Former interim Liberal leader Bob Rae resigns as MP
Posted Jun 19, 2013 9:13 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
OTTAWA – After decades serving in federal and provincial politics, Bob Rae resigned as MP Wednesday.
Since 1978, he has served as an NDP MP, premier of Ontario and more recently as interim Liberal leader.
Rae is known as one of the best speakers in the house, but despite his reputation and love for the job, he says it’s time for him to go.
Rae said he is leaving politics so he can focus on his new role as chief negotiator for First Nations in talks with the province about development of the Ring of Fire mining development in northern Ontario.
“This is going to be a major undertaking,” an emotional Rae told a surprise news conference Wednesday in the foyer of the House of Commons.
“It’s clear to me that it will take a lot more time and it simply isn’t possible to do both jobs at the same time.”
Rae admits over his years, politics in Canada has definitely changed.
“I think it has become more personal,” he said. “I think it’s become nastier but that just means you have to be tougher.”
When asked if he will ever return to politics, Rae doesn’t rule it out completely.
“Never say never but it certainly closes the door for now.”
He shut down any speculation he’ll run for mayor of Toronto.
“I have a marriage and some conditions have been established. I will not be a candidate for the mayor of Toronto,” he said.
His colleagues say they’ll miss his stinging effective attacks, his wisdom and his witty sense of humour.
Rae began in politics as a New Democrat and later shifted to the federal Liberals, even seeking the party leadership at one point.
He was first elected to the Commons in a 1978 byelection, but moved to Ontario provincial politics four years later, when he became provincial NDP leader.
He was premier from 1990-95 during troubled economic times and left a controversial legacy.
In 2006, having joined the Liberals, he unsuccessfully sought the party leadership, but won a seat in the Commons in 2008, becoming interim leader after Michael Ignatieff lost his seat in the 2011 election.
He returned to the Commons in a 2008 byelection in Toronto Centre, a seat he held in the general election later that year.
He made a tepid bid for the party leadership again in 2008, but stepped aside in favour of Ignatieff.
He refused to speculate abut his political legacy.
“I don’t write history,” Rae said. “That’s someone else who’s going to do that.”
Rae was the scion of a noted family. His father, Saul Rae, was a highly respected Canadian diplomat and took the family to postings that included Washington and Geneva.
The younger Rae graduated with honours from the University of Toronto, where he also later received a law degree.
For a time, he roomed with Ignatieff, who later would be a rival for the Liberal leadership.
His university record brought him a Rhodes Scholarship to Oxford University.
He has said his first foray into politics was as a volunteer during Pierre Trudeau’s legendary first campaign in 1968, when he was 19.
Rae in recent years was a fixture in the Commons with his fiery speeches and a shock of white hair that grabbed the eye on television.
But the lawyer, author and arbitrator finally found himself caught between two careers and opted for the work of conflict resolution.
“I have a lot of passion for Canadian politics,” Rae said. “It’s been a very difficult decision … and quite an emotional one for me.”
