OTTAWA—New Democrat MP Robert Chisholm has dropped out of the race to replace Jack Layton because he does not think he can improve his French in time for the leadership convention.

“The time has come for me to step aside and end my campaign to become the next leader of the New Democratic Party of Canada” Chisholm said in a statement emailed to media Wednesday.

“It’s always been my desire to do what I think is best — for my constituents, for the NDP and for Canada. That has always guided my decisions and it’s under the same guiding principles that I decided to withdraw from the race,” said Chisholm, who was elected the MP for the Nova Scotia riding of Dartmouth-Cole Harbour in the spring election.

Chisholm faced heavy criticism for his inability to speak French, especially since more than half of the federal NDP caucus now hails from Quebec.

His grasp of the language is so poor that he spoke English for most of the French half of the first official leadership debate in Ottawa earlier this month.

There will be two more debates conducted entirely in French — one in Quebec City on Feb. 12 and one in Montreal on Mar. 4 — before party members elect the next leader at a convention in Toronto on Mar. 24.

Chisholm had been taking French lessons but his realization that he would not reach an acceptable level of bilingualism in time for the vote was the primary reason for withdrawing his candidacy.

“While many agreed with me that our next leader needs real leadership experience and a strong vision, many spoke out about the need for the next leader to be able to speak fluent French on day one,” said Chisholm, who was Nova Scotia NDP leader in the 1990s.

“For the majority of party members, this is a non-negotiable qualification,” Chisholm added. “Although I am working hard on my French, and will continue to do so, I will not meet this threshold by March 24.”

The eight remaining candidates are veteran party strategist Brian Topp, Deputy Leader Thomas Mulcair, Toronto MP Peggy Nash, Ottawa MP Paul Dewar, B.C. MP Nathan Cullen, Quebec MP Roméo Saganash, Manitoba MP Niki Ashton and Nova Scotia pharmacist Martin Singh.

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