REGINA – Regina-Qu’Appelle MP Andrew Scheer has been picked to be the interim leader of the Conservative Party of Canada, after Pierre Poilievre lost his seat on election night.
Yesterday, members of the Conservative Caucus met in Ottawa, ahead of the re-opening of parliament on May 26th. Without a seat in the house, Poilievre can not lead the party in the house of commons.
“I’ll be taking over the parliamentary leadership duties of the caucus until Mr. Poilievre rejoins us in the House,” Scheer told reporters after the meeting.
Scheer was the speaker of the house, before becoming leader of the Conservatives in 2017. Scheer resigned as leader after the federal election in 2019, despite increasing the party’s seats in the house of commons, and winning the popular vote. He was a key supporter in Poilievre’s leadership bid in 2022.
Right now it seems Poilievre has enough support within the party to stay on as leader and run in a by-election to try and gain access to parliament.
MP-elect Damien Kurek said he will resign his seat in the rural Alberta riding of Battle River—Crowfoot to give Poilievre the chance to run in a byelection.
Kurek can only step down once he’s been sworn in as a member of Parliament, a process that begins after Elections Canada has formally certified the results — something that will happen by May 19.
The government has up to 180 days to call the byelection but Prime Minister Mark Carney said last week that he will call it soon.
The NDP dropped from 24 seats to just seven after the election. The Liberals picked up seven seats won by the NDP in 2021 and the Conservatives picked up 10.
The 143 Conservatives who were elected on April 28 gathered to analyze the results and discuss the Reform Act, which would enable the caucus to call for a leadership review.
“I’m confident that our leader, Pierre Poilievre, will be able to make some adjustments to finish the job next time,” Scheer said.
He said the party will analyze the campaign over the next several months.
“Any time you don’t form government, you have to take a look at why, but we’re also incredibly optimistic about the base that we’ve built,” Scheer said.
–With files from the Canadian Press–
