Bill Graham To Retire, Paving Way For Bob Rae To Run
Posted February 23, 2007 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
He led the Liberal party for almost a year after former prime minister Paul Martin stepped down, and now veteran politician Bill Graham has announced his plans to retire from politics.
Graham, a former cabinet minister and interim Liberal leader before Stephane Dion took over late last year, told members of his Toronto Centre riding association this week that he doesn’t intend to run in the next election.
That leaves open one of the most coveted seats in the country – it has been solidly Liberal for years, and Graham held onto it by more than 14,000 votes in the last election.
According to reports former Ontario premier Bob Rae and Toronto lawyer Martha Hall Findlay both wanted to represent the riding, but it’s looking like Rae has a better chance of getting it. Both Rae and Findlay vied for the Liberal leadership, and Rae finished third.
“Whoever we nominate . I’ll be with you to ensure this riding stays Liberal,” Graham said.
Dion reportedly told Graham that the nomination race will be an open one, and that no one is going to be parachuted in.
Rae didn’t speculate on his plans, or whether he intended to seek the nomination.
“(Graham) has been a great representative of Toronto Centre … and a terrific minister. Today is certainly not about speculation, it is about Bill,” Rae is quoted as writing in an e-mail.
“I shall be making my intentions known in the very near future.”
It’s believed Hall Findlay will seek another GTA riding, potentially Willowdale if former cabinet minister Jim Peterson decides not to run.
“He has made a huge contribution and I have so much respect for him,” Hall Findlay said of Graham.
“He has contributed to public office with integrity . . . and his interest in politics was born out of a clear desire to contribute to public policy.”
After being elected in 1993, Graham served as minister of foreign affairs and at another point national defence. He then agreed to serve the party as interim leader following last year’s election, when Martin announced he was stepping down.
Other potential candidates for the Toronto Centre riding include Toronto lawyer Meredith Cartwright and Rob Oliphant, a United Church minister who recently supported Michael Ignatieff’s leadership bid.
