Dr. Keith Martin, MD - Member of Parliament, Esquimalt-Juan De Fuca

By Sandra McCulloch, The Times Colonist - November 9, 2011

Esquimalt-Juan de Fuca MP Keith Martin announced Tuesday he won't run for re-election, citing a "deep and profound frustration" with the "glacial pace" of doing politics in Ottawa.

Martin, a 50-year-old physician, will stay on as MP until the next federal election.

He said serving the people of his riding for 17 years has been "a great honour," but added that he has a growing dissatisfaction with "hyper-partisan" politics in Ottawa, calling it "not constructive."

"It's not a very gratifying place to be. The ability to move from an idea to action takes far, far too long and that period of time of inaction . . . results in people being hurt unnecessarily. That is the most profound disappointment that I have," he said at his Langford constituency office.

"The system works somewhere between full stop and glacial."

Martin said he looks forward to shrugging off his parliamentary encumbrances and working outside of government to implement knowledge to help people.

"I'm an individual who is trying to drive ideas forward. I'm trying to build solutions, to innovate and drive those innovations that will help our citizens."

Martin, who is considered one of the most experienced and hard-working MPs on Parliament Hill, said he has no interest in switching to provincial politics, saying the vacancy left by outgoing premier Gordon Campbell is best filled by someone who knows the personalities involved.

Federal Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff issued a statement in response to Martin's announcement, describing him as a "strong voice in Parliament" and a "determined advocate" for those serving in the military at Canadian Forces Base Esquimalt in his riding.

"Throughout his long career, he has brought public awareness to a broad range of important issues including health care, social program renewal, economic development, the environment, defence policy, foreign affairs and much more," Ignatieff said.

Martin has represented the Esquimalt-Juan de Fuca riding for 17 years; he was elected as a member of the Reform Party in 1993 and again in 1997, then in 2000 as Canadian Alliance MP. When the Alliance merged with the Progressive Conservatives to form the Conservative Party, Martin left the party and sat as an independent. He then won the seat as a Liberal in 2004, 2006 and 2008.

But his last few victories were very close: In 2008, Martin won with 20,042 votes to Conservative Troy DeSouza's 19,974, sparking a judicial recount, but the results stayed in Martin's favour. In 2004 and 2006, he narrowly bested NDP candidate Randall Garrison.

On Tuesday he said he is excited to seek opportunities in "the real action" — helping universities, the private sector and non-governmental organizations.

John Horgan, NDP MLA for Malahat-Juan de Fuca, said Martin's departure is a loss for the community.

"The thing about Keith is he isn't a party guy," Horgan said outside Martin's office.

"For the five years I've been a member of the legislature I've always found Keith's door to be open and his mind to be open . . . to new ideas and new approaches to help the people of our region.

"I'm going to miss his approach and miss his personality."

The latest in a string of veteran MPs quitting federal politics, Martin's decision comes just days after Conservative MPJim Prentice stepped down as environment minister and said he'd resign his seat by the end of the year to take a senior job at CIBC. Five other Conservatives, four more Liberals, two Bloc MPs, and one NDP MP have already left or announced that they're not running in the next election.

smcculloch@timescolonist.com

With a file from Postmedia News