RETIRING MP RAPS DND
McCrimmon sees change ahead
Retiring Kanata-Carleton MP Karen McCrimmon says revelations about pervasive sexual misconduct in the military didn't come as a surprise to her after 26 years as a groundbreaking member of the Royal Canadian Air Force.
“I could tell you stories that would curl your hair,” McCrimmon said in an interview Monday. “Those revelations were not a surprise.”
McCrimmon, 64, announced Sunday evening that she won't seek re-election after two terms because of an undisclosed health condition.
In an interview Monday, McCrimmon said she's retiring to focus on reclaiming her health. “This was the hardest decision I've ever had to make in my whole life,” she said. “I've had a manageable health condition that all of a sudden became unmanageable. I just knew I didn't have a campaign in me.”
McCrimmon said she spent most of July helping to care for her husband's elderly parents, which further diminished her willingness to face a fourth federal election campaign.
“I know it's the worst timing, I get that, but I just didn't have it in me to do this campaign,” she said.
McCrimmon's departure means Kanata-Carleton voters will select a new MP in the next election, which is expected to be triggered later this month.
Late Monday afternoon, the federal Liberal party announced that Kanata North Coun. Jenna Sudds had been acclaimed as the party's candidate for Kanata-Carleton.
Geoffrey Crowe, chair of the Kanata-Carleton Federal Liberal Association, said earlier in the day that the riding association was “waiting for direction from the party on next steps going forward.”
The other major parties all have candidates in place: Conservative Jennifer McAndrew, a small-business owner; New Democrat Melissa Coenraad, a medical lab technician; the Green Party's Dr. Jennifer Purdy, a family physician; and the PPC's Scott Miller, a software engineer.
In the last session of Parliament, McCrimmon served as chair of the standing committee on national defence and president of the Canadian NATO Parliamentary Association. McCrimmon said she's proud of her work in helping to transform the culture of the Canadian Armed Forces.
“The change I now see happening, starting, in National Defence, that's going to be huge, I do believe,” she said. “That will make a huge difference in a whole lot of lives.”
McCrimmon said the military rewarded the wrong things in the past: “We've turned a blind eye to the bad behaviour because they were good at other things, the operational side. But you can have people who are really good at operations and also treat people with dignity and respect.”
McCrimmon said she had hoped to be able to do more during her political career.
“For me, there's just way too much talking and not enough action, but that's my impatience, I think,” she said. “And the hyper-partisanship has just gotten worse, and worse and worse — and I don't know how to fix it.”
The next government, she added, needs to deal with online disinformation campaigns and targeted hate, including the abuse that female politicians endure through social media.
McCrimmon has held Kanata-Carleton for the Liberal Party since 2015. Before entering politics, she was a military pioneer.
As a teenager, she joined cadets on a dare, and later enlisted in the air force despite her mother's objections. During her 26-year military career, McCrimmon was the first woman in Canada to qualify as an air navigator and the first to command an air force squadron. She served in Afghanistan, the Balkans and the Gulf War, and retired as a lieutenant colonel.
Born in Weston, Ont., where her father worked at A.V. Roe Canada and helped build the CF-105 Arrow, McCrimmon grew up around airplanes but aspired to a career as a diplomat.
She studied Russian at the University of Windsor but turned to the military when the foreign service wasn't hiring.
Among her decorations is the Order of Military Merit, one of the highest peacetime military awards a Canadian soldier can receive.
McCrimmon first contested a federal election in 2011 when she battled incumbent Conservative Gordon O'Connor, the former defence minister, in Carleton-Mississippi Mills. She lost that election but won the next two in the newly-created riding of Kanata-Carleton, defeating businessman Walter Pamic in 2015 and dress designer Justina McCaffrey in 2019.
McCrimmon said she would tell her successor to get into the riding and draw energy from its constituents. “I tell people, `I hate politics,' but I like to be in a position where I can help people, and there are still people who need help.”
I've had a manageable health condition that all of a sudden became unmanageable. I just knew I didn't have a campaign in me.