Peter MacKay to announce he won’t run in fall federal election
Posted May 29, 2015 09:52:43 AM.
Last Updated May 29, 2015 11:01:26 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Reports say Justice Minister Peter MacKay will announce he’s not running in the 2015 election.
“It is a bit of a shock, I think, in Ottawa, that MacKay would be stepping down,” said Cormac Mac Sweeney, News 95.7’s Parliament Hill reporter.
Mac Sweeney pointed out MacKay has a young family, his son Kian Alexander just turned two, and his wife Nazanin Afshin-Jam is pregnant with the couple’s second child, expected to arrive this fall.
This is not the first big name Conservative cabinet minister to step down before this fall’s election, John Baird left politics in mid-March.
Both Christian Paradis, the former International Development Minister, and Shelly Glover, who served as Canadian Heritage and Official Languages Minister, have also announced the will not seek re-election.
MacKay was expected to have competition in the Central Nova riding, with 27-year Canadian Forces veteran David MacLeod is running for the Liberals there.
“The Liberals have been investing a lot in his riding, trying to see if they could possibly steal that seat,” said Mac Sweeney.
MacKay has been an MP since 1997.
Atlantic director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federal Kevin Lacey told The Rick Howe Show, Peter MacKay is eligible to collect a pension of almost $120,000 a year.
He is expected to make the announcement this afternoon at 5 p.m. at Stellarton’s Museum of Industry, the Prime Minister is expected to attend.
