After serving both federally and provincially, a long-time Victoria-area politician is retiring from public service.
Murray Rankin was the MP for Victoria from 2012 to 2019 and most recently has been the MLA for Oak Bay-Gordon Hill since 2020.
Rankin is currently the NDP government’s minister of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation.
In a statement Monday, Rankin shared he will not be seeking re-election in the upcoming provincial election.
“It has been a true privilege to represent the people of my community over the last dozen years,” he shared. “However, now it is time for me to step aside and allow others to contribute.”
Rankin says the “highlight of my life in politics” was overseeing the NDP’s implementations of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act.
“I believe that our government’s effort to achieve reconciliation will be regarded as among its best achievements.”
Rankin says that until the next election, he will do “my utmost to serve you and the people of British Columbia to the best of my ability.”
The upcoming provincial election is slated to be in October.