Why Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre moved out of his office, but not Stornoway
Social Sharing
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre closed his constituency and Parliament Hill offices following his election defeat in Carleton, but is expected to stay in Stornoway — Canada's residence for the leader of the Official Opposition — despite losing that title.
While Poilievre remains the leader of the Conservative Party, his caucus selected Andrew Scheer last week as interim leader of the Official Opposition for the spring sitting of Parliament. By law only an MP can hold that title, and Poilievre no longer has a seat in the House of Commons for the first time in 20 years.
Scheer says Poilievre's Ottawa offices are now closed but expects Poilievre, his wife and two young children to remain at Stornoway.
"Given that Mr. Poilievre hopes to be re-elected as a Member of Parliament in a few months and Prime Minister Carney promised to hold the byelection quickly, it would be more costly to taxpayers to move the family out and then right back into the residence," Scheer said in a statement.
"I have no intention to move into the residence and so we expect the family will just remain there through this short transition phase."
The House of Commons says MPs who aren't re-elected must vacate their parliamentary and constituency offices within 21 days of losing an election. But it's up to the Conservative Party to manage who lives in Stornoway, the Privy Council Office says.
The Conservative Party has faced questions since Poilievre's election loss about if he was allowed to stay in the official residence without serving as an MP.
Scheer cited savings to taxpayers as a reason why Poilievre is expected to stay at the government-owned residence.
The last time moving costs for an Official Opposition leader were made public was in 2022, when Conservative interim leader Candice Bergen lived in Stornoway for less than a year. The federal government paid close to $20,000 to prepare the official residence for her arrival, the Globe and Mail reported at the time.
It's unclear exactly how much it could cost to move Poilievre out and back into Stornoway. CBC News asked the National Capital Commission, which manages official residences, for an average estimated cost, but has not yet received a response.
A report released under the Access to Information Act said it cost more than $78,000 in public funds to maintain Stornoway during the 2023-24 fiscal year. That includes the cost of utilities, property management fees and maintenance of Stornoway's grounds.
MP Damien Kurek announced he's stepping aside so Poilievre can run in his Alberta riding of Battle River-Crowfoot — a Conservative stronghold. But it could take some time before Poilievre has a chance to return to the House of Commons.
Kurek can't resign his seat until 30 days after their election result is published in the federal government's official publication called the Canada Gazette, the Office of the Speaker of the House of Commons says.
The average cost to hold a byelection is $1.7 million, according to Elections Canada's latest data from 2024. The costs can vary depending on the electoral district and length of the election period, Elections Canada says.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CTV News
37 minutes ago
- CTV News
Should Canada scrap digital service tax amid U.S. negotiation break down?
Should Canada scrap digital service tax amid U.S. negotiation break down? Former New Brunswick premier Brian Gallant believes Prime Minister Carney has 'the right approach' so far in the stalled negotiations with the U.S.
CBC
2 hours ago
- CBC
Province's takeover of OCDSB, other school boards slammed as 'power grab'
Social Sharing When Education Minister Paul Calandra announced the province would be appointing supervisors to four Ontario school boards — including Ottawa's largest — on Friday, he said it was to ensure that "every decision made by the board prioritizes direct support for students in the classroom." But according to several critics in Ottawa, the appointments won't have that effect. The takeover came out of an investigation into several boards launched earlier in 2025 that projected a fifth straight year of financial deficits at the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board (OCDSB). The province has now appointed consultant Robert Plamondon to oversee the board. In a press conference, Calandra said supervisors like Plamondon will look closely at how the boards are run, find savings and make changes needed to restore responsible management. While an initial assessment of the OCDSB's finances predicted another deficit for 2025-26, trustees did approve $18.1 million in cuts earlier this month in order to balance their budget. "The fact that we have passed this balanced budget and the ministry is still trying to take us over, I don't know where they're expecting to find additional savings," said board trustee Lyra Evans. 'Primary problem' is funding In a press release announcing the takeover, the ministry said the four school boards had exhibited "mismanagement and poor decision-making." It said the OCDSB had "completely depleted its reserves, incurred an accumulated deficit, and plans to use unsustainable proceeds from asset sales to balance its books." Calandra also spoke Friday about frustrated parents and noted the recent resignation of two OCDSB trustees. He also said the budgets for the next school year had yet to be reviewed by staff. According to Evans, the school board's "primary problem" is the funding it gets from the province. "There are huge deltas in things that the ministry has not adequately funded us for," she said, listing a gap between government funding and OCDSB spending on special education and on statutory entitlements like employment insurance and the Canadian Pension Plan. While the province continues to boast its "record funding" for education, Ottawa West-Nepean MPP Chandra Pasma says it's actually to blame for any deficits. One recent report by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives pegged the provincial funding shortfall to the OCDSB over the last seven years at $338.4 million, while noting its per-student funding has dropped by $560 from the 2018-19 school year and the 2025-26 school year. "If funding had just kept pace since 2018, the Toronto District School Board, Toronto Catholic District School Board and Ottawa-Carleton District School Board would not have [been facing] a deficit this year," said Pasma, the Ontario NDP's education critic. Pasma acknowledged previous instances of financial mismanagement from Ontario school boards, but said there are other ways to deal with misuse of funds that don't amount to an "unmitigated power grab." Need for 'clear, concise rules' on spending Calandra said the appointments were also motivated by how the ministry has "decentralized" decision-making, giving trustees more leeway with budgeting and curriculum choices. "That is where the Ministry of Education has to come back in, to refocus centralized decision making and provide clear, concise rules on how money is to be spent, on what trustees are supposed to be doing, on what boards of education are supposed to be doing," he said. Evans disagreed, saying a supervisor may not understand the needs of different communities. "We have locally elected trustees because it allows us to advocate for our communities and to bring that voice to the district. If we don't have that local voice at the table, then what works in Toronto might not work here," she said. "It's very easy to move in and break things when you have no understanding of why things are the way they are." Plamondon, an author and academic who previously as the interim chair of the National Capital Commission, started in his role as supervisor on Friday.
Globe and Mail
2 hours ago
- Globe and Mail
G7 agrees to exempt U.S. companies from higher taxes
The United States and the Group of Seven nations have agreed to support a proposal that would exempt U.S. companies from some components of an existing global agreement, the G7 said in a statement on Saturday. The group has created a 'side-by-side' system in response to the U.S. administration agreeing to scrap the Section 899 retaliatory tax proposal from President Donald Trump's tax and spending bill, it said in a statement from Canada, the head of the rolling G7 presidency. The G7 said the plan recognizes existing U.S. minimum tax laws and aims to bring more stability to the international tax system. Opinion: The G7 is dead – time to move on to the G6 U.K. businesses are also spared higher taxes after the removal of Section 899 from Mr. Trump's tax and spending bill. Britain said businesses would benefit from greater certainty and stability following the agreement. Some British businesses had in recent weeks said they were worried about paying substantial additional tax due to the inclusion of Section 899, which has now been removed. 'Today's agreement provides much-needed certainty and stability for those businesses after they had raised their concerns,' Britain's finance minister Rachel Reeves said in a statement, adding that more work was needed to tackle aggressive tax planning and avoidance. G7 officials said that they look forward to discussing a solution that is 'acceptable and implementable to all.' In January, through an executive order, Trump declared that the global corporate minimum tax deal was not applicable in the U.S., effectively pulling out of the landmark 2021 arrangement negotiated by the Biden administration with nearly 140 countries. He had also vowed to impose a retaliatory tax against countries that impose taxes on U.S. firms under the 2021 global tax agreement. This tax was considered detrimental to many foreign companies operating in the U.S.
