Independent MP Casey won't seek re-election

Nova Scotia MP Bill Casey says he won't run in the next federal election.

Casey, the long-time Conservative who now sits as an Independent, said he's announcing his plans now in case the Harper government is defeated on a budget vote later this month.

"I just thought it would be best if I made my position clear now in case the election was called and there are people interested in running," he said Tuesday.

Casey said he won't be endorsing any party in the next election and he'll leave it to the people of the riding of Cumberland–Colchester–Musquodoboit Valley to choose his successor.

Casey, 63, said he made the "very, very difficult" decision with his wife during the Christmas holidays.

While the job of  MP is satisfying and interesting, Casey said, he is interested in exploring new directions and is not quite ready for retirement.

"I would like to have another career yet. I figure there's one more career left in me," said Casey, adding that he has worked in the fields of housing, automobiles and investment.

"I just want to go somewhere where I can be effective, I can make a difference, I can get a sense of satisfaction and help the process, whatever it is."

The representative for Cumberland–Colchester–Musquodoboit Valley made headlines around the country when he was kicked out of the Conservative caucus for voting against his party's budget bill in 2007.

He argued the budget denied Nova Scotia benefits promised in the 2005 offshore resource revenue deal the province signed with the Liberal government at the time.

Casey was re-elected to a fifth consecutive term in the federal election just three months ago, winning 69 per cent of the vote.

He was first elected to the House of Commons in 1988. He was defeated in 1993, but has been back in Ottawa since 1997.