Liberal minister Carolyn Bennett announces she will not stand for re-election

Carolyn Bennett, Minister of Mental Health and Addictions and Associate Minister of Health, hold a press conference on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Dec. 15, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

By The Canadian Press

Posted July 24, 2023 1:25 pm.

Last Updated July 24, 2023 2:46 pm.

Mental Health and Addictions Minister Carolyn Bennett has announced that she will not stand for re-election as a member of Parliament.

Bennett said she met with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to let him know, and added that serving her Toronto-St. Paul’s constituents has been the “best job.”

The news came as Bennett announced government funding for a 988 suicide crisis hotline in Toronto.

The longtime Liberal was first elected to the House of Commons in 1997 after working as a family physician and an associate professor at the University of Toronto.

Before her current role, she served as the minister of Crown-Indigenous relations and the minister of Indigenous and northern affairs.

She was also a minister of state for public health under former prime minister Paul Martin.

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