General Rick Hillier has shot down rumours that he is planning a bid to lead the Liberal Party in Newfoundland and Labrador, ending hours of confusion on a social media website over whether Canada’s former chief of the defence staff would run for the soon-to-be vacated post.
“There has been some speculation over the last hours that I was going to run for the leadership of the Liberal party of Nfld,” Gen. Hillier, the province’s highest ranking officer in history,
wrote on his Facebook page on Thursday morning. “I’m not! Just don’t see that, at this point, as where I am going in life.”
The buzz began on Twitter late Wednesday evening after a CBC provincial affairs reporter posted a message stating, “The former chief of defence staff is in NL. Sources say that Hillier is seeking advice from senior Liberals on a possible leadership bid.”
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Before Gen. Hillier posted his message to Facebook, his son, Steven, told the National Post that his father “has no interest in politics” and that “his wife would kill him” if he threw his hat in the ring for the Liberal leadership. Yvonne Jones stepped down as leader earlier this week, just weeks before the party squares off in a provincial election against the Conservatives, who won 44 of the legislature’s 48 seats in 2007.
When asked whether his father ever mulled a bid for the Liberal post, Mr. Hillier said “no, not at all,” and later explained that Gen. Hillier was in the province visiting family and Memorial University, where he became chancellor following his retirement from the Canadian Forces in 2008.
“In all the conversations I’ve had with my Dad, I have never heard him say he was considering it,” said Mr. Hillier, who is also his father’s marketing manager. “It has never come up during family time … He’s not interested. He’s enjoying what he’s doing now.” ....
