OTTAWA — NDP MP Christine Moore will not run for re-election in the fall, she announced Friday.
The representative for Abitibi-Témiscamingue said she will continue to advocate for progressive values, but will do so “in a different way, and not as a member of Parliament.”
Moore said being an MP is incredibly demanding and all the more so “when faced every day with the inertia and hypocrisy of old political parties.” She criticized the current Liberal government for positioning itself as “a defender of the status quo” and not being open to doing politics differently.
A nurse before entering politics, Moore was one of the dozens of Quebec New Democrats elected in the “Orange Wave” of 2011, when she defeated three-term Bloc Québécois MP Marc Lemay by nearly 20 percentage points.
During her time in the Official Opposition, Moore served in a series of critic or deputy critic roles, including critic for national defence.
Moore won re-election by a margin of about 12 percentage points in the 2015 federal election, and serves as the NDP’s rural-affairs critic.
In 2018, she accused two Liberal MPs of harassment, resulting in their suspension and eventual expulsion from caucus.
Later last year, Moore was herself accused of having a non-consensual encounter with a Canadian Forces member, though Moore claimed they had a romantic relationship and an NDP investigation exonerated her.
With Moore’s announcement, 11 sitting NDP MPs have announced they will not seek re-election. Three other NDP MPs — former leader Thomas Mulcair, Kennedy Stewart and Sheila Malcolmson — have already resigned their seats.
Moore concluded her announcement by thanking former NDP leader Jack Layton and former party president Rebecca Blaikie for bringing her into politics.