OTTAWA — For some politicians, the grief takes time to set in.
For former London West MP Sue Barnes, however, the sense of loss after being defeated in her 2008 re-election bid landed like a thud.
Barnes, like other MPs, had been living a life of too many people to see, too many things to read, too many events to attend, too few hours in the day. But there was no shortage of purpose.
That’s the way it had been pretty much for 15 years in Parliament for the first woman elected to represent any riding in her southwestern Ontario city. And then, after a few hours of ballot counting, it was all gone.
“It hit me immediately,” she recalled this week.
Barnes compared the grief of her electoral loss, in tone, but certainly not in degree, with the recent loss of her husband John, who died in January 2024 after a long battle with Parkinson’s disease. She had spent much of her post-political life, especially the last five years, as his primary caregiver.
Barnes and the extensive club of former MPs got a new set of members last week when Canadian voters kicked dozens of their representatives to the curb.
According to an initial tally by former Nova Scotia MP Francis LeBlanc, an active member of the Canadian Association of Former Parliamentarians, the recent election saw 46 MPs lose their seats. Another 65 chose not to run again.
“This was a big wave,” said LeBlanc, in reference to the turnover of 111 former MPs from Canada’s 343 ridings.
It’s the natural cycle of political life. It’s part of the job and part of a healthy democracy.
But for those who lose their jobs, it still hurts. And this latest batch of defeated federal representatives will follow the patterns of the past: Some will grieve for a period and then move on to do other things. For others, it won’t be at all easy.
“It’s the only job in the world where you get publicly hired and publicly fired,” said Bryon Wilfert, a former Liberal MP who represented Richmond Hill outside of Toronto for 14 years. “For some (the loss) doesn’t sink in for months.”
Former Liberal cabinet minister Mark Holland was among those who struggled severely, descending after his 2011 loss into a dark enough place that he attempted suicide. Speaking to a Parliamentary committee in 2022, Holland said he had devoted almost his entire life to politics, had let too many other things in his life slide, and then woke up after seven years as an MP following defeat “in a desperate spot.”
“I was told that I was toxic,” he said during an emotional speech to the Procedure and House Affairs Committee. “The Conservatives hated me. No organization would hire me. My marriage failed. My space with my children was not in a good place and most particularly my passion — the thing I believed so ardently in … the purpose of my life — was in ashes at my feet.”
Holland returned to the House of Commons in 2015, and later served as minister of health before deciding not to run in this most recent election.
But his is not the only tale of caution. And it’s not just federal politicians who face post-election challenges.
Lorenzo Berardinetti, a former Toronto city councillor and Ontario MPP with a 30-year career in politics, faced a series of challenges in the immediate years after losing in the 2018 provincial election: difficulty finding work, a divorce, a brain seizure and the rising cost of housing.
By 2023, he was living in a homeless shelter in Ajax, Ont., where he stayed for more than a year. “I never thought this would have happened to me,” he was quoted as saying earlier this year, “but it happened.”
Thanks to a former political staffer at Toronto City Hall and Queen’s Park who started an online fundraising campaign, Berardinetti found shelter.
Not all former MPs, of course, face the severe challenges faced by Holland or Berardinetti. LeBlanc said it’s impossible to quantify the number struggling with serious problems but warns that it’s a “significant minority.”
Michael Browning, an Ottawa psychotherapist who has treated MPs in the past, said losing an election is similar to any other major professional setback, except it’s often more severe emotionally because of the huge sacrifices involved. Another important factor, he added, is that unlike many other professional defeats, such as losing a bid for promotion, there’s no existing job to fall back on.
“There’s no consolation prize,” said Browning, the director of The Whitestone Clinic.
Alain Therrien, the MP for the Quebec riding of La Prairie-Atateken for more than five years until last week, said it’s a bit easier to deal with an election loss when you’ve been through it before.
“It’s tough, that’s for sure,” he said. “But for me, it’s my fourth time, so I’m starting to get used to it.”
Therrien, the Bloc Quebecois’ House Leader in the most recent parliament, said elected officials must try to remember that the jobs are always temporary.
“(The voters) have the right to say ‘we would like to have someone other than you.’ We must accept it.”
Therrien said he isn’t sure what he’ll do next, but he hasn’t ruled out a return to teaching. Another run for public office is also possible.
Wilfert, the former Toronto-area MP, has been busy since leaving Parliament but he understands the grief. Former MPs, he said, have to transition from somebody whose time and attention are in high demand to possibly struggling to find work. Many find themselves struggling emotionally after the shock of a loss, with alcohol problems often entering the picture.
“Some are stunned,” said Wilfert, who compared an election loss to a relationship breakup. “This is going to be quite a shock.”
For Wilfert, like Barnes, the grief was almost immediate, hitting him as he was taking down campaign signs the day after the loss. “You feel like the roof fell in.”
That’s why Wilfert, LeBlanc and about 20 other former MPs involved in the Canadian Association of Former Parliamentarians will attempt in the coming days to contact each of the recently defeated MPs to extend a hand, show support and help prevent any roofs from falling in.
The non-profit, non-partisan organization’s official mandate is to gather former MPs and Senators to support global democracy. But it also offers a feeling of comradery that may help former MPs transition to their next chapters.
“There’s life after Parliament,” said Wilfert.
National Post,
with additional reporting from Antoine Trepanier
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