Conservative MP Candice Bergen speaks at the Conservative Party of Canada leadership vote, in Ottawa, Saturday, Sept. 10, 2022. Former Conservative interim leader and longtime Manitoba member of Parliament Candice Bergen has announced she is stepping down. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick
OTTAWA – Former Conservative interim leader and longtime Manitoba member of Parliament Candice Bergen has announced she is stepping down.
Bergen said in a video posted to Twitter that she submitted a letter of resignation as the representative for Portage-Lisgar after meeting with her party’s caucus.
The MP said last September, after serving as interim leader of the party following the ouster of former leader Erin O’Toole, that she was not planning to run in another federal election.
Prospective successors including Manitoba finance minister Cameron Friesen are already lining up to seek the party’s nomination to replace Bergen.
She was first elected to represent the reliably Conservative riding in 2008.
Many federal MPs credit Bergen for helping unite the party’s caucus, which found itself divided under O’Toole’s leadership and after Conservatives lost the 2021 election to the Liberals.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 1,2023.
