A year after having slammed the door of the Conservative Party of Canada (PCC), the Independent MP for Richmond–Arthabaska Alain Rayes announced Monday that he will not seek a new mandate in the next federal election. However, he denies having any intention of making the leap into provincial politics.
“The head is gone elsewhere, the heart is gone elsewhere,” he explained in an interview on the show All one morning on ICI Radio-Canada Première. “I still have the same passion to want to get involved, but it will be in a different way, which I will see, depending on the different opportunities in the coming months. »
Former mayor of Victoriaville, elected Conservative MP for the first time in 2015, the 51-year-old MP says he wanted to announce his decision before Parliament resumes in Ottawa. He says he decided on his future during a vacation with his wife this summer. “When I came back, the body spoke and I decided to move on to another call, and come out as I felt it was the right time to do so,” he said.
Alain Rayes claims to be “very worried about how politics is done” at the moment, repeating explanations already given when he decided to leave the CCP last September, in the wake of Pierre Poilievre’s landslide victory in the of the leadership race. Mr. Rayes had instead supported his rival, Jean Charest.
“I am someone who is positive by nature, who wants to work to bring people together, who wants to find constructive solutions. And the way federal politics is done today means that I no longer recognize myself and I no longer want to play in this negative zone which was pulling me down, ”he argued. , without denying that he himself “got swallowed up by the machine”.
Saying to himself “serene, zen” with his decision, Alain Rayes assured that he had no intention of making the leap into provincial politics, without however closing the door twice.
“One thing is certain: I like politics, I like people. I’m still passionate about it. I don’t have the same energy right now to give for that. But today, the decision that I am announcing, it is in no interest to prepare me to make a leap into provincial politics or any other level of government. I want to experience something else, ”he pleaded.
“At the same time, I can’t say never, because someone who loves politics, we know how it’s ingrained in us. It’s like a drug. We want to contribute. We want to participate. We want to influence positively,” he added. “But for now, I have no short, medium or long term goal of making the leap into provincial politics. »