in the riding of Carleton. Poilievre had held the Ottawa region seat for 21 years.

Battle River–Crowfoot is a rural Alberta riding which occupies the space East of Highway 2 between Calgary and Edmonton. Poilievre volunteers have already started door knocking in the riding in anticipation of a by-election to be called within six months. For his part, Prime Minister Mark Carney has indicated that a by-election will happen sooner rather than later.

Former Conservative leader Andrew Scheer taken up leadership duties in Parliament while Poilievre maintains his status as leader of the Conservative Party of Canada.

Poilievre will face a leadership review likely in January of 2026 at the upcoming Conservative policy convention. Poilievre still enjoys widespread support within the party.

The collapse of Jagmeet Singh‘s NDP and the agitation of US President Donald Trump to remove Justin Trudeau and then install Mark Carney over a kayfabe fight on trade and sovereigty proved to be catastrophic for a Conservative Party that was on its way to forming a majority government just months ago.

So, Damien Kurek steps into the role of ‘good guy’ and steps aside so Pierre Poilievre can take his seat in the Commons. Perhaps we’ll be calling him Senator Kurek some day?

Bob Rae resigns, who will replace him in Toronto Centre?

Yesterday, Bob Rae resigned from the House of Commons, giving up his Toronto Centre seat. The seat has been a safe Liberal seat for quite some time and the Liberal nomination race to replace him will be a competitive one.

Here are some of the Liberal names that I’m hearing that may be running for the Liberal nomination:
– George Smitherman, former mayoral candidate and former Ontario cabinet minister
– Seamus O’Reagan, of CTV’s Canada AM (via the Globe and Mail), close friend of Justin Trudeau
– John Duffy, former Liberal strategist, current lobbyist

The NDP could give the Liberals a good run. They’ll likely put forward a viable candidate. Potential names include:
– Jennifer Hollett (via Xtra), former Much Music VJ and CBC journalist, presented at the NDP convention
– Cathy Crowe, former candidate in 2010 by-election
– Kristyn Wong-Tam, city councillor

Potential Conservative nomination contestants:
– Andrew Keyes, former candidate
– Kevin Moore, former candidate

Tony Genco’s Greatest Hits

Tony Genco is the Liberal by-election candidate in Vaughan. He’s facing off against high-profile Conservative candidate Julian Fantino.

Despite Genco’s relatively unknown profile, why would he not even mention himself (or his leader Michael Ignatieff) on his lit piece that he’s handing out at doors in the constituency? Is Genco relying more on the Liberal brand which is likely polling higher than the Ignatieff brand in Vaughan?

Also amusing are Genco’s tweets. Here are a couple of my favourites:

Go Leafs go…?

Canvassing with Ken Dryden tomorrow in #Vaughan. Join us. #NHL #MapleLeafs #Cdnpoli

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Thanks to the 1200 people who came out and supported our kickoff rally last night in #Vaughan. Get involved at http://tonygenco.liberal.ca

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Vaughan Today reports on Michael Ignatieff’s comments in Vaughan,

“You always know something big is happening when you’ve got a dozen MP’s and senators up here,” Ignatieff said. To cheers and music he told the audience of 250 “we must win Vaughan.”

1200 as an overestimate for 250? C’mon!