Federal Justice Minister Peter MacKay has confirmed he won’t run for re-election this fall, ending a nearly 20-year run as a member of Parliament.
MacKay made the announcement today alongside Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who travelled to Nova Scotia to be there in person.
Harper paid tribute to MacKay as an outstanding public servant, a great person and “a historic figure” for his role in helping to forge the modern-day Conservative party.
While it’s expected he’ll remain in cabinet for now, he won’t be running for re-election.
READ MORE: Peter MacKay’s most memorable moments as an MP
“It’s a pretty devastating blow to the Conservatives in the region,” said Don Mills, Chairman and CEO of Halifax polling firm Corporate Research Associates.
“He held, or holds, one of the safest seats in Atlantic Canada and had the best chance of being re-elected in an area which has gone heavily liberal in our polling.”
Mills said national polling numbers show a “surge in NDP support” since the Alberta election, which has “sent a cold chill” through the Conservative party.
“If the polls were to stay the same going into the election we would be having a minority government and the question is who would lead that minority government?” he said.
“So in that circumstance, if you were Peter MacKay you’d probably look at that and say ‘it’s not an attractive option for me personally to continue in that kind of minority government.'”
MacKay, who turns 50 this fall, is expecting a second child later this year with his wife Nazanin Afshin-Jam, a human rights activist he wed three and a half years ago. A source close to MacKay says he wants to spend more time with family.
Harper’s decision to travel to Nova Scotia to be with MacKay hints at the close relationship between the two men, characterized by many as strong and productive.
“It’s certainly unusual and you’d have to only read it as damage control,” Mills said of Harper’s decision to join MacKay for the announcement.
“It’s the only way that you can read it given where the polls are today and there’s no other reason for him to come … it’s politically motivated obviously and it’s probably related to assuring the people that this is no big deal.”
The duo were the foundation for the modern Conservative Party and MacKay’s departure is another crack in its cement for the prime minister, facing re-election this fall with another of his long-time deputies off the ballot.
Harper was informed weeks ago that MacKay was leaving; in mid-May, the prime minister was in Nova Scotia and his wife Laureen attended a party fundraiser for the sole Conservative incumbent now standing for re-election in the province, Scott Armstrong.
MPs Gerald Keddy and Greg Kerr had announced months ago they were not running again.
The party only holds four seats in the province. The NDP hold three and the Liberals four.
Liberal candidate David MacLeod, who was slated to run against MacKay, also announced Friday he would not be running in the upcoming federal election.
He said the decision was based on “changing personal circumstances.”
“I remain committed to our leader, Justin Trudeau, and to the policies of the Liberal Party of Canada,” he said in a statement.
Polls suggest the Liberals have the lead in the province going into the fall campaign, with the Conservatives currently in second.
WATCH: Peter MacKay believes that his seat will be filled by another Conservative
“The Harper government will miss the progressive voice of Peter MacKay at the table,” said Bill Casey, a Nova Scotian who was a PC MP with MacKay but is running for the Liberals in the next election against Armstrong.
Mills said MacKay’s announcement would take away a “high profile” seat for the Conservatives, with one of the few members of cabinet that has a “high national profile.”
“If the Conservatives were to hang on to power, even in a minority government situation, this region loses one of its big supporters,” he said.
“Peter Mackay has done a lot for this region and has been a very strong, prominent minister … and I don’t see anybody else of that strength to replace him, if Harper were to be re-elected. So it leaves a very big hole for our region at the cabinet table.”
It’s not clear what’s next for MacKay, who faced harsh criticism earlier this month over a remark he made calling Alberta “Albertastan” following the NDP win in the provincial election.
WATCH: Here’s Marieke Walsh with reaction from Peter Mackay’s home riding of Central Nova.
MacKay was first elected to Parliament in 1997 and has previously served as Canada’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of National Defence. He turns 50 this year.
He ran successfully for the leadership of the Progressive Conservative party and then helped to facilitate a merger with the Canadian Alliance.
Speculation that MacKay would step back from federal politics ahead of this campaign has been swirling for months, ramping up every time another member of the Conservative caucus chose to walk away.
Among them has been former foreign affairs minister John Baird, who abruptly announced his decision in February, stepping back immediately from cabinet and from his Ottawa-area seat a few weeks later.
He had only informed Harper of his decision the night before and has since accepted several private sector jobs.
-With files from The Canadian Press
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