(Ottawa) Carolyn Bennett, a longtime Liberal, has announced her retirement as MP for Toronto-St. Paul’s after 26 years of service.
The former family doctor made her final speech in the House of Commons just a week before she turned 73e birthday, saying she made the difficult decision in 1997 to leave medicine to pursue a career in politics, but never regretted it.
Mme Bennett has served under three prime ministers and spent just over 10 years in cabinet, more than half of which was as Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations between 2015 and 2021.
Mme Bennett was kicked out of cabinet last summer after announcing she would not seek re-election.
She now says she will vacate her seat immediately rather than wait until the next election to step down.
Longtime Liberal staffer Leslie Church, who most recently served as chief of staff to Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, is seeking the party’s nomination in the riding of Mme Bennett.
The riding of Toronto-St. Paul’s was once considered a swing constituency, often voting for the ruling party, but it has become a safe Liberal seat since Mme Bennett showed up there for the first time.
She has won with more than half the vote in all but two elections she has run in, winning just under 50% in 2021 and 40% when the Conservatives formed a majority government in 2011.
In his final speech to the House of Commons on Tuesday, Mr.me Bennett said she was a proud feminist who made constructive and meaningful public engagement her “brand” as a politician.
She called her approach “democracy between elections” and said she recently found a box full of notes she was keeping to potentially write a book on the subject.
Mme Bennett also reflected on the changes that have occurred in politics during her tenure, and said she is concerned about the shifts she has witnessed toward a Parliament that is hyperpartisan and more susceptible to misinformation.
“We changed the story, but I’m worried. Cynicism is at an all-time high. Voter turnout is falling. The security of parliamentarians is threatened,” she argued.
“I sincerely believe that it is essential for us to reconnect in a meaningful way with citizens. Superficial or inauthentic consultation is bad for democracy. It fuels cynicism. »
Tributes from all sides
MPs from all parties spoke with warmth and admiration of Mr.me Bennett, highlighting his clear attempts to eliminate partisan boundaries and work with them on a number of issues.
Mr. Trudeau said he was speaking to her in the House for the last time with “a heavy heart,” but thanked her for being a source of inspiration and wise advice, particularly on how to ” to be a better feminist” and to recruit extraordinary women to run for the party in elections.
He said he had also leaned on her during the COVID-19 pandemic, not only because she was a doctor, but also because she had previously served as the first-ever Minister of State for Public Health from Canada.
Bloc Québécois MP Andréanne Larouche and New Democrat MP Leah Gazan thanked Mme Bennett for paving the way for other women in power and helping to break glass ceilings.
Conservative MP Adam Chambers stressed that Ms.me Bennett was so long-lived that he wasn’t even in high school when she was first elected to office.
He said she contacted him shortly after his first election in 2021.
She was the minister responsible for mental health and addictions at the time, and asked him if they could visit a mental health hospital in his riding together. Mr. Chambers said they did it last summer.
“Thank you for your service,” he said.