Larry Smith to run for Tories

Newly named Conservative Senator Larry Smith said he will run for his party in Montreal's West Island ridingin the next federal election.

Theformer CFL player and commissioner, and outgoingCEO of the Montreal Alouettes, said he will step down from the Senate when the election is called.

"I will not be appointed as a cabinet minister [right now]," he told reporters Tuesday evening after speaking to supporters at ameeting ofthe Lac-Saint-Louis Conservative riding association. "I've had that discussion with the prime minister because in my sense you have to earn your spot at the table."

Hismovecame a day after Prime Minister Stephen Harper had namedSmithas one of his party's new senators, giving the Conservatives a majority in the Red Chamber.

Under Section 39 of the Constitution Act, a senator is not capable of being elected or sitting or voting as a member of the House of Commons.

Despite his high profile, Smith faces an uphill battle inLac-Saint-Louis, which has elected a Liberal in everyfederalcontestsince the riding was created in 1996. Liberal MP Francis Scarpaleggia hasrepresented the riding since 2004, and in the 2008 electionbeat Conservative candidate Andrea Paine by more than 10,000 votes.

With his decision, Smithfollows a path takenby another prominent QuebecConservative, formercabinet ministerMichael Fortier, whoresigned from the Senateto run unsuccessfully for the House of Commons inthe 2008 federal election.

The prime minister had sparked an outcry in 2006 by namingFortier to the Senate and to the federalcabinet, despite Fortier being an unelected party operative.