Veteran Liberal MP Marc Garneau Resigning

Then Foreign Affairs Minister Marc Garneau speaks during a meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the Harpa Concert Hall in Reykjavik, Iceland, on May 19, 2021. (Pool Photo via AP/Saul Loeb)

Liberal MP and former federal cabinet minister Marc Garneau will be resigning his seat in the House of Commons after spending 15 years in politics.

Garneau represents the Montreal constituency of Notre-Dame-de-Grâce—Westmount and was first elected to the House in 2008.

He served as the federal transport minister for about five years prior to briefly serving as the foreign affairs minister in 2021.

Garneau has not yet given a reason for his resignation but told reporters in Ottawa on March 8 that he will be making a speech about it in the House later in the day.

He also said he wanted to withhold details about his resignation from the press prior to speaking about it with his caucus colleagues “out of respect.”

Garneau also told reporters he would be available to the media following question period in the House on March 8.

Prior to serving in politics, Garneau was one of the first six Canadian astronauts and he became the first Canadian to ever fly to space in 1984.

He also led the Canadian Space Agency from 2001 to 2005.

The Canadian Press contributed to this report.