Calgary MP Ron Liepert says he won’t seek re-election | CBC News

Longtime politician Ron Liepert announced Friday that he will not seek re-election as the MP for Calgary Signal Hill.

Liepert, who has held the seat for the Conservative Party of Canada since 2015, said in making his decision now that he hoped it would give the party time to select its next candidate.

In a statement, Liepert said he had “every confidence” that Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre will form Canada’s next federal government. He said he was disappointed he won’t have the opportunity to serve in that government.

“I want to thank my constituents for the trust they have placed in me,” Liepert said.

“I believe strongly that the time has come for me to stand aside and allow for new voices to come forward to represent our community.” 

Liepert’s first stint in politics began in 1980 when he left his career as a broadcaster to become the press secretary for Peter Lougheed, who was Alberta’s premier at the time.

He later started his own public relations firm and became a politician himself in 2004, running for the Alberta Progressive Conservative Party in the provincial riding of Calgary-West.

Liepert sat in the legislature until 2012 and in that time held ministerial posts for education, health, energy and finance.

In 2014, at the age of 64, he turned his attention to federal politics by seeking the Conservative nomination in Signal Hill. He won the nomination by defeating Rob Anders, a controversial MP who’d served in Ottawa since 1997.

On Friday, Liepert said he intends to continue to represent his riding unit the next general federal election.