HALIFAX — Nova Scotia’s Liberal leader says he cannot explain why member Dave Wilson has resigned from politics.
Wilson announced his departure Friday, saying he could no longer carry out his work as a politician.
“I no longer feel that I can fulfil my duties and responsibilities as the member of the legislature assembly for the constituency of Glace Bay,” Wilson said in a brief statement.
“I will not be making any further comments at this time and I would ask for your respect for my family’s privacy.”
Wilson said he handed a letter to the Speaker’s Office and notified party leader Stephen McNeil of his resignation.
McNeil said Wilson told him on Feb. 24 that the province’s auditor general had requested a meeting.
Three days later, Wilson said he had hired a lawyer and did not meet with the auditor general, McNeil said.
“He informed me that he had been instructed by his lawyer not to speak about the matter,” McNeil said.
McNeil said he pressed Wilson for an explanation but didn’t get one.
“I had asked Dave why and he said, ’At this time, I’m not prepared to talk about that.”’
The auditor general’s office would not comment on the resignation or its request for a meeting with Wilson.
Wilson, who also served as the chairman of the Liberal caucus, said his departure is effective immediately.
He was first elected to the province’s house of assembly in 1999 and has been re-elected five times.
Before entering politics, Wilson, 54, worked as a broadcast journalist in Cape Breton and Saint John, N.B.
