Harper resigns seat in House

Stephen Harper resigns seat in House of Commons

It’s been months since Stephen Harper packed up his Parliament Hill office, but on Friday he finally turned out the lights, resigning his seat as a Calgary MP and ending nearly two often-tumultuous decades in public office.

Harper, 57, made the decision in the final weeks of last fall’s lengthy election campaign that should the Conservatives lose power while he retained his seat in the House of Commons, he’d stay on as an MP — at least for a while.

As a result, the former prime minister has kept an ultra-low profile in and out of the House of Commons over the last 10 months, showing up for most — but not all — votes and entertaining visitors in his office while plotting his next moves.

Those will include working on various corporate boards, as well as spooling up a consulting firm he incorporated late last year with two of his longtime advisers Ray Novak and Jeremy Hunt.

Harper will be taking a specific interest in foreign affairs — a portfolio in which he takes a particular measure of pride, he said Friday in a farewell video message broadcast on social media platforms.

“Friends, we did a lot together, but I know the best is yet to come,’’ he said, echoing remarks he made back in May at the Conservative convention.

“Our country must continue to serve as a model of prosperity and freedom. Pursue the principles we have stood for at home and abroad, and our children, and children’s children, will inherit the Canada we know and love so dearly.’’