After 25 years in parliament, Liberal MP Jim Karygiannis is quitting the federal political arena to join the municipal fray in Toronto.
The controversial MP intends to run for city council in a ward overlapping much of the Scarborough-Agincourt riding he’s represented nationally since 1988.
Mr. Karygiannis said his decision was prompted by a desire to spend more time with his family, However, the 58-year-old may also have concluded that his bare-knuckled organizational talent, employed by both Jean Chretien and Paul Martin to secure the Liberal Party leadership, was unlikely to be appreciated by its new leader, Justin Trudeau.
Indeed, pundits believe Trudeau is unlikely to tolerate the kind of nasty infighting and ruthless machinations that he believes contributed to the decline of the once-mighty Liberals into a third-party rump.
However, Jim Karygiannis dismissed such speculation and he said that his opinion of Trudeau is very positive and the party leadership was nothing to do with his resignation decision. “Justin and I get along famously,” he said in an interview Tuesday, shortly before informing the House of Commons of his immediate resignation.
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