The Conservative caucus has chosen Andrew Scheer to lead the party in Parliament during the spring session.
The Saskatchewan MP and former party leader will assume the duties of Opposition leader in the House of Commons when the sitting begins May 26.
The temporary role is needed because Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre does not have a seat in the House of Commons. He lost in the Ontario riding of Carleton in last week’s election after representing the area for more than 20 years.
Scheer emerged from an all-day caucus meeting Tuesday evening to say he will take on the role until Poilievre returns to Parliament.
Scheer takes over parliamentary leadership duties for Conservative Party
Poilievre is expected to seek a seat in Alberta in a byelection, where MP Damien Kurek has offered to resign to allow the party leader the chance to run again.
Earlier Tuesday, Poilievre said that Conservatives would spend the summer “listening carefully to people” after yet another election loss, as he headed into the party’s first caucus meeting since Canadians went to the polls last week.
Poilievre said there is a lot for the party to be proud of in the election results, but pointed to the two-party race as a reason the Liberals won.
“If you had told me that we would get 41 per cent of the vote a couple of years ago, I would have said, ‘Wow, that’s ambitious,”‘ he said.
“But if you told me that we would get 41 per cent of the vote and still not win, I would have said, ‘You’re crazy.'”
In an all-day meeting, the 143 Conservatives who were elected on April 28 discussed adopting the Reform Act, which allows caucus members to ask for a secret-ballot vote to review the party leadership.
That’s the mechanism that was used to oust former leader Erin O’Toole after the party failed to beat the Trudeau Liberals in 2021.
Conservative sources confirmed to CBC News that the caucus adopted the Reform Act by a large margin. But Conservatives who spoke to reporters on Tuesday made it clear they expect Poilievre will stay.
Poilievre speaks to reporters for the first time since election seat loss
Michael Barrett, the former ethics critic who was re-elected in the riding of Leeds-Grenville-Thousand Islands-Rideau Lakes, said “everyone is very supportive, we’re behind Pierre Poilievre.”
Barrett is one of a number of high-profile Conservatives who have expressed their support for Poilievre to stay on as leader.
“We have some lessons to learn from the campaign,” Barrett said.
In a video posted to social media on Monday, Poilievre pledged to “learn and grow,” and said his team needs to expand.
He did not answer questions about what that may mean for Jenni Byrne, the party’s campaign manager, who faced criticism from inside and outside of the conservative movement during the election campaign as the party’s lead in the polls evaporated.
“She did a lot of hard work and our team has a lot to be proud of,” Poilievre said.
