Saint-Laurent Liberal MNA Marwah Rizqy will be leaving politics at the end of her current term and will not run again in the next provincial election.
Rizqy cited family reasons for her decision to leave politics and wants to “fully live (her) role as a mother.”
In a message published Tuesday morning on social media, Rizqy confided that her role as an MNA, while being the mother of two young boys, is becoming increasingly difficult – especially in a context where her husband, Liberal MNA Gregory Kelley, is also elected to the National Assembly.
“I want to fully live my role as a mother. I want to be able to be in the same city as my young children and be able to tuck them in at night,” she said, specifying that her decision is “final and without hesitation.”
Rizqy assured that she would finish her current mandate by giving her 100 per cent but acknowledged that leaving Montreal to sit in Quebec City, leaving her children “without parents” during the week has become a “sacrifice too great.”
“Greg offered to step down so I could continue to serve. I declined,” she said. “In 2026, Gabriel will already be four years old and will start elementary school the following year. Abraham will join him a year later. They are already growing up so fast… I can no longer imagine being a part-time mother who sleeps three or four nights a week away from them. I want to be fully present for them,” she said.
Rizqy said she chose to make her announcement now so that the next leader of the Liberal Party, who will be chosen next summer, and the people of her riding have time to choose a new candidate.
She was elected to the National Assembly in 2018 and won a second term in 2022.
–This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews