OTTAWA — A Quebec Liberal MP has announced that she won’t be running for re-election, mere weeks before the campaign is expected to start in September.
Vimy MP Eva Nassif made the announcement Thursday evening in a letter that cited “recent events of a personal nature” to be behind her decision to not seek a second term.
“I know full well that what awaits me is uncertain,” she wrote, adding that for the first time in 13 years, she has “no definite plan” for what she wants to do next.
During her term in office, Nassif sat on two committees: agriculture and status of women. She said her work has been motivated by a sense of service, and referred to her experience as a nurse in war-torn Lebanon along with being a federal politician.
The rookie MP ended her letter by sharing lessons she’s learned while in public office, including how “nothing is more persuasive than authenticity.”
Quebec is a battleground province with 78 seats. But as of last week, the Liberal incumbent was still waiting for confirmation that she had secured the nomination in her riding.
Nassif told the Canadian Press last week that she was confident she would receive the nomination, despite the process taking a long time. “I’m sure that I will receive my nomination from the prime minister over the next few days,” she told the news wire agency.
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Liberal party spokesperson Braeden Caley told HuffPost Canada that “the nomination process in Vimy is proceeding in line with all of the party’s national nomination rules.” He did not respond to a question asking if Nassif failed to meet rules to secure the nomination.
“Liberals thank Eva Nassif for her work as a Member of Parliament, and we wish her success in her future endeavours,” said Caley.
With the election campaign expected to start in September, it’s now crunch time for the Liberals to finalize their candidates before the writ drops. The shrinking timeline prompted the party to trigger a “national election urgency” clause last week, suspending the party’s regular rules on nominations, giving “sole and unfettered discretion” to the national campaign chair to appoint candidates.
There are 338 seats in the House of Commons, but as of last week, Liberals had only 242 candidates nominated across the country.
Looking at the opposition, the Conservatives are ahead with 331 candidates named along with the People’s Party with 312 names. New Democrats are lagging behind with 149 candidates nominated across Canada, according to CTV News.