Farewell, NDP MP Nathan Cullen

NDP MP Nathan Cullen, 46, who has represented the far-flung and geographically massive northern British Columbia riding of Skeena-Bulkley since 2004, delivered his farewell speech in the House on June 5. It was a good one. A political star who has made his mark in Ottawa and in the riding over the last 15 years, Mr. Cullen is that rare political player who can easily deliver a perfectly poignant and passionate House speech, without any notes, and instantly engage people. An effective communicator, he has brought purpose to his role as a federal lawmaker and has positively influence government laws. Over the years, he has helped bring in the ban on phthalates in plastic products and, as a member of the House Environment Committee, he helped rewrite the government's Clean Air Act. He's been on The Hill Times' annual list as "Favourite Up and Comer," and "Most Valuable Politician." He ran unsuccessfully in 2012 for the party's leadership, and he's been the party's House leader, finance critic, and environment critic. He has pushed for the ban against supertankers in the Queen Charlotte Sound in British Columbia and he's pushed for electoral reforms. He also worked the political TV talk show circuit for years. As a working-class kid who grew up with a single mom in Toronto who worked as a cashier at a Dominion grocery store, he did all right. In his farewell speech, Mr. Cullen described the House as a "sacred place," where MPs are all also part of a "parliamentary family." He's right. We forget that there are only 338 elected federal legislators elected every four years and whose main purpose is to make this country a better place. Mr. Cullen got that. Mr. Cullen said his goals when he first got elected 15 years ago were to leave with his health; leave with his family; and leave with his integrity, which may seem like modest goals, but are actually not in politics. "This can be a brutal place. It can be hard on families. It can be hard on relationships. It can be hard on us as individuals, and we do not often talk about the strains of being away, the mental health struggles many of us have and do talk about, maybe increasingly so now," he said. "I believe we are actors passing across the stage. We all have our moment here, and we can lose perspective as we pass across this stage, yet others will pass behind us. May we, in all our efforts, seek to not only leave Parliament a better place, but leave this country a better place. For, I have been left better by this experience," he said. There are so many other federal legislators who are not running again, including Liberal MPs Rodger Cuzner, Mark Eyking, Bill Casey, Nicola Di Iorio, Pamela Goldsmith-Jones, T.J. Harvey, Andrew Leslie, John Oliver, Kyle Peterson, Don Rusnak, Borys Wrzesnewskyj, Colin Fraser; and Conservative MPs Rob Nicholson, David Anderson, Jim Eglinski, Dave Van Kesteren, Guy Lauzon, Kellie Leitch, Larry Miller, Alex Nutall, Bea Shipley, Robert Sopuck, Kevin Sorenson, David Tilson, Brad Trost, Mark Warawa; and NDP MPs Marjolaine Boutinn-Sweet, David Christopherson, Fin Donnelly, Linda Duncan, Hélène Laverdière, Irene Mathyssen, Anne Minh-Thu, Quach, Murray Rankin, Christine Moore, Romeo Saganash; and Independent MPs Celina Caesar-Chavannes, Tony Clement, and Erin Weir. The House can indeed be a brutal place and some can lose perspective and their integrity, but most come to work hard and to make a difference. We wish all the outgoing MPs the best and thank them for their work as they move onto their new lives. We hope some will return down the road. The Hill Times

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Farewell, NDP MP Nathan Cullen

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