It has been an immense honour to serve my constituents and all Canadians in Parliament since 2013.
Last fall, I stepped down from Cabinet and announced that I would not be seeking re-election, and that I would be taking on new full-time professional roles outside politics beginning this summer.
On Monday, I announced my intention to leave the House of Commons in the coming weeks. Today, I have written to the Speaker to confirm that I will vacate my seat effective this Friday, January 9.
One of the roles I will be taking on is as an unpaid advisor on economic issues to the President of Ukraine. This is a volunteer position, and I have consulted throughout with the Ethics Commissioner and followed his advice.
Going forward I will continue to support and help build Canada in every way I can, while championing the brave fight of the people of Ukraine, a cause I have been committed to my entire life.
Yesterday, the RCMI hosted two very well received performances of theater Burlington's "Bluebirds" by playwright Vern Thiessen, about three Canadian nurses in World War I.
From the creators of:
“Kyiv will fall within days and the Ukrainan military has no fighting chance
against great invincible Russia.”
“Ukraine will fall within the next 30 days, vol. 2847”
“Ukraine has only six months left”
“Western weapons won't make any difference to Ukraine”
“Western weapos are too sophisticated for Ukraine to use”
“Putin just can’t lose because WWII and Napoleon, so Ukraine needs to surrender now, or else.”
Etc etc etc
And of course, as it always happened with such primitive garbage takes all these years of war, Ukraine will still be standing and Russia will still be not even close to its maximalist imperialist goals by spring 2026, but hey - what do we know about real journalism from high-minded Moscow-based Eastern Europe specialists.
Last night, we hosted Derwin Mak's Halloween Special, chock-full of Arcane Geopolitical Horror, like Cthulhu but fewer visible tentacles. Catch it at https://t.co/nkn1JmR4pR !
We are saddened to hear of the passing at 54 of Dr. Tim Cook, Chief Historian at the Canadian War Museum and an Honorary Historian at the RCMI. He was a frequent presenter at the RCMI in recent years on Canadian military topics, and the Institute will miss him very much.
https://t.co/izUp2VKXKz
BGen Serge Labbé discusses the October 7 2023 massacre and its aftermath at our Defence and Security Studies gathering October 23.