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EDMONTON - The last of the four party leaders who ran in Alberta's 2012 election is calling it quits.

Raj Sherman of the Alberta Liberals announced Monday he was stepping down from the party's top job immediately and will not run in the next election in his riding of Edmonton-Meadowlark.

He joins three other former leaders who have already stepped down Progressive Conservative premier Alison Redford, Danielle Smith of the Wildrose and Brian Mason of the NDP.

Sherman, 48, said that after two terms and three years as party leader, it was time to go.

"It's a personal decision for me," Sherman told a legislature news conference, alongside Liberal Party president Shelley Wark-Martyn.

"It's time for me to move on to new challenges, and to turn the page on the next chapter of my life."

Wark-Martyn said the party's board of directors will name an interim leader and map out the leadership race at a meeting in Calgary on Sunday.

She said it's up to the executive to decide if the party will have a permanent or interim leader should an election be called for this spring.

Under Sherman, the Liberals continued their decline in both fundraising and in popularity, dropping from 16 seats in 2004 to nine seats in 2008 to just five in the 2012 campaign.

Nevertheless, Sherman said he was proud of his accomplishments, saying he took the party out of debt and has all the riding associations registered and ready to take candidates.

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Raj Sherman, Alberta Liberal Leader, Quits

TORONTO - Premier Kathleen Wynne and a senior Liberal official will meet with Elections Ontario this week in an investigation into claims of improper behaviour in a byelection.

Wynne asked Andrew Olivier, the Liberals' candidate in Sudbury, Ont., in last June's general election, not to seek the nomination for the Feb. 5 byelection there because she had another preferred candidate.

Olivier has alleged that the Liberals offered him a job or appointment in exchange for his stepping aside for Glenn Thibeault, who left his job as an NDP MP to run for the provincial Liberals.

The Ontario New Democrats asked Elections Ontario to investigate, pointing to the Election Act, which makes it an offence to promise a job or appointment to induce a person to withdraw their candidacy.

This week, Elections Ontario will meet with Wynne and Ontario Liberal campaign director Pat Sorbara, the Liberal party said in a statement Monday.

Wynne said Monday she is "pleased" Elections Ontario is moving forward.

"We knew that there had been a request, we knew that there had been some concerns," she said.

"We've been very clear about what the interaction was, that there were no specific offers made in requests for any specific action, that many of the allegations that have been made by the opposition parties are false and so I'm pleased that Elections Ontario is going to move ahead and get this dealt with."

Olivier, who is quadriplegic and records conversations in lieu of taking notes, released audio of his talks with two Liberals, including Sorbara. Wynne has said she doesn't know if her conversation with Olivier was recorded too, but if so, any audio would confirm what she has said all along, that they were encouraging Olivier to stay involved with the party, but no specific offers or commitments were made.

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Sudbury Byelection 2015: Wynne To Meet Elections Ontario Officials Over Misconduct Claims

Liberals need to discussCanadas Middle East mission, says McCallum.

By Kevin Werner, News Staff

Federal Liberal MP John McCallum said the party needs to talk aboutCanadas continued military mission in the Middle East to decide on its future if the Liberals form the next government.

McCallum, who was in Hamilton Jan. 22 after attending the Liberals two-day caucus meeting in London, Ont. said the party voted against Canada joining the coalition to fight against the Islamic State last October. But as ISIS has grown, and after the terrorist attacks on Parliament Hill in Ottawa and Paris, the Liberals need to have discussions among its members if the mission is extended.

We are extremely serious about security issues, including the war against ISIS, said McCallum, who represents the area of Markham-Unionville. That also includes having to deal with homegrown terrorists, people from Canada going to fight in Syria, Iraq. We certainly have to address these concerns.

Those security issues will be front and centre as Parliament reconvenes this week. Prime Minister Stephen Harper has promised to introduce tougher national security-related legislation. He did introduce Bill C-44 that would boost Canadian Security Intelligence Services powers, and Bill C-13 that would provide increased surveillance and tracking abilities for the RCMP.

While McCallum was in Hamilton meeting with city officials, Harper was in St. Catharines praising Canadas Special Forces after recently getting into a firefight with ISIS while on a training mission.

Let me be clear, Harper told the assembled media. This is a robust mission. Were there to make those guys effective so they can take on the Islamic State and deal with them.

McCallum acknowledged the Liberals and NDP dont know what legislation Harper is toying with to introduce in the House of Commons. But he said the Liberals will take these challenges very seriously, whether we agree with the specific measures that Harper is about to propose, I dont know.

But we are not shying away from that one little bit.

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Liberals need to discussCanadas Middle East mission, says McCallum.

Topic: economic liberals (defined as those who support
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Topic: economic liberals (defined as those who support - Video

Why are liberals afraid to criticize Islamic extremism?
As usual liberals have their heads in the sand when it comes to addressing radical Islam, Obama #39;s no show at the unity rally in Paris in wake of the Islamic ...

By: xpandergt

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Why are liberals afraid to criticize Islamic extremism? - Video