TRACY HUGHES
Black Press
Okanagan-Shuswap MP Colin Mayes is on the fence about his future in politics.
Responding to rumours he may run for mayor of Salmon Arm in 2014 which were raised by Salmon Arm blogger Tim Lavery, Mayes issued a short statement posted to the Aim High blog.
“My future political life is yet undecided. Yes, a number of people have asked me if I would run for mayor in 2014. To do so, I would need to retire from my MP position 12 months before my term is complete,” he wrote in the statement.
“I have also had many more people ask me to run for one more term as a member of Parliament. My children and wife support me on either decision although my children prefer the latter and my wife the former.”
Mayes was first elected to serve in Ottawa in 2006. He was re-elected in 2008 and again in 2011. Having served in Parliament for longer than six years, Mayes is already eligible to receive his federal MP’s pension when he leaves office.
If Mayes were to quit his role as MP, the most likely outcome would be a by-election to elect a new representative; otherwise, the riding would have no representation until the next general election.
Mayes is also not ruling out quitting politics altogether.
“The third option is for me to ride out into the blue yonder and retire from politics and look for another job. Some of my critics would prefer this option.”
Mayes says he will be making a decision at the end of the 2014 spring session of Parliament.
