Three NDP MPs won’t run again
Veteran maverick Angus is among those calling it quits
Three New Democrats, including one of the party’s longestserving MPs, have announced they won’t be running for re-election in battleground regions where Pierre Poilievre’s Conservatives hope to make gains.
Charlie Angus, who has represented Timmins—James Bay for two decades, said Thursday he has decided not to seek re-election in the northern Ontario riding that is of particular interest to Poilievre.
Following Angus’s announcement, the NDP said British Columbia MP Rachel Blaney, who has fielded stiff competition from the Conservatives in her riding of North Island-Powell River, and Carol Hughes, who has held Angus’s neighbouring riding of Algoma-Manitoulin-Kapuskasing since 2008, had also decided not to run again.
“On behalf of all New Democrats, I want to thank Rachel, Charlie and Carol for their years of advocacy and dedication to serving working people,” NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said in a written statement.
“They’ve all accomplished so much for Canadians and worked tirelessly to make our country a fairer, better place. They’ve added so much to our party and, while we’ll miss their contributions around the caucus table, I want to wish my friends the very best when each of them begins their next chapter.”
The departures are likely to put pressure on a party that is fighting to expand its electoral footprint at a time when the NDP is grappling with other caucus exits, its ties to an increasingly unpopular Liberal government, and a Conservative party eager to boost their seat count at the New Democrats’ expense.
Thursday’s announcements mean six MPs out of the NDP’s 25member caucus will have vacated their seats by the time Canadians next head to the polls. Blaney, who was first elected in 2015, is the third NDP MP in B.C. who has said they won’t run again. She joins fellow longtime MPs Randall Garrison and Richard Cannings, the latter of whom also represents a blue-orange battleground.
Manitoba MP Daniel Blaikie left federal politics at the end of March to work for Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew.
Angus told the Star it was time for new blood to revitalize the party.
“We’ve seen great MPs step aside in the past and I didn’t know how we were going to carry on, and then other great MPs step up,” said Angus, who has garnered a reputation as a scrappy and outspoken New Democrat who once ran against Singh for leadership of the NDP.
“Every caucus needs renewal, and I think renewal is happening.”
As the party’s natural resources critic, Angus worked closely with his government counterpart Jonathan Wilkinson on Ottawa’s sustainable jobs bill as part of the Liberal-NDP parliamentary alliance.
“I will continue to find ways to advocate for Indigenous and Northern issues. The climate crisis is an all-hands-on-deck moment. I started in grassroots activism and am excited to return to those roots. And yes, there will be more gigs, more books, more historical projects, and more s--t disturbing,” Angus wrote on Facebook.
Angus partly pinned his decision on significant boundary changes to Canada’s ridings that came into effect this month.
“The Federal Electoral Boundary Commission has ruled that this constituency, already bigger than the U.K., will undergo dramatic changes. The new riding of Mushkegowuk-Kapuskasing-Timmins will be even larger, with the addition of many new communities spread out over an additional 20,000 square kilometres of territory,” Angus wrote in his post.
That redrawing of the electoral map also means Hughes’s riding is set to be dissolved.
The departure of both Angus and Hughes creates a timely opening for the Conservatives, who have the region — an NDP stronghold — in their sights.
Poilievre has visited the area on at least four occasions since announcing his intent to run for the Conservative leadership in 2022, often hammering his party’s tough-oncrime message to a region wrestling with public safety concerns.