Liberals Vaughan, Amos, Mccrimmon opt not to run
Prime minister expected to call an election soon
OTTAWA • Liberal MPS Adam Vaughan, Will Amos and Karen Mccrimmon say they will not run in the next federal election.
Vaughan said he decided not to seek re-election in his Toronto riding after spending 15 years in politics to spend more time with his family after he turned 60.
The Spadina-fort York MP said he made the “tough decision” after reflecting on the work he will have to do to achieve progress on files including the national housing strategy, and he found that he cannot do that at “half speed.”
“The job is not just intellectually and spiritually demanding. It’s also physically demanding,” he said in an interview with The Canadian Press.
“I’ve been doing announcements for the last week — up at five every morning going off to airports and then driving for four or five hours to do a half-hour announcement, to get back in the car to get to the airport to get to the next city.”
The intensity of being an MP has taken a toll on him, he said, especially with a political culture where at times the priority has become shaming people rather than explaining policies.
“We live in an environment of gotcha politics and it’s not just ... the opposition that plays that game, it’s journalists who play that game too, and it’s a political culture that you can see on social media,” he said.
“It’s never about the ideas. It’s about the person and that’s a little disappointing ... Politics is getting more caustic and more vitriolic.”
Vaughan has represented the riding in downtown Toronto since he was first elected in a 2014 byelection. He was a Toronto city councillor for the Trinity-spadina area between 2006 and 2014.
The NDP said Sunday Toronto Catholic District School Board trustee Norm Di Pasquale will run in Vaughan’s riding. The Liberal Party has not announced a new candidate.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is widely expected to call an election soon as his cabinet ministers and MPS are criss-crossing the country making campaign-style announcements.
Amos, who has represented the Quebec riding of Pontiac since 2015, said in a post on Facebook that he will not be running after discussing his options with his family.
“I’m not closing the door to politics and elected public service in the future. But I have concluded that the time is not right for me to launch into another campaign,” he said. “I want to explore other avenues that enable better life/work balance.”
Last month, Amos’s office said he is pursuing a “wellness program” after twice exposing himself during virtual proceedings in the House of Commons, incidents he described as accidental.
In May, Amos was caught on camera urinating — which was broadcast on an internal parliamentary video feed of Commons proceedings but not seen publicly — after he appeared naked in April during similar virtual proceedings, which he said occurred as he changed clothes after taking a jog.
Amos won the 2019 election in Pontiac with almost 47 per cent of the votes. The Bloc Quebecois came second with 17.6 per cent, and the Conservative candidate came third with 17.5 per cent.
In a post on her Twitter account, Ottawa MP Mccrimmon said she will not seek re-election in Kanata-carleton due to “health challenges” that require her attention, noting that she was not forced to take this step.
“At the age of 64, it is time to make my health a priority,” she said. “I acknowledge that the timing is undeniably difficult. I am also acutely aware and not insensitive to the fact that this will impact others, but I feel that to delay further would not be in the best interests of the people of Kanata-carleton.”
The Liberal Party has not announced a candidate to replace Mccrimmon in her riding as Conservative candidate Jennifer Mcandrew has already started canvassing with her team to win back the seat her party lost to the Liberals in 2015.