Longtime MNA Kelley pondering retirement after quarter-century
Family, age among his ‘considerations,’ but he says he still loves what he does
Longtime Liberal MNA Geoff Kelley said he is reflecting on his political future as the next provincial election looms. While six other Liberal MNAs, including Liberal house leader Jean-Marc Fournier, have announced they will not run in the October 2018 election, Kelley is among a group of others mulling whether they want to run for office again. Kelley, who represents the West Island’s Jacques-Cartier riding, a Liberal stronghold, told the West Island Gazette his family life will factor into his decision. “I just turned 63. My next grandson will be born in two weeks … so these are all the considerations,” he said. Kelley, who serves as minister of Aboriginal affairs in Premier Philippe Couillard’s cabinet, was first elected to the National Assembly in 1994. He was re-elected six times, most recently in 2014. Nearly a quarter-century of public service is a long time in politics. “It’s just the energy to do it for another four years,” Kelley said, “because it’s back and forth, it’s 40 trips to Quebec City a year.” Kelley acknowledged that serving his West Island constituents for more than two decades has meant long commutes to and from the provincial capital. “I also worked for four years for Mr. (Claude) Ryan before, so I’ve been going to Quebec City every week for 28 years … and (the highway) is not getting any shorter,” he added. “So those are very personal considerations. I have great respect for my boss (Couillard) and I enjoy very much what I’m doing...” The Liberals, under leaders Jean Charest and then Couillard, have been in power for much of the last 15 years. (Former Parti Québécois leader Pauline Marois was premier for 19 months, from September 2012 to April 2014.) But recent polls show the Liberals trailing the Coalition Avenir Québec. Kelley was on hand for last Thursday’s inauguration of the Stillview family medical centre and Statcare walk-in as Quebec’s 30th super-clinic by Health Minister Gaétan Barrette. “We continue to try and get our health system to work as a network, and that patients can go and get the appropriate care at the appropriate place,” Kelley said. “As I say, geographically, it has always been very evident here that we swamp the emergency room (of the Lakeshore General Hospital) across the street when people … with a heavy cough don’t need to go there. “So (this will) take the pressure off the Lakeshore … because it really is the last emergency room before the Ontario border. … Later down the road, we’ll build a hospital in Vaudreuil and that will be a big help as well. But it takes a while to build a hospital.”
It’s just the energy to do it for another four years, because it’s back and forth, it’s 40 trips to Quebec City a year.