Pamela Wallin on why she left the Senate and what's next for Canada

What led to your decision to resign this week? It was just time. You know, some of us have different ways of, I was a journalist for many years. I came, I went on to become a diplomat in New York after 9-11, spent a year going to Afghanistan. I think all of, you know, you know when a job has come to an end and when it's time to move on in your own head. And that's just where I was. I've got other things to do that I want to try. We'll see. So it was time for a next chapter. What is that next chapter? Can you tell us what are the other things you want to do? I cannot tell you because it has not been invented yet. That's how I've always kind of lived my life. And, you know, because it's very hard to go on to the next thing. I know that there are mixed views about the Senate, but that job is kind of 24-7 if you take it seriously. And if you do the work and try and inform yourself about all the pieces of legislation, not just the ones that your committee deals with, but that we all must vote on as senators. And so it's hard to make the next plan until you have time to make the next plan. So that's where I am today. And I'm starting out talking to the people of Saskatchewan, which is what my job was yesterday too. How do you know your work with the Senate is done? Like what led to that feeling? It's just, look, it's an issue that I've worked on for a long time, the whole question of advanced requests as a key part of medical assistance in dying. And the government signaled its intention to do something about that. Finally, as I said, I spent 11 years working on that file, and I had given my final speech on that topic on the Wednesday evening. And it just said, take the win. Some little tiny part of my brain said, take the win and move on. And you've got other things that you can do, and you don't need to do them all from a Senate chair. First and foremost, I love this country, and I have always spent my time and attention on that. Our relationship with the United States, our relationship with other trading partners, but most importantly, our relationship with one another. And that faced a test, and I don't think it's over in any way now. And so I do think it's important that we really focus on what is going to begin to resolve some of these issues. It's not just a promise of a pipeline that may or may not ever happen.