Conservative MP Damien Kurek calls on colleagues to 'fight for Canada' as he steps down for Poilievre

OTTAWA — With a wave of his black cowboy hat and a call for all Parliamentarians to “fight for Canada,” Alberta Conservative MP Damien Kurek made a heartfelt final address in the House of Commons Thursday before stepping aside for leader Pierre Poilievre. Flanked by a few dozen of his Conservative colleagues after question period, the MP for Battle River—Crowfoot said that politics had been a “wild, wild ride” for him and his family as he called on his constituents to support Poilievre in the upcoming byelection. During his 10-minute speech, he called on MPs to fight together for Canada, argued that Alberta deserves a “fair voice” within the federation, threw the occasional barb at the Liberals and joked that stepping down was a more complicated process than expected. “I didn’t know it would be quite so much work to resign,” the hulking Kurek said with his emblematic booming voice, earning laughs from MPs in the chamber. Kurek was first elected in the rural Alberta riding in 2019 and was handily re-elected in April with over 80 per cent of the vote. But when Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre lost his longtime Ottawa riding of Carleton, Kurek announced he would step aside to allow the party head to run in his stead. Kurek said he will resign as soon as House of Commons rules allow it, likely meaning in late June. He’s also promised to run again in Battle River—Crowfoot in the next federal election. “I don’t plan to retire from politics, but I am stepping aside to ensure that this byelection is triggered,” he said.

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The reason why Kurek is the Conservative MP stepping aside for Poilievre appeared to come from NDP MP Gord Johns, who expressed his condolences to Kurek for his father’s passing in the last year and wishing him well in taking over the family farm. “He’s going to do well with it, and we wish him well as a farmer, supporting Canadians so we get our food, and the work that he does around his farm,” Johns said. “I thank the member for the very kind words,” Kurek replied. “And I think it emphasizes that in this place, we can trade passionate partisan barbs, we can passionately disagree, but that doesn’t mean that there’s hatred toward each other.” His farewell speech was briefly heckled by Liberal MPs, one of which loudly booed his announcement that he was resigning to allow Poilievre to run and another who loudly lamented the cost of a byelection (estimates vary from $1.7 million to $2 million). The comments pushed Conservative MP Michael Barrett to cross the aisle and apparently scold them before Johns and some Liberal MPs jumped in to lower the temperature. While responding to later well-wishes from the Liberals, NDP, Bloc Québécois and Greens, Kurek acknowledged that he was excited to be back on the family farm — and far from opposing party benches. “I look forward to being able to spend a little bit more time in a tractor cab. The good thing about being in a tractor cab, Mr. Speaker, is that it doesn’t heckle you,” he said. Kurek also repeatedly thanked his wife Danielle, who was watching from the visitors’ gallery, for supporting his time in politics and noted that he looked forward to spending more time with his three sons. He then finished with a call to action for all MPs. “As Danielle and I move on to what is a bit of an unexpected chapter of our lives, I would ask each and every person in this House: fight for Canada, fight for what’s right, and do so boldly and strongly, because that’s the least we can do for the people that send us here.” “I plan to be back, God willing, but in the meantime, I look forward to being the best husband, the best dad and the best rural farmer that I can possibly be,” he added. He then stood up, waved his trademark black cowboy hat in the air, and walked out of the House of Commons. National Post cnardi@postmedia.com Get more deep-dive National Post political coverage and analysis in your inbox with the Political Hack newsletter, where Ottawa bureau chief Stuart Thomson and political analyst Tasha Kheiriddin get at what’s really going on behind the scenes on Parliament Hill every Wednesday and Friday, exclusively for subscribers. Sign up here. Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark nationalpost.com and sign up for our politics newsletter, First Reading, here.