Canada – AFP – 2/3/2015 – Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird announced Tuesday he is stepping down and will not stand in upcoming October elections.
“Last night I spoke to the prime minister and informed him I was standing down from cabinet,” he told parliament.
“I expressed my intention not to run in the next general election… and I also expressed my intention to stand down as a member of parliament… in the weeks ahead,” he said.
A successor to Baird for the job of Canada’s top diplomat was not immediately announced. And Baird, at 45, did not say what he planned to do next.