OTTAWA — Veteran Liberal MP and former minister Marc Garneau is resigning his seat after nearly 15 years in politics.
The National Post first reported that Garneau, a senior Liberal MP who served as Canada’s foreign affairs minister and transport minister, made the announcement to his party’s Quebec caucus Wednesday morning, right before he shared the news with the national caucus.
In a speech in the House of Commons Wednesday afternoon, he told his fellow MPs that he promised his family to retire from politics once the final report from the special joint committee on medical assistance in dying, which he co-chaired, was tabled. The report was tabled last month.
“Completing this task was of the utmost importance for me,” he said.
Liberal colleagues praised the 74-year-old Garneau for his public service and expressed their surprise to see him leave. Minister of Health Jean-Yves Duclos said the news of Garneau’s resignation came as a “great shock” and that his departure represents a “great loss” for all Canadians.
“He is a very righteous man. He stands for his convictions and he is a good friend. I’m really sad to see him go,” said Minister of Foreign Affairs Melanie Joly.
Garneau was Canada’s first astronaut in space, taking part in three NASA shuttle missions, and was the head of the Canadian Space Agency from 2001 until 2006 before jumping into federal politics. He lost his first attempt for the Liberals in 2006 but won in 2008 as the MP for the Montreal riding and Liberal fortress of Westmount-Ville-Marie.
Since 2015, he has been the MP for Notre-Dame-de-Grace-Westmount.
Garneau is also known as having run against then fellow MP Justin Trudeau for the leadership of the Liberal Party of Canada in 2013. At the time, he criticized Trudeau for lacking substance and accused him of being an untested, inexperienced rookie. He ultimately withdrew from the race to support Trudeau, and promised to remain a “loyal soldier.”
After the Liberals won in 2015, Garneau went on to serve as minister of Transport, a position he held until early 2021 when he was promoted to minister of Foreign Affairs until the federal election later that year. Garneau was shuffled out of Trudeau’s cabinet after the election.
He recently made headlines for butting heads with his own party over Bill C-13, the official languages legislation that aims to protect linguistic minorities across the country, with a particular emphasis on the French language.
Garneau has been vocal in his opposition to amendments brought forward by the Bloc Québécois, Conservatives and NDP that the implementation of C-13 would be done while respecting provincial jurisdiction, including the Quebec Charter of the French Language, and that the Charter would have precedent on incompatible dispositions of the federal law.
“In other words, if there is a conflicting interpretation between C-13 and the Quebec Charter of the French Language, Bill 96 would prevail, a law which, by the way, cannot be challenged because of the preemptive use of the notwithstanding clause,” wrote Garneau in a blog post on his MP website, in French.
Joly said she doesn’t think his departure is related to this bill, adding that “Marc Garneau’s career is a lot bigger than one single file.”
Before saying goodbye, Garneau thanked his family, his staff, his former parliamentary secretaries, his colleagues and even the members of the opposition for their lively exchanges throughout the years. He also issued a challenge to all: be dignified.
“My challenge to you is to find your better angels and put away the anger and false indignation,” he said. “Criticize by all means, but do it with respect and maybe even wit. Make Canadians proud of this House and the people in it.”
His final words in the House of Commons were for the younger generation of politicians, who he hopes will protect Canada’s democracy.
“Now it’s time for me to go. It’s been an honour serving my country, alongside all of you. Thank you and farewell.”
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