Canada's Conservatives lose another top minister ahead of election

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jun/19/canada-conservatives-lose-another-top-minister

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The Canadian industry minister, James Moore, has unexpectedly announced he will quit politics, becoming the third senior minister in less than five months to say they were leaving ahead of a federal election in October.

The Conservatives, in power since 2006, have been struggling in the polls, but Moore, 39, said his reason for not running again was to be able to take care of his disabled son. His son has a form of skeletal dysplasia that requires extensive care.

“I have every confidence that Prime Minister [Stephen] Harper and our Conservative government will be re-elected, and I wish I could be part of the next Conservative government,” Moore said in a Facebook posting.

He added: “With health challenges in my family, I have concluded it is impossible for me to seek another term in office.”

Despite his relatively young age, Moore was considered one of the heavyweights of the Conservative party and is the senior minister in the Pacific coast province of British Columbia, where the party is in a tight three-way battle.

Moore had also been seen as a potential contender for the leadership of the party once Harper leaves.

The prime minister now has an increasingly thin cabinet. The foreign minister, John Baird, and justice minister, Peter MacKay, have also announced in recent months they were leaving government.

A spokesman for Harper had no immediate comment on Moore’s announcement.

Related: Canadian three-way split might enable Harper to pull a Cameron in election

The right-leaning Conservatives, who favour lower taxes and a tough line on terrorism, are seeking to win their fourth straight election. But polls put them in second or third place currently, and suggest that another majority in the House of Commons would be very hard to achieve.

Moore favoured increased energy development in British Columbia, but in 2012 fiercely criticised the environmental record of Enbridge Inc, which is seeking to build an oil pipeline from the province of Alberta’s oil sands to the Pacific coast.

As minister of industry, Moore had led the government’s campaign to increase competition in the wireless sector, in part by setting aside valuable spectrum for newcomers in the market.