This shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone:

OTTAWA — Veteran Liberal MP Maurizio Bevilacqua is resigning, paving the way for a mayoral bid in his hometown of Vaughan, Ont.

Bevilacqua says he informed Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff Wednesday that he won’t be seeking re-election and the leader thanked him for his years of service, a party official said.

He’s expected to formally resign his parliamentary seat, which he’s held for 22 years, later this week.

This will set off an interesting fall in Vaughan, with a hotly contested mayoral race and a hotly contested by election.