The moving vans arrived Wednesday morning to bring John Reynolds back to B.C.
After nine years in Ottawa, Reynolds, the outgoing Conservative MP for West Vancouver - Sunshine Coast - Sea to Sky Country, said he's looking forward to coming home.
"My wife and I love living in Gibsons," Reynolds said Tuesday evening from Ottawa. "I'm looking forward to getting in some fishing, playing a round of golf and enjoying some down time. Then I'll decide what I'm going to do."
Reynolds, who served as national campaign chair for the election, was elated by the Conservative victory and getting Stephen Harper elected Prime Minister.
"When you're the national campaign chair, you set a goal to make your man the Prime Minister. Seeing Stephen achieve his goal is a great accomplishment," Reynolds said.
"Obviously you'd like to win more seats. During the last few days, the Liberals pushed some negative attack ads that were not accurate. They had some impact, but that's electioneering. I think people will now see the positives of the Conservative Party and what Stephen will bring as Prime Minister. He'll have a year or two before another election to let people see what he can do in action."
Closer to home, Reynolds said he spoke with local candidate John Weston Tuesday morning.
"He was certainly disappointed, but I congratulated him on a good campaign and encouraged him to run again," Reynolds said. "John actually beat Blair [Wilson] in West Vancouver and that's no small thing. Mr. Wilson will serve, and in my opinion, I think he'll have a short career. By the time the next election comes around, we'll be forming a majority government and we'll get back all the B.C. seats that we lost."
Reynolds said he hopes and expects that parliament will get back to working for the common good of the country. "I think, number one, Harper will bring integrity and honesty back to parliament," Reynolds said. "He'll reduce the GST, cut taxes and look at serious crime issues and other initiatives that were brought forward during the campaign. In talking and listening to the other parties, I think everyone wants to come together and work hard. I've been a part of two minority governments. It's not a lost cause. You can get things done. I pushed through a bill on Lost Canadians in a minority government."
Reynolds's political career spans more than 30 years and five political parties in federal and provincial politics. He was first elected to the House of Commons in 1972 as a Progressive Conservative in Burnaby - Richmond - Delta. After quitting the party in protest at the leadership of Joe Clark, he made a name as a radio talk show host before jumping to provincial politics and winning the riding of West Vancouver - Howe Sound for the Social Credit Party. Reynolds ran for the leadership of the Socreds in 1986, losing to Bill Vander Zalm. He served as Speaker of the B.C. Legislature from 1987 to 1989 and as Minister of the Environment from 1989 until the 1991 provincial election, when Liberal MLA David Mitchell defeated him.
Reynolds returned to the private sector and moved to the United States following the loss, but returned as the Reform Party's candidate for the federal riding of West Vancouver - Sunshine Coast. He won the seat in the 1997 federal election and served in a variety of critic portfolios, including immigration, fisheries and justice and chief opposition whip. He was re-elected in 2000, this time under the Canadian Alliance party banner, and became opposition house leader in 2001.
Reynolds also served as interim leader of the opposition from December 2001 to May 2002 after the resignation of Stockwell Day.
Reynolds reiterated that he's retiring from active politics, but that he still plans to work closely with the party, possibly in an advisory role to Harper.
"We'll see what the future holds," he said.
