Former MPs find new paths and purpose after politics

It's been a year since Bernadette Jordan last walked through the doors of the House of Commons as an elected official.

She lost the seat she'd held since 2015 to Conservative candidate Rick Perkins in South Shore St-Margarets in 2021.

Jordan was minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard in the Trudeau government — a portfolio that had her navigating a thorny dispute over Indigenous treaty rights in the lobster fishing industry.

"What I tried to do was find a middle ground. I tried to get to a place where First Nations had the ability to exercise their moderate livelihood rights," she said.

"Unfortunately, that middle ground didn't make anybody happy and that was what ended my political career."

So it didn't come as a "huge shock," she said, when she lost her seat. She subsequently accepted a position as national director of philanthropy with Shelter Movers in Nova Scotia, a not-for-profit organization that helps women move out of abusive situations.

Losing is as much a part of politics as winning. Jordan said that, for her, politics was always a means to an end — which made leaving it behind a little easier to take.

"I ran for politics, not because I ever wanted to be an MP or a minister, but because I wanted to help the people who lived in my community," she said. "That's always been my guiding principle."

Every election leaves a handful of MPs looking for something new to do with their lives.

Despite Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's drive for a majority government, the Liberal Party gained just three seats in the House of Commons (Kevin Vuong, though elected as a Liberal was ultimately forced to sit as an Independent. The Conservatives lost two seats, while the Bloc and the NDP each gained a seat).

Maryam Monsef was also in Trudeau's cabinet, serving as minister for women and gender equality and rural development before the 2021 election ended her five-year term as MP for Peterborough-Kawartha.

Monsef's district is considered a swing riding that sees pitched and unpredictable battles between Liberals and Conservatives. She lost her seat to Conservative candidate Michelle Ferreri by 3,000 votes.

"Losing sucks," she said. "I'm a competitive person and I work really hard for my community and nobody likes to lose."

Monsef was 29 years old when she started her local political career and 30 when she became an MP.