A former Calgary city councillor said in a Facebook post on Monday that he will no longer be running as an NDP candidate in the upcoming Alberta provincial election.

“I am no longer confident that I can be the candidate nor the MLA people deserve,” Brian Pincott said on his social media page on Monday.

The announcement comes less than three months after Pincott accepted the NDP’s nomination for the riding of Calgary-Acadia, which is currently held by NDP MLA Brandy Payne.

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Pincott’s post also described his ongoing struggle with mental health challenges and depression, saying that although he had been working with a support network and doctor, his symptoms were becoming more difficult to manage.

“The last several months have already been a very hard struggle with encroaching depression. As such, I have decided to step down as the NDP candidate for Calgary-Acadia,” he said.

“As I look ahead to the coming election campaign of 2019, I no longer have the confidence that I can give the 100 per cent of me that will be needed. Many think that this will be the nastiest, most bitter campaign in Alberta history, and I don’t disagree.”

Pincott served on Calgary city council between 2007 and 2017. He announced that he would not be seeking re-election in early 2017, and in September of the same year, he spoke out for the first time about his struggle with depression.

“I shared my story because I wanted to let others who are suffering know that they are not alone and that it is all around us,” Pincott wrote on Facebook as part of a Sept. 12, 2017 post.

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