Ted Hsu, Liberal MP for Kingston and the Islands declared today that he won't be seeking re-election. In characteristic honesty he explained in his farewell note that it's just too much work to represent our riding in federal parliament. He'll stick around for the remainder of this parliament probably while he's looking for a new job.
I've made no secret out of my strong opposition to Hsu. This guy was never a liberal to begin with. So, I am glad to see soon the back of him. Other than a bizarre pro-life foray in federal parliament, his other claim to fame was to defend science against the Conservative's onslaught. He deserves credit for the latter.
Hsu bet on every candidate other than Trudeau in the federal leadership race. Call him principled or incompetent, as far as his political judgment is concerned, Hsu must have realized that he wouldn't be finding himself in any position of actual influence in the likely up-coming Trudeau administration. Worse, Trudeau made clear that he doesn't want pro-life activists in his caucus. There wasn't really anywhere to go for Ted Hsu. He succeeded remarkably well in terms of isolating himself in the federal Liberal Party and its parliamentary caucus.
Personally I hope Hsu will move to his actual political home, the Green Party of Canada. It's run by fellow Christian Elizabeth May. She is also known to lack political judgment and so engages in political support for racist, homophobic, misogynist sects like Falun Gong.
After Sophie Kiwala's selection for our provincial government I hold little hope that the local Liberal riding association will be able to find a competitive replacement for Mr Hsu, but apparently that doesn't quite matter. Kingston seems to elect whoever the Liberals decide to put up. Interesting times ahead.
