Monte Solberg joining Emerson, Hearn, won't seek re-election
Published Friday September 5th, 2008
OTTAWA - Three cabinet ministers are retiring from politics, the Conservative party said Thursday just days before an expected election call.
Human Resources Minister Monte Solberg, Fisheries Minister Loyola Hearn and Foreign Affairs Minister David Emerson will not seek re-election, the party said in a statement. Emerson and Hearn - who faced difficult electoral fights - had not been expected to run again but Solberg's departure came as a surprise.
The jovial and wise-cracking minister was a party stalwart in a safe riding, and had been an outspoken, effective finance critic while in opposition.
An election call is expected early Sunday for Oct. 14.
"All three of these ministers have served Canadians with distinction," Prime Minister Stephen Harper said in a statement.
"I have the utmost respect for all of these men and wish both them and their families all the best with whatever they choose to do outside of politics."
Emerson was the former B.C. lumber executive and provincial civil servant recruited to serve in Paul Martin's Liberal government.
Respected for his competence, he shocked his constituents by joining the new Conservative government days after the 2006 election.
He became a Conservative trade minister, just 14 days after having been elected as a Liberal in a left-leaning riding.
When Harper sought a steady hand at foreign affairs following a succession of blunders by Maxime Bernier, he was promoted to the portfolio this spring.
But with almost no chance of recapturing his current riding, and little obvious interest in partisan politics to start with, Emerson's departure came as no surprise.
Emerson said the prime minister had known for a year it was unlikely he would seek re-election, and he pledged to aid the Conservative party during the campaign.
"I've committed to the prime minister to continue to support him and serve in any way he may think is valuable," he said Thursday after arriving at the Vancouver airport.
Emerson denied speculation that he dropped out because he wouldn't be able to win his Vancouver Kingsway riding, saying he and his family had decided early on he would serve one, four-year term as an MP.
"I've got a young family, we've got kids still in school," he said.
Emerson was tight-lipped about what his involvement might be with the Conservatives after the election, but hinted at an announcement on Friday.
"Let's get the election out of the way, and get our family settled, and make decisions after that."
The 65-year-old Hearn, a former Progressive Conservative and vocal player in merger talks with Harper's Canadian Alliance, might also have had trouble winning his riding.
The Newfoundlander found himself caught in the crossfire in the continuing dispute - originally over oil revenues - between the prime minister and the Conservative premier of his province, Danny Williams.
With the popular premier promising to campaign against the Harper Tories in the coming election, Hearn faced a difficult fight.
He had been in politics for over a quarter-century, first having been elected to the Newfoundland House of Assembly in 1982 and eventually serving as education minister in his province.
Solberg's departure was unexpected.
He said in an interview Thursday that he had long considered quitting politics, and was dissuaded from leaving before the 2004 campaign during a chat with then-opposition leader Harper.
Solberg said he has a tantalizing job offer, which he would not describe, and no longer has the fire in the belly required to sustain another three or four years of the hectic pace on Parliament Hill.
"I called the prime minister last week," said Solberg, who was elected in the first wave of Reform MPs in 1993. "But I'd been thinking about it for years."
Those who knew the loquacious Solberg in his days as an opposition MP were surprised when he, too, went largely silent as a member of Harper's tightly scripted and speech-averse government.
But Solberg insists his departure was not prompted by an aversion to Harper's brand of discipline.
"Nobody likes to be constrained," he said. "But it would be inaccurate to describe that as the reason."
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