Peter Kent is ok with the back bench

Environment Minister Peter Kent posted a message on his Facebook page Friday which adds fuel to the cabinet-speculation fire.

In light of fellow ministers Diane Ablonczy and Ted Menzies announcing they will step down in 2015,  and Menzies explicitly taking his name out of the running for cabinet, Kent said he intends to seek re-election in two years.

But if in the impending shuffle the Thornhill MP does not find himself on the front bench, it appears Kent is ok with that:

“If, in the fullness of time and the eventual shuffle, I do find myself a backbench Parliamentarian, I will enthusiastically embrace what will be, for me, exciting new challenges,” he wrote.

“Although still officially hypothetical, I would be able to better devote myself to my Thornhill constituents, to their issues, and to the issues of the Greater Toronto Area.”

Fisheries Minister Keith Ashfield has also asked to be excused from cabinet as he is battling cancer.

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Below is Kent’s full statement:

It has been an honour, since 2008, to proudly represent the GTA constituency of Thornhill in the House of Commons. Prime Minister Harper amplified that honour when he appointed me to his Cabinet, first as the Minister of State of Foreign Affairs (Americas) and, since January 2011, as Minister of the Environment.

Given increasing speculation regarding the coming Cabinet shuffle, statements from a number of esteemed colleagues that they will not run in the 2015 election and should not be considered for cabinet, and, in response to concerns expressed by Thornhill constituents, I wish to clarify a number of issues.

Whatever the outcome of the impending changes to Cabinet, I firmly intend to stand for re-election in 2015.

While it has been a great honour to have served in cabinet, political service does not begin or end in that revered body.

Our Conservative caucus has an abundance of talented MPs and it is only appropriate that other, younger men and women should take a turn in cabinet. I will fully support the PM’s eventual decisions.

If, in the fullness of time and the eventual shuffle, I do find myself a backbench Parliamentarian, I will enthusiastically embrace what will be, for me, exciting new challenges.

Although still officially hypothetical, I would be able to better devote myself to my Thornhill constituents, to their issues, and to the issues of the Greater Toronto Area. 

Most important among those issues; growing the economy, helping job creation, protecting our environment, AND, working to ensure the re-election of a strong, stable, majority Conservative government.

-Peter Kent