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Stephen Harper says goodbye and resigns as MP

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[Stephen Harper is seen in a screen shot from a video he posted on his Twitter account about his resignation from his House of Commons seat on Friday. TWITTER]

Former prime minister Stephen Harper made his long-anticipated exit from federal politics on Friday.

Harper released a brief statement announcing he had stepped down as MP for Calgary Heritage and bid an abbreviated adieu on social media.

“As I bid farewell to the Parliament of Canada, and prepare for the next chapter of my life, my eternal thanks to the constituents of Calgary Heritage, to the members of the Conservative Party, and to all Canadians for having given me the honour of serving the best country in the world,” Harper wrote.

There was little fanfare for the announcement that’s been on the agenda since Harper helmed the Conservative Party to Canada to an election loss last fall.

Rona Ambrose simply retweeted the video Harper released on Twitter. His one-time right-hand man and Alberta Conservative leader hopeful, Jason Kenney, offered no immediate reaction.

It was actually Prime Minister Justin Trudeau who weighed in first.

“On behalf of Canadians, I thank Stephen Harper for his long & dedicated service to our country. My best wishes to you and your family today,” Trudeau wrote on Twitter.

Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall also thanked Harper for his work on behalf of the Prairie province and former hockey star Sheldon Kennedy thanked him for his “strong leadership and friendship.”

Harper’s critics were more loquacious.

On Twitter, the hashtag #GoodRiddanceHarper was trending a couple of hours after the ex-prime minister’s announcement.

“The #WorstPMinCanadianHistory Have you #Stolen enough from Canadians?” tweeted ‏@RobinBall1961.

“Harper set to ruin international lives now, Good luck to you world,” offered sohail altaf, ‏@saltaf01.

Insite Vancouver, the safe injection program in British Columbia that Harper’s government repeatedly tried to shut down, bid goodbye with a wink and a nod.

#GoodRiddanceHarper By the way… Nice try,” read the agency’s Twitter account.

Like most Canadian prime ministers before him, Harper was harangued to the door by the critics he gathered during nearly a decade leading the country.

He was offered kudos for “single handedly destroying Big Oil and pipeline,” and implored to take his Office of Religious Freedom with him — a controversial institution that resulted from a 2011 Conservative campaign promise.

Others focused on the Harper government’s approach to the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the Supreme Court of Canada.

“It’s Harper Freedom Day. Birds are singing. Children are laughing. #GoodRiddanceHarper,” wrote Jason Morris on Twitter.

Harper had made it clear he would resign his seat before Parliament resumes Sept. 19.

He and two former PMO aides — director of stakeholder relations and outreach Jeremy Hunt and chief of staff Ray Novak — registered the Ottawa-based business Harper & Associates Consulting Inc. last December.

And earlier this year, his camp floated the possibility the former prime minister would found a foreign affairs think-tank.

In the video statement standing at the head of an empty boardroom, Harper defended his accomplishments in office and offered no hint to his future plans.

“Friends, we did a lot together, but I know the best is yet to come,” he said.