There will be a void to fill in Nanaimo when federal election takes place next year. Nanaimo-Cowichan MP Jean Crowder revealed today that she won’t be seeking re-election in 2015, after Nanaimo-Alberni MP James Lunney said late last year he’s stepping down.
Crowder has represented the NDP since 2004. She says she’s leaving federal politics to spend more time with her family. Crowder says she’ll be 63 next year and she wasn’t ready to commit to four more years as an MP.
Next year, her riding will be split and replaced by two new electoral areas, including a Nanaimo-Ladysmith riding and a Cowichan-Malahat-Langford riding. Crowder says the change wasn’t the driving force in her decision, but it made her consider her political future. Crowder says she’ll work with the successful NDP candidates in the nomination race to ensure both new ridings remain NDP strongholds.
