Ousted Saskatchewan NDP MP Erin Weir not running in the next federal election

May 21, 2019 | 10:04 AM

REGINA — Saskatchewan MP Erin Weir says he will be not be running in October’s federal election.

Weir issued a statement Tuesday saying he’s not running because federal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh continues to block his candidacy.

“Some other party leaders and other MPs did approach me about the possibility of running for other parties,” he said, but added he sees himself as a lifelong New Democrat.

Weir was suspended from the NDP caucus in February 2018 after fellow New Democrat Christine Moore sent an email to her colleagues saying she had heard numerous complaints about Weir allegedly harassing staffers.

A investigation upheld several complaints of harassment, which Singh described at the time as a failure to read non-verbal cues in social settings.

Weir, who has been sitting as an Independent since he was booted from caucus in May 2018, has called the investigation “deeply flawed.”

He said while he accepts he may have inadvertently stood too close to some people or spoken to them longer than they liked, he doesn’t believe those things constitute harassment in the minds of Canadians.

“Certainly, I regret anything that made anyone uncomfortable,” he said.

The Canadian Press

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