Halton Hills MPP, speaker of the house, won’t stand for re-election

The longest serving member of the Ontario Legislature has announced that he’ll be retiring at the end of his term.

Ted Arnott, who represents Wellington-Halton Hills, posted to social media today that he’s decided not to stand for re-election in the next provincial election.

“After many conversations with my family in recent weeks, I have decided I will not be a candidate,” he wrote on X (formerly Twitter).

“In the meantime, I will continue to serve Wellington-Halton Hills to the very best of my ability and continue fulfilling my non-partisan responsibilities as Speaker of Ontario’s provincial parliament.”

The 61-year-old Arnott was first elected for the Progressive Conservative Party in 1990 and has been speaker since 2018. Upon the retirement of Jim Wilson in 2022, Arnott became the longest tenured MPP in Ontario.

Arnott has won nine consecutive elections and when he won his first, at age 27, he was the youngest MPP in Toronto.

Among his accomplishments while in office was the passing of many private members bills, including several involving firefighters.