[URBAN NOTE] "Cheri DiNovo drops NDP leadership bid"

[rfmcdonald]

The Toronto Star's Robin Levinson King reports on the withdrawal of Toronto NDP MP Cheri DiNovo from the leadership contest for the NDP. That DiNovo's candidacy was informal, and that she was the only one running, says worrisome things.

Cheri DiNovo is dropping out of the NDP leadership race because of problems with her health.

The local MPP for Parkdale-High Park had thrown her hat in the ring to lead the federal NDP last June, positioning herself as the candidate most able to return to the party to its socialist roots.

But after suffering two mini strokes, known as transient ischemic attack, DiNovo says she must focus all her attention on getting better.

“My staff and family have been amazing through this experience and it is in consultation with them – to whom I owe so much – that I have to announce I’m withdrawing from the leadership race. For at least the next month or so my focus will be on my health, so that I’ll be able to return to Queen’s Park in the fall,” she wrote on Facebook.

DiNovo raised eyebrows in June when she announced her bid to replace Tom Mulcair because she didn’t have the $30,000 deposit required of federal NDP leadership candidates.