Canadian Foreign Minister Baird Announces He's Resigning

Canadian Foreign Minister Baird Announces He's Resigning
Canada's Foreign Minister John Baird speaks during a press conference with his Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry in Cairo on January 15, 2015, after their meeting to discuss bilateral relations and the release of Canadian journalist Mohamed Fahmy imprisoned with two Al-Jazeera colleagues in Egypt. Baird played down expectations that his visit could see Canadian-Egyptian Fahmy freed imminently after more than a year in jail. AFP PHOTO / MOHAMED EL-SHAHED (Photo credit should read MOHAMED EL-SHAHED/AFP/Getty Images)
Canada's Foreign Minister John Baird speaks during a press conference with his Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry in Cairo on January 15, 2015, after their meeting to discuss bilateral relations and the release of Canadian journalist Mohamed Fahmy imprisoned with two Al-Jazeera colleagues in Egypt. Baird played down expectations that his visit could see Canadian-Egyptian Fahmy freed imminently after more than a year in jail. AFP PHOTO / MOHAMED EL-SHAHED (Photo credit should read MOHAMED EL-SHAHED/AFP/Getty Images)

OTTAWA, Feb 3 (Reuters) - Canadian Foreign Minister John Baird announced on Tuesday he was resigning, a move that leaves the Conservative government short of a senior figure in the run-up to the general election set for this October.

Baird, 45, said that after 20 years working in politics he was optimistic about Canada's future and about the next chapter in his life. He said he would step down as member of Parliament in the weeks ahead.

Political sources told Reuters that Baird's relations with the office of Prime Minister Stephen Harper had deteriorated in recent months. (Reporting by David Ljunggren and Randall Palmer; Editing by Peter Galloway)

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