Conservative member of Parliament Randy White says he will not seek re-election, and instead will focus on personal issues and a pet cause.

White, an MP for the last 12 years, says he wants to fight for the rights of crime victims full time.

He also wants to spend more time with his wife, who he says has supported him throughout his career.

Randy White in the Commons. (file photo)

White was first elected to the House of Commons in 1993 as the Reform Party of Canada member for Fraser Valley West.

The MP from Abbotsford, B.C., says he's leaving on his own terms and is not being pushed out by the party.

• FROM JUNE 25, 2004: Tory's interview on Charter creates storm

White created a stir during last year's federal election campaign when he suggested a Conservative government would use the Constitution's notwithstanding clause to override court decisions it didn't like.

"Well, the heck with the courts. You know, one of these days we in this country are going to stand up and say, the politicians make the laws and the courts do not," White told an independent filmmaker.

"It's time that we started to exert our responsibility as politicians in the country," he said. "If the Charter of Rights and Freedoms is going to be used as the crutch to carry forward all of the issues that social libertarians want, then there's got to be for us conservatives out there a way to put checks and balances in there."