(Quebec) Citing family reasons, Marwah Rizqy announced Tuesday that she will leave political life at the end of her mandate, in 2026. “I can no longer combine everything,” said the elected representative from Saint-Laurent, mother of two children.
“I would have liked to combine everything, but I can’t. When we are elected, we have responsibilities to represent everyone well” and this implies “not putting your children to bed every night”, expressed the main person concerned with emotion. Mme Rizqy has thus closed the door to politics for the coming years while she wants to “raise [elle-] even his children.”
Marwah Rizqy shares her life with Liberal MP Greg Kelley, which adds to the couple’s professional challenge, she explained to the media on Tuesday. The two elected officials must travel from Montreal to Quebec every week, leaving their children at home. They “deserve a full-time mother,” she whispered.
She announced her departure two years before the next elections so as, among other things, not to “overshadow” the race for the leadership of the Liberal Party of Quebec, which must be launched in January.
The Press confirmed Tuesday the information first revealed by political columnist Jonathan Trudeau on the airwaves of 98.5 FM that Mme Rizqy will not be in the running in 2026. The MP’s intentions were first announced this morning to the members of Saint-Laurent by the president of the local association. She later released a statement on social media explaining her decision.
A tax specialist by training, she is thinking of returning to the University of Sherbrooke to teach. She also wore a green jacket on Tuesday, in the university colors, she noted.
“After careful consideration, I have made my decision. This current mandate will be my last. Obviously, I will give my 100%, to the best of my abilities. Why now? Because there’s never a good time to bow out. By announcing today, my party and the next leader will have time to find a candidate totally dedicated to the people of Saint-Laurent,” she wrote earlier.
New mother of a second boy, the elected representative of Saint-Laurent has never hidden the fact that she found it difficult to be separated from her children. In her publication, she specifies that her husband offered to leave so that she could continue to sit, which she refused.
“Personally, as you know, having the privilege of becoming pregnant and giving birth was not easy for Greg and me. It was a real obstacle course. Today, every Monday, when I take the train towards Quebec, my heart sinks. I want to fully live my role as a mother. I want to be able to be in the same city as my young children and be able to tuck them in at night. Because, we must remember: since my husband is also elected, we must leave our children without parents every weekday when we have to be in Quebec. For me, this is too great a sacrifice,” adds the elected official.
Solicited from all sides, she had also closed the door to the race to succeed Dominique Anglade for family reasons. In interview at The Press a month ago, as part of a report on assisted procreation, the liberal elected official admitted it bluntly: without her family project, “it’s clear” that she was trying her luck in the race.
“In 2026, Gabriel will already be four years old and will enter primary school the following year. Abraham will join him a year later. They’re growing so fast already…I can no longer contemplate being a part-time mom who sleeps three or four nights a week away from them. I want to be fully present for them. It’s my decision. It is final and without appeal,” concludes M.me Rizqy.
Message for women
The elected official from Saint-Laurent ends her publication by offering a message to women in politics. She also participated in the book The sex of power by ex-journalist Jocelyne Richer in which she addresses the challenges linked to women’s politics.
“I can’t help but deliver this message to young women: it’s possible to have it all and I consider myself to have had it all! Yes yes ! I allowed myself to dream and above all, to believe in it. Daughter of Moroccan immigrants, from a more than unprivileged background, my mere presence in parliament is in itself a victory. If you had seen my mother during my swearing in in 2018! Unable to speak, with tears in her eyes, she whispered in my ear: “Was it really me who gave birth to you? An uneducated woman? ! » And I replied: “I’m so proud of you, mom. You taught me a lot, you gave me everything. And the school of life is the first true school. »
Elected for the first time in 2018, Marwah Rizqy was chosen parliamentary woman of the year, critic of the most tenacious opposition and queen of the music video, tied with Geneviève Guilbault, in the list of elected officials produced by The Press in December 2023.