While many familiar faces are appearing on lawn signs along the campaign trail, several high-profile MPs have decided not to put their names on a ballot this time around:
Bill Blaikie (NDP)
Elmwood-Transcona, Manitoba
Blaikie was first elected in 1979 and has been re-elected eight straight times, making him Canada's longest-serving Member of Parliament. Ordained as a United Church minister, Blaikie was regarded by many of his peers as an old-school parliamentarian. For the past two years, he has served as deputy Speaker of the House. Blaikie announced his retirement in May 2007 and has accepted a job teaching politics and theology at the University of Winnipeg.
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Joe Comuzzi (Conservative)
Thunder Bay-Superior North, Ontario
Comuzzi was first elected as a Liberal in 1988. In 2003, he took on a cabinet post overseeing economic development in northern Ontario. He resigned from cabinet in June 2005 to vote against the Liberals' same-sex marriage bill, then was kicked out of the Liberal caucus for voting for the Conservative government's budget in 2006. Comuzzi asserted he couldn't vote against a budget that promised 300 jobs at a new cancer research centre in his Thunder Bay riding. He subsequently joined the Conservative Party. Two days before this most recent election call, Comuzzi announced he wouldn't seek re-election, saying he wants a career change.
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David Emerson (Conservative)
Vancouver Kingsway, B.C.
Emerson, a former B.C. lumber executive, was elected as a Liberal in 2004. He was re-elected in 2006 on a fierce anti-Conservative platform but crossed the floor two weeks later to become Minister of International Trade in Stephen Harper's minority government. This sparked calls for his resignation in his staunchly Liberal riding, but an Ethics Commission inquiry found no wrongdoing on Emerson's part. This past May, Emerson was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs following the resignation of Maxime Bernier. On September 2, Emerson confirmed he would not run in the next election, saying the commute from Vancouver to Ottawa was too lengthy.
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Raymond Gravel (Bloc Quebecois)
Repentigny, Quebec
Gravel, a former sex-trade worker, is also a Roman Catholic priest. He was sent to Ottawa in the November 27, 2006 by-election, after receiving special permission from the Vatican. He opposed the Unborn Victims of Crime Bill, seeing it as a step towards recriminalizing abortion. He also supported Dr. Henry Morgentaler's Order of Canada award. This prompted angry letters from the pro-life group Campaign Life, and the Vatican ordered Gravel to either give up the priesthood or leave politics. Saying the priesthood was his life, on September 2 he announced he would not run in the next election.
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Loyola Hearn (Conservative)
St. John's South-Mount Pearl, Newfoundland
Hearn was a member of the Newfoundland and Labrador House of Assembly from 1982 to 1993, serving as Minister of Education. He was elected as a Progressive Conservative MP in 2000, and was instrumental in merger discussions with the Canadian Alliance. As Minister of Fisheries and Oceans in the Conservative cabinet, he frequently clashed with the provincial government, business and unions over the sale of three fish plants. Hearn was often caught in the ongoing dispute between Stephen Harper and Newfoundland premier Danny Williams. A few days before the election call, Hearn announced he would not stand for re-election, saying it was time to leave politics.
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Paul Martin (Liberal)
LaSalle-Emard, Quebec
Martin was first elected in 1988. After writing the Liberals' iconic "Red Book" election platform in 1993, the party won a landslide victory and Paul Martin became Minister of Finance, a post he held until he succeeded his eventual rival Jean Chretien as Prime Minister in 2003. The Liberals were reduced to a minority government in 2004 after the sponsorship scandal put Martin under scrutiny. He stepped down as leader after a non-confidence vote forced the 2006 election, bringing in the Conservative minority government. Martin appeared infrequently in the House of Commons following that election and announced that he will not run again.
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Alexa McDonough (NDP)
Halifax, Nova Scotia
McDonough led the Nova Scotia NDP from 1980 to 1994 and the federal NDP from 1995 to 2003, making her one of the few women to lead a major political party in Canada. Under her leadership, her party's seat count increased from nine to 21 after the 1997 election. Jack Layton succeeded her in 2003 and she stayed on as MP for Halifax for two more terms. On June 2, she announced she would not run in the next federal election, saying it was time for a new generation to tackle the challenges Canada faces.
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Brian Pallister (Conservative)
Portage-Lisgar, Manitoba
After five years in the Manitoba Legislative Assembly, Pallister stepped down to run in the 1997 federal election, but lost to the Reform Party incumbent. He campaigned for the federal PC party leadership in 1998, coming in fourth. Pallister won his Alliance seat in the 2000 federal election by a landslide and was easily re-elected in 2004 as a Conservative. In September 2005 Pallister gained renown by criticizing Liberal David Dingwall for excessive expense claims as president of the Canadian Mint. Pallister remained a backbencher and announced in January 2008 he would not run in the next election, saying he wanted to spend more time with his young daughters.
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Lucienne Robillard (Liberal)
Westmount—Ville-Marie, Quebec
Robillard was a Quebec MNA for five years before running in the 1995 federal election. She went on to hold a number of important portfolios in her 12 years on Parliament Hill, including treasury board president and deputy house leader. Jean Chrétien appointed her minister responsible for the federal campaign in the 1995 Quebec referendum. She won her seat in 2006 with only 46 per cent of the popular vote. In April of last year she announced she would not run in the next election and resigned her seat on January 25, 2008.
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Monte Solberg (Conservative)
Medicine Hat, Alberta
Solberg was elected as a Reform Party MP in 1993 and 1997, and as an Alliance MP in 2000. In 2001, he was one of 13 MPs suspended from the Alliance caucus for criticizing the leadership of Stockwell Day. He was re-elected as a Conservative MP in 2004 and made history in 2005 by blogging from the House of Commons on the passage of the same-sex marriage bill. He served in numerous cabinet posts, including foreign affairs, human resources and social development. Solberg announced his retirement on September 4, saying he wasn't motivated to stay in politics for another four years.
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Andy Scott (Liberal)
Fredericton, New Brunswick
After working as a civil servant for the New Brunswick government, Scott won a seat in the 1993 federal election. He was named Solicitor General in 1997 but resigned from that post after he was overheard saying that several RCMP officers would take the blame for the famous APEC-conference pepper-spraying incident. Scott later served as Minister of State for Infrastructure and Minister of Indian Affairs. On March 5, 2007 he said he would not seek re-election. Scott said he will make an announcement after the election about his future plans.
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Belinda Stronach (Liberal)
Newmarket-Aurora, Ontario
Stronach, the daughter of Magna International founder Frank Stronach, facilitated meetings between the Progressive Conservatives and the Canadian Alliance in 2003, and left her job as Magna's president and CEO in 2004 to run for the leadership of the new Conservative Party, finishing second to Stephen Harper. She won a seat in 2004. Two days before an anticipated Liberal non-confidence vote, Stronach joined the Liberals, allowing Paul Martin's government to survive. In April 2007 she announced she would not seek re-election, focusing instead on a bid to buy the struggling automaker Chrysler. Two months later, she was diagnosed with breast cancer and underwent a mastectomy.
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Tom Wappel (Liberal)
Scarborough Southwest, Ontario
Wappel won his seat in the 1988 election by a narrow margin and has been an MP ever since. One of the more right-leaning members of the Liberal party, he was a strong opponent of abortion and gay rights. He ran for party leadership 1990, losing to Jean Chrétien. He was removed as the Liberal Party's immigration critic in 1992 after suggesting Canada should hold refugees in detainment camps and refuse entry to people infected with HIV. He had no cabinet position after 1993. On March 23, 2007, Wappel announced he would not stand in the next federal election. He plans to return to law, teaching and consulting.
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