Outgoing Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff exits Parliament Hill after saying goodbye to politics and his party on May 12, 2012.Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press
Outgoing Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff and his wife, Zsuszanna Zsohar, stopped after a final caucus meeting with his colleagues on Wednesday to say thank you to the people of Canada for the time he spent in office.
"The only thing, really, to say is this: Everybody always tells you how tough a game politics is and how brutal it is. What they don't say enough is how incredibly good the Canadian people are to you even when they don't vote for you," Mr. Ignatieff told reporters at the same microphone where he has regularly answered media questions as leader of the official opposition.
"And, as we take our leave of politics, I just want to express my enormous gratitude to all the people we met as we went along the road, their kindness, their civility, their sense of humour," he said. "It was a privilege to serve the Canadian people and we leave politics with a sense of what a privilege it was and what an honour it was."
After offering the same words in French, he said "merci, bye bye" and headed out the front doors of the Commons for the last time as a politician.