Harper quits Parliament, gets new job
Posted August 26, 2016 6:35 am.
Last Updated August 26, 2016 10:21 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
OTTAWA, ON. (NEWS 1130) – Former Prime Minister Stephen Harper has officially resigned as a member of Parliament. Harper has issued a statement, 10 months after he lost the federal election to Justin Trudeau and stepped down as Conservative Party leader.
But the 57-year-old had chosen to stay on as an MP for his Calgary Heritage riding and routinely showed up for votes in the House of Commons over the last few months.
“For a total of nearly 18 years I have had the tremendous honour of representing Calgary in the Parliament of Canada. On seven occasions, I’ve been deeply humbled by your trust and support. And I leave elected office proud of what our team accomplished together. We united all Conservatives behind our agenda. We cut taxes, made critical investments and balanced the national budget.”
“We got tough on crime and put families first. We managed our G7 economy through the worst global recession since the Great Depression and came out in the strongest position of them all.”
He closed out with, “friends we did a lot together, but I know the best is yet to come.”
Thank you to Calgarians and Canadians for having given me the honour of serving the best country in the world. pic.twitter.com/afidHZ9xgr
— Stephen Harper (@stephenharper) August 26, 2016
Harper was first elected as a Reform MP in 1993 and would go on to become the first leader of the modern day Conservative Party in 2003.
Since last fall’s defeat, he and his wife Laureen have been living in their Calgary home.
Harper will now make a move into consulting on international issues alongside two of his former advisers.
