Cathy Cox becomes the latest Manitoba Tory MLA to decide against re-election bid

Cathy Cox, a former cabinet minister, has joined the growing list of Manitoba Progressive Conservative incumbents who won't be on the ballot for the 2023 provincial election.

The representative for Kildonan-River East in Winnipeg said in a Thursday statement that she won't seek re-election.

First elected in 2016, Cox spent her first year in government as the sustainable development minister.

She later led the sport, culture and heritage ministry and was the minister for the status of women until early 2022, when she was shuffled out of cabinet. 

In her statement, Cox said serving her constituents "has been an honour of a lifetime," but it is time to step away from public life and enjoy more precious moments with family and friends.

"Only God can foresee our future. Life is short and there are no guarantees in this world," she wrote.

She and her husband have three grown sons "now pursuing their dreams with their families," with their middle son to be married later this year.

Cox expressed her gratitude to former premier Brian Pallister for the confidence and trust he placed in her, but didn't mention current Premier Heather Stefanson.

Pallister appointed Cox to cabinet, and Stefanson removed her from cabinet in a shuffle in January 2022, two months after becoming premier following Pallister's resignation.

"As I reflect on those nearly seven, sometimes tumultuous years in government, what is most memorable are the many remarkable Manitobans I was privileged to meet," Cox wrote.

She said her work as MLA for her riding will remain a priority before the next election, scheduled to be held on or before Oct. 3 of this year.

"To my family, friends, political assistants and the many volunteers who supported and stood by my side during my time in politics, I extend my deepest and sincere gratitude," Cox wrote.

Her departure means more than a quarter of the PC MLAs who were in the party's caucus a year ago — 10 of the 36 Tory members — won't run in the next provincial election.

Former Kirkfield Park MLA Scott Fielding resigned in June, while Eileen Clarke (Agassiz), Cliff Cullen (Spruce Woods), Myrna Driedger (Roblin), Ralph Eichler (Lakeside), Alan Lagimodiere (Selkirk), Blaine Pedersen (Midland), Dennis Smook (La Verendrye) and Ian Wishart (Portage la Prairie) have all said they will not seek another term in the Manitoba Legislature.

Lagimodiere stepping aside for family reasons

In an interview Thursday, Lagimodiere said he would have run for re-election in the fall, if not for the declining health of a family member.

He said a family member has scleroderma, a chronic autoimmune disease in which a person's immune system turns against itself. There is no cure.

"With respect to that, it's an easy decision to make [to leave politics], but at the same time you feel you're kind of abandoning the residents who put their faith in you," said the Selkirk MLA, who was first elected in 2016 and re-elected in 2019.

"It was tough."

Lagimodiere, who is currently Manitoba's Indigenous reconciliation minister, said he's felt gratified by the people who have wished him well and are disappointed to lose him as an elected official.

Lagimodiere said the turnover among Tory MLAs doesn't alarm him. People come and go from any job for a number of reasons, and the Progressive Conservative party is no different, he said.

He said he's excited about the party's future and is already fielding calls from "very prominent and very talented individuals" who would like to succeed him as the MLA for Selkirk.

"It's exciting to see all these people coming forward and saying, 'If you can't do it, I want to replace you,'" Lagimodiere said.

One potential replacement has stepped forward in the Spruce Woods constituency, less than a week after deputy premier Cliff Cullen announced he won't run again to represent the area.

Grant Jackson, a special advisor to the premier's office, has taken a unpaid leave of absence to pursue the PC Party's nomination in the Tory stronghold.

He previously spent a number of years as a parliamentary assistant for Brandon-Souris member of Parliament Larry Maguire.