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Irwin Cotler was sitting at his desk in the Commons last Thursday when Industry Minister James Moore crossed the aisle to say farewell to the retiring Liberal MP on his second last day in the House.

“We had a good embrace,” Cotler recalled the next day upon leaving the green chamber for what will be the last time.

Friday also proved to be Moore’s final day in the House. He announced he was leaving politics, though he is staying on in his cabinet role until the election is completed.

“I have the highest regard for James,” said Cotler. “I’ve known him and liked him since the day he arrived here. He’s an excellent minister.”

They are not the only ones. At last count, more than 50 MPs are retiring for one reason or another. That’s one member in six, a very high attrition rate. The Conservatives alone are losing more than 30 members, fully one-fifth of their deputation.

On the government front bench alone, five ministers are leaving or have already left. Since John Baird’s resignation from Foreign Affairs in February, Justice Minister Peter MacKay, Heritage Minister Shelly Glover and International Development Minister Christian Paradis have also announced they won’t be running again. And Moore makes five members of cabinet who are leaving.

Baird, MacKay and Moore have not only been senior cabinet ministers, they were the political ministers for Ontario, the Atlantic and B.C. They were also regarded as likely leadership candidates in the event of Stephen Harper’s defeat in the October election or his retirement after another term in office.

“When you lose people like John, Peter and James, that’s a serious loss to the government,” said Cotler, who enjoyed working across the aisle with them all.

All of them, for what seem compelling personal reasons, decided to move on. Baird, 45, had already spent his entire career in politics. He was marked by the death last year of Jim Flaherty, only weeks after announcing his resignation as Finance minister to pursue a business career. “It was the first time I lost a close friend in politics,” Baird later said. “I didn’t want to leave in a box.”

MacKay, 49, has a two-year old son and another baby on the way. And as a former minister of Foreign Affairs, Defence and Justice, he will be much sought after on Bay St.

Cotler, like most of the retiring MPs, personifies politics as an honourable calling. As a group, they represent institutional memory in terms of the political process. Parliament will be poorer for their leaving. Cotler, like most of the retiring MPs, personifies politics as an honourable calling. As a group, they represent institutional memory in terms of the political process. Parliament will be poorer for their leaving.

Moore, only 39, has been in the House for 15 years, since arriving as a freshman Canadian Alliance member in the 2000 election.

In all three cases, there will be life after politics. Or as MacKay put it, as much as he loved his job, “I love my family more.”

The unrelenting pressure and unremitting stress take a toll on all MPs. It’s not only a dislocating life, it’s physically demanding to get home on weekends when the House is in session. In Moore’s case, it’s a five-hour flight to and from Vancouver. No one should begrudge him flying business class.

Then there’s a constant scrutiny from the media in their need to feed the 24/7 news beast. And in the age of social media, anyone with a Twitter account can be a pundit.

For some retiring MPs, they’ve simply had enough of all this. For others, like James Rajotte, it is time to move on, though he is only 44.

Rajotte, like Moore, has been in Ottawa for five terms and 15 years. He was one of Stephen Harper’s earliest supporters for the leadership of both the Conservative Party and its predecessor, the Canadian Alliance.

But for reasons no one understands, Harper never appointed Rajotte to cabinet. Geography and eventually time may have worked against the Edmonton MP. Harper’s cabinets have never been short of senior members from Alberta, beginning with the prime minister himself.

However, Rajotte has served for the last six years as chair of the House Finance Committee. It’s obviously one of the most important committees on the Hill, and under Rajotte’s collegial and even-handed chairmanship, it has also been one of the best. He is widely liked and respected on all sides of the House. As for reciting attack talking points from PMO, Rajotte just doesn’t do that.

He spoke for the last time in the House on Friday, on a point of privilege that became his farewell.

“There are lots of comments about political life and politicians that occur here today, and a lot of cynicism,” he said in conclusion. “After 15 years with the people in this place, (and) people who volunteer in politics, I have more faith in those people. It is a noble calling. It is making this country a better place.”

Cotler was also on his feet Friday during MPs’ statements before question period. A renowned champion of human rights and civil liberties, Cotler reminded the House that “Iran tragically executes more people per capita than any other country in the world.”

The current nuclear negotiations with Iran, he said, “have not only overshadowed but sanitized this issue … It is time to hold the regime to account on both the nuclear and humans concerns, to the benefit of both the international community and the Iranian people themselves.”

For Cotler, 75, his last day in the House was a “bittersweet feeling. I always felt I would leave after this term. But Parliament was not just the place I went to work. It was more than friends, it was family.”

Cotler is perhaps the most bipartisan soul in the House, whose signature was working with all parties. His international work to free prisoners of conscience, from Nelson Mandela in South Africa to Natan Sharansky in the former Soviet Union, made him a revered figure.

When Mandela died in December 2013, Cotler represented the Liberals in the Canadian delegation to his funeral.

“Being there was a very moving moment, and I thought the PM was very gracious to include us all,” Cotler said, referring to Harper’s inclusion of all former PMs in the delegation. “I was particularly glad that Brian Mulroney was a part of the delegation because of his campaign against apartheid and to free Mandela.”

During his 16 years in Ottawa, Cotler was minister of Justice in the Paul Martin government from 2003-2006. Looking back, he says he took great satisfaction for bringing transparency to Supreme Court appointments. “If I had to say one thing I was proud of,” he said, “it was the appointments of Rosie Abella and Louise Charron to the Supreme Court,” at the time making women the majority on the nine-member high court.

Cotler, like most of the retiring MPs, personifies politics as an honourable calling. As a group, they represent institutional memory in terms of the political process. Parliament will be poorer for their leaving. They deserve the thanks of a country that should be grateful for their service.