The longtime Newfoundland and Labrador MP is ending her long political career and announcing she will not run in the next federal election.
CBC News has learned that Labrador Liberal MP Yvonne Jones has also distanced herself from federal politics and will not run in the next election.
Jones is expected to make the official announcement at a press conference in Happy Valley-Goose Bay on Friday.
She currently serves as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of the North and the Minister of Defence.
Mr. Jones, 56, has been involved in political activity at all levels for many years. She served as mayor of Mary’s Harbor from 1991 to 1996 before entering state politics as MHA of Cartwright-L’Anse-aux-Clairs until 2013. That same year, Mr. Jones was first elected to Congress.
Jones has faced repeated health problems in recent years. She was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2010. Following his second cancer diagnosis, he announced that he would step away from politics in 2022.
Jones wasn’t the only person making political headlines Thursday.
Long Range Mountains representative Goody Hutchings, minister of regional economic development and head of the Atlantic Canada Opportunity Agency, also announced that he would not seek re-election and would remain on the council until an election is held.
Jones and Hutchings join a number of Newfoundland and Labrador Liberal MPs who have announced their intention to step back from politics ahead of this year’s election. Avalon MP Ken Macdonald, St John’s Southmount Pearl MP Seamus O’Regan and Bonavista Blinn Trinity MP Turence Rodgers have made their decisions in 2024.
The NL has seven seats in the lower house. A spokesperson for St. John’s East Liberal MP Joanne Thompson, who was recently included as a senior minister in Justin Trudeau’s cabinet, confirmed to CBC News on Thursday that she will run in the next election.
As the federal Conservatives continue to ride the wave of momentum, Bays Central Notre Dame Conservative MP Clifford Small appears to be making progress.
Federal elections must be held by October, but it is thought they could be held sooner. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced earlier this week that he would resign as party leader and prime minister and that Parliament would be prorogued until March 24.
The opposition parties have announced that they will hold a general election at the earliest opportunity.
Hutchings was first elected in 2015.
“It is the honor of a lifetime to be elected and commissioned to serve the people I have called friends, neighbors, and family in the place I have called home all my life,” he said in a statement posted on social media. Ta.
“I believe in Canada and I love Newfoundland and Labrador. I hope that during my time in Parliament I have helped shape our country and my province for the better. Also for my grandchildren and your community.”
She cited her family as the reason for her decision not to run for a fourth term, citing becoming a grandmother and the deaths of her sister and brother-in-law while she was an active politician.
“Changes like this are a fact of life and we should enjoy our time here, but these changes force us to take stock. If time is not an issue, I will serve another 10 years in prison,” Hutchings wrote.
Ms Hutchings was re-elected in 2019 and appointed Parliamentary Secretary for Women, Gender Equality and Rural Economic Development.
She returned to Ottawa for the 2021 federal election and was subsequently appointed to the rural economic development portfolio.
In the summer of 2023, Prime Minister Trudeau has shuffled his cabinet. Hutchings then took up a position as Minister responsible for the Atlantic Canada Opportunity Agency.
download Free CBC News app Sign up for CBC Newfoundland and Labrador push alerts. Click here to access the landing page.
