Saskatchewan MP won't run again, cites Tory decision to disallow open nomination race
A Conservative member of Parliament says he isn't seeking re-election because his party is not allowing an open nomination in a new riding.
Gary Vidal cites the party's response to changing electoral boundaries in his announcement that he won't run.
Vidal was elected in 2019 to represent the sprawling Saskatchewan riding of Desnethe-Missinippi-Churchill River in the province's far north.
Vidal says the riding boundaries are changing "drastically" and he will no longer reside in the electoral district he serves, but rather in the new riding of Battlefords-Lloydminster-Meadow Lake.
He says the party has decided there will be no open nomination to choose the candidate in that new riding, which he says "is not the expected outcome I anticipated."
A spokeswoman for the party says Vidal was given the chance to run in his current riding.
Sarah Fischer says the party respects his decision not to seek re-election.
The redrawn version of Vidal's current riding is still home to most of his current constituents, but it's losing the community of Meadow Lake, where he says he was born and raised.
Vidal's decision follows an announcement in February that he was stepping away from his role as the Tories' critic in Parliament for Indigenous services.
The new federal riding boundaries took effect on Monday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 23, 2024.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Signs of Alzheimer’s were everywhere. Then his brain improved
Blood biomarkers of telltale signs of early Alzheimer’s disease in the brain of his patient, 55-year-old entrepreneur Simon Nicholls, had all but disappeared in a mere 14 months.
Box tree moths have infested Ontario and experts say more are coming. Here's what to do to protect your garden
An invasive moth species is on the rise in Canada and, if you've planted a certain shrub, it could stand to ruin your garden.
Lyon-bound Air Canada Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner from Montreal turns back midflight due to pressurization alert
Passengers heading from Montreal to Lyon, France on Friday were forced to return home and depart the next day after a pressurization indication was detected in flight.
VIA Rail service delayed for hours due to suspicious package investigation in Kingston, Ont.
VIA Rail service resumed in the Kingston, Ont. area late Saturday afternoon, after a suspicious package investigation halted train service for more than four hours over the Victoria Day long weekend.
$500K-worth of elvers seized at Toronto airport
Fishery and border service officers seized more than 100 kilograms of unauthorized elvers at the Toronto Pearson International Airport on Wednesday.
B.C. pipeline company argues its 'haulers' are not trucks, for tax purposes
A contractor working on the Coastal GasLink pipeline has been denied more than $333,000 worth of tax rebates because pieces of machinery it purchased – and claimed were not trucks – were deemed sufficiently truck-like in B.C. Supreme Court.
Usyk beats Fury by split decision, becomes undisputed heavyweight champion
Oleksandr Usyk defeated Tyson Fury by split decision to become the first undisputed heavyweight boxing champion in 24 years.
His SUV was stolen on Montreal's South Shore. Then he got a $156 parking ticket
A couple is frustrated after their SUV was stolen from Montreal's South Shore in March and they received a parking ticket for the same vehicle last week.
Banking mogul suing government after intelligence leaks leave him shut out of Canadian economy
Chinese Canadian banking mogul Shenglin Xian has launched a $300 million lawsuit against the federal government. It’s a means to find the source of intelligence leaks which Xian says has cost him his livelihood.