Ex-Canada PM Harper to quit politics, go into business: source

OTTAWA (Reuters) - Former Conservative Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who lost power last October after almost a decade in office, will leave politics later this year and go into business, a Conservative source said on Wednesday. Harper, 57, stepped down as party leader in the wake of his defeat by the Liberals of Justin Trudeau in the Oct 19 election. He was re-elected as a legislator for a parliamentary constituency in Calgary, but will resign his seat before the House starts its fall session in September, said the source. "He will go into a global business venture. He has no plans to become an academic," said the source, who asked to remain anonymous since Harper has made no formal announcement about his future yet. Several companies had asked Harper to sit on their boards, the source added. The Canadian Broadcasting Corp reported that Harper had received offers of work from U.S. companies including U.S. buyout firm KKR & Co LP. KKR declined to comment. Harper did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Globe and Mail newspaper, which first reported Harper would step down, said he was also looking at establishing a foreign policy institute. (Reporting by David Ljunggren and Leah Schnurr in Ottawa and Andrea Hopkins in Toronto; Editing by Bernadette Baum and Nick Zieminski)