Is the tradition of giving party leaders a free pass to the House dead?

Political parties won't be giving Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre a free ride back into the House of Commons — seemingly ignoring a parliamentary tradition that dates back decades.

But the convention of political parties standing aside to allow seatless party leaders an easy path to the House — known as "leadership courtesy" — hasn't been consistently applied.

Former Alberta MP Damien Kurek vacated his seat in Battle River-Crowfoot to give Poilievre a chance to rejoin the House of Commons after the Conservative leader lost his longtime Carleton riding in April's general election.

Although a large majority of the more than 200 names registered for the Aug. 18 byelection are associated with a group of electoral reform advocates, the Liberals, NDP, Greens and a number of smaller parti