Transportation Minister Anita Anand announced on social media Saturday that she will not seek the leadership of the Liberal Party or run for re-election in the town of Oakville.
In her statement on Saturday, Anand wrote that she would remain as an MP until the next election.
“I sincerely thank Prime Minister Trudeau for welcoming me to the Liberal team as a Member of Parliament and for entrusting me with key cabinet portfolios,” the statement read.
“Now that the Prime Minister has made the decision to move on to the next chapter, I have determined that the time is right to do the same and return to my previous professional life of teaching, research and public policy analysis.”
Anand is the latest federal cabinet minister to withdraw from the upcoming race to replace Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who announced Monday he was stepping down as leader following mounting pressure for him to resign.
Anand joins fellow Cabinet members Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly, who revealed on Friday that she would not run for the party’s top job, and Dominic LeBlanc, who currently serves as Finance Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs. Intergovernmental, and who refused to participate in the race in a social media statement posted Wednesday.
This is a developing story. More details to come…
