resignation

Tuesday June 23, 2015

Tuesday June 23, 2015By Graeme MacKay, Editorial Cartoonist, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday June 23, 2015

Industry Minister James Moore leaving federal politics

Stephen Harper’s Conservative government is grappling with another looming high-profile departure as Industry Minister James Moore, a well-liked politician and moderate voice in the party, announced Friday he won’t be running in the October election.

Tuesday November 4, 2014Moore, the MP for Port Moody—Westwood—Port Coquitlam, caught Conservative insiders and fellow MPs off guard with his announcement that he would be leaving politics, citing family and the health of his young son as the reason.

“Balancing family responsibilities while in public life is always a challenge,” Moore said in a statement.

“This is particularly true when you have a child with special needs. Recently my wife and I received some difficult news about the health of our beautiful son Spencer,” said Moore, who did not go into specifics.

In his statement, Moore said he would finish out his term and return to B.C. to “pursue new opportunities and be closer to my young family.”

He is the latest in a string of cabinet ministers who have either quit or signalled they won’t be running again this fall — Justice Minister Peter MacKay, John Baird, who left as foreign affairs minister, Heritage Minister Shelly Glover and International Development Minister Christian Paradis, in addition to the more than two dozen backbench Tories who won’t return to Ottawa. (Source: Toronto Star)

 

Published in the Thunder Bay Chronicle Herald, NUPGE, The Saskatoon Star-Phoenix, The Woodstock Sentinel Review and iPolitics.ca

Wednesday February 4, 2015

Wednesday February 4, 2015By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday February 4, 2015

John Baird resigns in emotional House of Commons speech

Tuesday February 3, 2015John Baird, a veteran of Queen’s Park politics and one of the shining lights of Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s government, has confirmed he is leaving public life.

Baird, 45, whose resignation caught Parliament Hill almost totally off guard, delivered the surprise announcement in the Commons on Tuesday morning. He is stepping down as foreign affairs minister and leaving politics, the Ottawa member of Parliament said.

“The time has come to start a new chapter in my life,” Baird said in an emotional speech to fellow MPs. He did not explain what he will be doing next, though it is expected he will take a job in the private sector.

Tearing up, Baird said, “I will miss this place very much.”

He praised the economic and diplomatic efforts of the Harper government, saying “the world continues to see the best that Canada has to offer.”

Baird said he informed Harper last night of his intention to leave Parliament Hill. Baird received a standing ovation from MPs and after his speech, members lined up and wished him well one by one, with handshakes and hugs on the floor of the Commons.

“It is with great regret and affection that I today accepted the resignation of one of the finest ministers that I have had the privilege of working with, John Baird,” Harper said in a statement .

“John has always been willing to do a lot of heavy lifting in my various cabinets and has assumed daunting new responsibilities with unsurpassed energy, commitment and professionalism, never losing sight of the fact that he was serving the Canadian people,” Harper said.

But the unexpected resignation of one of Harper’s strongest performers was a blow to the Conservatives, who face the prospect of an election later this year. Without Baird, the party will have to refurbish its political operation in the Ottawa area. (Source: Toronto Star)

 

Also published at Yahoo News Canada, iPolitics and the Regina Leader Post

Farewell John Baird

John Baird facesTuesday February 3, 2015

Foreign Minister John Baird confirmed Tuesday that he is resigning from his post and will not seek re-election later this year. He’s only 45, but he’s been in politics for what seems like an eternity. In actuality, he’s been in elected office for 20 years, serving in the cabinets of Ontario Premier Mike Harris, and federally with Stephen Harper, as Treasury Board President, Environment Minister, Transport Minister, followed by Foreign Affairs. He was dubbed “Harper’s pitbull”, a label which has stuck to him throughout his time in Ottawa characterizing his aggressive, gruff style, which has been thoroughly enjoyable for editorial cartoonists ever since. Some of my cartoons from the past 13 years: 

November 6, 2002
June 9, 2011
January 7, 2015
July 16, 2013

Friday, March 21, 2014

Friday, March 21, 2014By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday, March 21, 2014

Alison Redford resigns as Alberta premier

Facing a palace coup over her imperious leadership style and lavish spending habits, Alberta Premier Alison Redford has stepped down.

“Too much time over the last few weeks has been spent on questions of loyalty and allegiances and character,” Redford said Wednesday evening at the Alberta legislature in Edmonton.

“Too many people have been distracted from the important work that Albertans sent us here to do and as leader of this party and this government that has weighed heavily on my mind,” she said, fighting back tears. ”

“I’ve given my heart and soul to this province . . . quite simply I am not prepared to allow party and caucus in-fighting to get in the way of building a better future for our province.”

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Redford, who made history as her province’s first female premier, said “with a profound optimism for Alberta’s future I am resigning . . . effective this Sunday evening.”

‎Her dramatic abdication announcement in the legislature’s rotunda came less than two years after her Progressive Conservatives won a stunning landslide victory over Danielle Smith’s heavily favoured Wildrose party, defying pollsters and pundits.

But since that April 2012 win, Redford, who became leader only in October 2011, had been criticize‎d for spending $45,000 on first-class air tickets and a government plane to jet to South Africa for the funeral of Nelson Mandela in December.

Redford, who had worked as a lawyer with Mandela’s government after the end of apartheid, finally repaid the controversial expenses last week.

But her liberal use of government aircraft on other jaunts suggested a sense of entitlement that rankled Alberta Conservatives. (Source: Toronto Star)