Liberal MP Marco Mendicino will not seek re-election, saying it’s “the right time, for me and my family” to step aside. The former cabinet minister made the announcement in a letter posted to social media on Thursday.
Letter from Mendicino repeats disagreement over the Liberal government’s approach to Middle East
Derek Vanderwyk · CBC News
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Ontario Liberal MP Marco Mendicino not seeking re-election | Canada Tonight
In a letter posted to social media, Ontario Liberal MP Marco Mendicino said he will not seek re-election. He said it’s ‘the right time, for me and my family’ to step aside from the role, adding that he disagrees with the Liberal government’s approach to the Middle East.
Liberal MP Marco Mendicino will not seek re-election, saying it’s “the right time, for me and my family” to step aside.
The former cabinet minister made the announcement in a letter posted to social media on Thursday.
Please see my statement. pic.twitter.com/lFWsfavLzT
Mendocino wrote that he would serve as MP for Toronto’s Eglinton—Lawrence riding for the rest of the parliamentary session, but also repeated his criticism of his government’s approach to the Middle East.
“It is no secret that I have disagreed with the current direction of the federal government on our foreign policy vis-a-vis our deteriorated relations with the State of Israel, our inadequate handling of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, and our enfeebled role in the Middle East,” wrote Mendicino.
“As a matter of principle, I have been consistently outspoken in my condemnation of the unjust targeting of the Jewish community, which is facing a tidal wave of antisemitism.”
In the National Post in January, Mendicino and fellow Liberal MP Anthony Housefather chastised Canada for staying “on the sidelines” of an International Court of Justice case against Israel, writing that Canada “should categorically reject the claim of genocide.”
Cabinet and controversy
Mendicino was once a key player in the Liberal cabinet, accepting the immigration file in 2019 and the public safety file in 2021.
His time as public safety minister, however, saw him embroiled in multiple controversies.
In the months before Prime Minister Justin Trudeau shuffled him out of cabinet in 2023, Mendicino faced calls for his resignation over serial killer Paul Bernardo’s transfer to a medium-security prison.
Mendicino’s office told CBC News that his staff knew about the transfer for three months, but didn’t inform the minister until after it had happened.
Mendicino also held the public safety file through the 2022 Freedom Convoy protests, when the Liberals invoked the Emergencies Act.
He also oversaw the Liberals’ controversial gun control legislation, C-21, making amendments as groups including firearms advocates and Indigenous communities warned that overly broad definitions of assault-style firearms would ban hunting rifles and shotguns.
WATCH | Liberal government ‘regrets confusion’ over firearm bill amendments, says Mendicino:
List of Liberals not seeking re-election grows
Mendicino won his seat in Trudeau’s first government in 2015 as a political giant killer.
His Thursday letter references his feats in beating former Conservative MP Eve Adams for the Liberal candidacy, and besting then-Conservative finance minister Joe Oliver in the election.
Mendicino writes that serving was the “honour of a lifetime,” and expresses “gratitude to my Liberal MP and former Cabinet colleagues, who have my respect and admiration.”
He does not mention Trudeau by name.
By bowing out before the next election, Mendicino joins a growing list of at least 30 Liberal MPs who will not seek re-election. That list includes other MPs who have served with Trudeau since 2015 and as well as other former cabinet ministers.
Marie-Claude Bibeau, Carla Qualtrough, Filomena Tassi, Dan Vandal, Seamus O’Regan, Pablo Rodriguez and Sean Fraser each announced they would not seek re-election while still in cabinet.
WATCH | Sean Fraser says he’s leaving cabinet, won’t seek re-election:
Sean Fraser says he’s leaving cabinet, won’t seek re-election
Housing Minister Sean Fraser has announced he is stepping down from his cabinet role and won’t seek re-election, saying he wants to spend more time with his family.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Derek Vanderwyk is a producer with CBC’s Power & Politics and a writer with CBC’s Parliamentary Bureau. He previously produced CBC’s daily news podcast, Front Burner, and worked on CBC’s national radio news programs.
