Stephen Harper to leave politics by the fall, say reports

Former prime minister Stephen Harper is expected to leave politics by the fall, two Canadian media outlets reported on Wednesday.

Quoting "close confidantes" of the former Conservative leader, the Globe and Mail reported that Harper is planning to resign as an MP and pursue "new interests on corporate boards and the establishment of a foreign policy institute."

Harper served as prime minister for nine years from 2006 until his defeat in the 2015 election that was won by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's Liberals. But since the election, he has continued to serve as a federal member of Parliament for a riding in Calgary.

The CBC reported that he now had multiple job offers from U.S. companies, including from private equity firm KKR.

Harper's departure would mark the end of a long political career that began with Harper as a political aide on Parliament Hill in the 1980s, and later as a Reform party MP elected in 1993. He would later leave federal politics in 1997 after a single term in opposition, before returning to help unite the Progressive Conservatives and the Canadian Alliance Party to form and lead the new Conservative Party of Canada in 2004.

Harper recently met with Republican kingmaker and donor Sheldon Adelson in Las Vegas, according to news reports. He reportedly gave advice on how to mend party divisions, as the Republican Party grapples with the possibility of Donald Trump becoming its official candidate in the 2016 election.