MONTPELIER — On July 4th, Rep. Mari Cordes is leaving Vermont for Nova Scotia in a move that also marks her resignation as a representative.
“It’s the day of my own independence,” Cordes, D-Bristol, said Monday in a somber, shaky voice.
As a queer person, a senior and a nurse at the University of Vermont Medical Center, Cordes had a whirlwind of personal and political reasons that spurred her decision to resign and relocate, she said.
In her job as a nurse, Cordes is personally feeling the effects of staffing cuts across Vermont hospitals, she said. She simply isn’t getting enough work hours — and watching friends and colleagues make the move to Canada has inspired her to do the same, she said.
As a lawmaker who sits on the House Committee on Health Care, leaving the state while its health care system faces many challenges is heartbreaking, Cordes said. “It’s not in my nature to not fight,” she said as tears welled in her eyes.
But her pain is not without relief. Cordes has feared for her safety as a member of the LGBTQ+ community since President Donald Trump’s first presidential term, and in her past six years as a representative she’s received two death threats, she said.
Besides homophobic attitudes, Cordes is also concerned that Trump will slash Social Security. “I am facing a very uncertain future as an elder,” the 66-year-old said.
Now, she’s looking forward to starting a new nursing job at a hospital in Nova Scotia. The process has been easy, and a good friend of hers recently did the same, she said. Canada is opening up its medical practices to American doctors in response to Trump’s presidency, according to KFF Health News.
Outside a doorway to the House floor, Cordes greeted Rep. Emily Carris-Duncan, D-Whitingham, who was walking past with a fellow representative.
Carris-Duncan rested her hand on Cordes’s shoulder. “We only aspire to continue your legacy,” Carris-Duncan said.
