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OTTAWA — Independent MP Alain Rayes will not be a candidate in the next federal election.
The former Conservative Party member said Monday he will continue to represent the riding of Richmond—Arthabaska until the end of his mandate.
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“After thinking at length and discussing with members of my family as well as several people close to me, I came to the conclusion that the time was right to withdraw from political life,” he said.
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Rayes, who supported Jean Charest in the race for the Conservative leadership, left the party a few days after Pierre Poilievre’s victory a year ago.
He then announced that he no longer found himself within his own political party, choosing to sit as an independent in the House of Commons.
He was then the victim of what he described as a “smear operation” and “intimidation” when a text message was sent to party members in Richmond—Arthabaska encouraging them to call the constituency office and to demand Rayes resign.
The Conservatives made a timid mea culpa, apologizing on X (formerly Twitter) for sending the “automated text message.”
In his statement Monday, Rayes emphasized having been guided by his convictions and values during his career, but said he makes “the observation that in the current climate, I find myself, like many people, a political orphan at the federal level.”
He said he has no specific plans for the future, but that it is time for him to take on new professional challenges.
Rayes was elected MP for the first time in 2015. He was re-elected in 2019 and 2021 with 45.3 per cent and 49.9 per cent of the votes, respectively.
He was previously mayor of Victoriaville as well as a provincial candidate for the Action démocratique du Québec, which merged with the Coalition Avenir Québec in 2012.
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