Liberal minister Carolyn Bennett announces she will not stand for re-election

Minister of Mental Health and Addictions and Associate Minister of Health Carolyn Bennett rises during question period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Thursday, June 1, 2023. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick)

OTTAWA — Mental Health and Addictions Minister Carolyn Bennett has announced that she will not stand for re-election as a member of Parliament.

Bennett said she met with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to let him know, and added that serving her Toronto-St. Paul's constituents has been the "best job."

The news came as Bennett announced government funding for a 988 suicide crisis hotline in Toronto.

The longtime Liberal was first elected to the House of Commons in 1997 after working as a family physician and an associate professor at the University of Toronto.

Before her current role, she served as the minister of Crown-Indigenous relations and the minister of Indigenous and northern affairs.

She was also a minister of state for public health under former prime minister Paul Martin.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 24, 2023.