Saskatchewan MP won't run again, cites Tory decision to disallow open nomination race
![Gary Vidal Conservative MP for Desnethe-Missinippi-Churchill River Gary Vidal rises during Question Period, Friday, December 1, 2023 in Ottawa. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld](/content/dam/ctvnews/en/images/2024/4/23/gary-vidal-1-6859365-1713915828847.jpg)
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
![](https://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.6978852.1722008165!/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_800/image.jpg)
Jasper wildfire: 'Several weeks' before Jasper can return, premier says
Premier Danielle Smith said Friday afternoon in Hinton while weather conditions are cooler, the Jasper fire is still considered out of control and that Jasper residents can expect to be away from their homes "for several weeks."
'He was just gone': Police ramp up search for vulnerable 3-year-old boy in Mississauga, Ont.
Police in Mississauga are conducting a full-scale search of the city’s biggest park for a non-verbal toddler who went missing Thursday evening. Sgt. Jennifer Trimble told reporters Friday morning that there has been no trace of three-year-old Zaid Abdullah since 6:20 p.m., when he was last seen with his parents in Erindale Park, near Dundas Street West and Mississauga Road.
Driver charged after flashing high beams at approaching police
Orillia OPP arrested and charged a driver with impaired driving after flashing their high beams.
BREAKING Celine Dion performs at the 2024 Paris Olympics
Beloved Canadian icon Celine Dion made her much-anticipated appearance during the closing of the 2024 Paris Olympic Games opening ceremony.
Canada's Christine Sinclair: 'We were never shown drone footage'
Canada soccer great Christine Sinclair said on Friday national team players were never shown drone footage during the more than two decades she was on the team, following a spying scandal that cast a shadow over the Canadians at the Paris Games.
Winnipeg senior's account overdrawn $146,000 for water bill
A Winnipeg senior is getting soaked with a six figure water bill.
Irish museum pulls Sinead O'Connor waxwork after just one day due to backlash
An Irish museum will withdraw a waxwork of singer-songwriter Sinéad O’Connor just one day after installing it, following a backlash from her family and the public, it told CNN in a statement on Friday.
At least 4 buildings burned at Jasper Park Lodge, others damaged: Fairmont memo
The Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge said Thursday afternoon most of its structures are 'standing and intact,' including its iconic main lodge.
She couldn't stop thinking about the guy she met at the Athens Olympics. Then a message from him changed her life
Omaira Gill grew up counting down the days to each Olympic Games. She wasn’t especially sporty, so she ruled out the prospect of competing pretty early on. But she still harboured Olympic dreams – even just spectating would do.