Liberal minister Carolyn Bennett says she won’t seek re-election

Mental Health and Addictions Minister Carolyn Bennett has announced that she will not stand for re-election as a member of Parliament.

Bennett said she met with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to let him know, and added that serving her Toronto-St. Paul’s constituents has been the “best job.”

The news came as Bennett announced government funding for a 988 suicide crisis hotline in Toronto on Monday.

3:00 Bennett defends ‘strict rules’ for obtaining controlled substance licenses

The longtime Liberal was first elected to the House of Commons in 1997 after working as a family physician and an associate professor at the University of Toronto.

Before her current role, she served as the minister of Crown-Indigenous relations and the minister of Indigenous and northern affairs.

She was also a minister of state for public health under former prime minister Paul Martin.