Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre may soon join the ranks of Alberta MP's and regain his seat in the House of Commons.
Speculation around Poilievre's future was put to rest less than a week after the election when Battle River-Crowfoot MP Damien Kurek announced his intent to resign in order for Poilievre to run in the riding in a byelection.
Foothills MP John Barlow was quick to voice his support for Poilievre even before Kurek offered his seat.,
"Over the last two years with Pierre as a leader, our caucus has been incredibly united and focused, and I don't think that this election result changes that. We had some really impressive gains in Ontario and other parts of the country. Certainly, our numbers show that we took a pretty big step forward. Pierre's the person to continue to lead us into the next election whenever that may be," said Barlow.
Following Poilievre's loss in his long-held riding of Carleton, combined with the Conservatives' loss on the national stage, rumours swirled that the party may move on without Poilievre's leadership, especially given the party's penchant for seeking new leadership after a federal election loss.
For Barlow, the difference with Poilievre's leadership is clear.
"We can't keep trying to recycle leaders and bring new people in. I think what's changed is that the team has been so united behind Pierre, but also, look at what Pierre's been able to build across Canada in terms of attracting new people to our Conservative coalition that have never voted for us before. The endorsements from a number of the police unions across the country, a lot of the blue-collar unions, pipe fitters, boilermakers, carpenters, a lot of new Canadians and minorities that are coming to us because of that message."
The historic election saw several twists and turns and was undoubtedly influenced by a fair few external factors.
Barlow doesn't believe the Conservatives' loss lies solely at the feet of Poilievre. On the contrary, he believes the party's gains were largely driven by their leader.
"I think there were a lot of factors that were outside of our control, in many cases outside of our country, that impacted this election. But certainly, we had the highest results for Conservative parties since 1988. I think that clearly showed that Canadians were looking for change. They voted for change. They voted with the priorities of affordable housing, lower grocery prices, lower inflation, fixing the budget, and certainly lower crime. I think the first two weeks of the campaign, a lot of people's attention was elsewhere, but as the campaign carried on, and with the results in the final ballots on Monday, obviously a good percentage of Canadians were voting for change."
As for the Battle River—Crowfoot byelection, Barlow is glad to hear that Prime Minister Mark Carney doesn't intend to draw the process out.
"I respect that decision by the Prime Minister. Usually, when it comes to the leaders of the other parties, there's not shenanigans. There's a respect there. I certainly appreciate Mr. Carney's decision to make sure that Pierre is able to run that by-election as quickly as possible. That is a Canadian tradition, and I'm glad to see that he is following through on that, you know, that very important Canadian tradition."