Harper to step down on Nov. 4: spokesman

OTTAWA — Prime Minister Stephen Harper will formally step down next week, just before Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government takes office.

Rideau Hall said Harper visited Gov. Gen. David Johnston right after the election and said he would resign as prime minister in the wake of the Liberal majority victory in the federal election on Oct. 19.

A spokesman said Harper will quit on Nov. 4, just prior to the swearing-in of Trudeau’s Liberals, which is scheduled to take place that same day.

Harper has been prime minister since February 2006.

Moving trucks have been at the prime minister’s residence at 24 Sussex Drive since Tuesday as the Harper family pre- pares to move back to Calgary.

Harper, meanwhile, has been making calls to defeated Conservative MPs and ministers.

He has said he intends to remain as MP for the riding of Calgary Heritage in order to keep an eye on the party’s future.

That’s not unusual. Paul Martin remained an MP for two years after his Liberals lost power to Harper. John Diefenbaker, Conservative prime minister from 1957 to 1963, remained as an MP for 16 years after his government was defeated.

Kim Campbell, Conservative PM for just over four months in 1993, lost her seat in the October election and resigned as party leader shortly after.