Government House leader Jay Hill, a former British Columbia farm leader who held pivotal positions in the Reform, Alliance and Conservative parties for more than two decades, is calling it quits.
The 58-year-old told his constituency board of directors July 20 that he will not be a candidate in the next election, which is expected this autumn or next spring.
Hill, a Peace River grain producer from near Dawson Creek, B.C., served as president of the B.C. Grain Producers’ Association and a director of the B.C. Federation of Agriculture before first running for Parliament as a Reform candidate in 1988.
He was first elected in 1993 and won five subsequent elections, capturing almost 64 percent of the vote in 2008.
In a July 21 statement issued from his office in Fort St. John, B.C., Hill said he was announcing his decision so the constituency can select a new candidate quickly.
As government House leader, it has been his job to shepherd bills through the House of Commons and work with opposition parties to try to keep House business moving.
He said he is leaving at the top of his game.
“I’ve always felt that for politicians, the time to go is when things are still going well, when you’ve reached the crest of the hill but before starting down the other side,” he said.
“For me, that time is now.”
Hill had direct contact with an MP who did not realize when the slide down the other side of the hill had happened.
In 1988, the rookie Reform candidate reduced the margin of victory held by veteran Progressive Conservative MP and cabinet minister Frank Oberle from almost 13,000 votes in 1984 to slightly more than 2,000.
In the 1993 election, Hill beat Oberle by more than 13,000 votes as Reform defeated every PC MP in Western Canada.
