It was service with a smile and Belinda Stronach was the perfect host.

She gladly fished cold drinks from an icy tub, presided over the grill and distributed sugary confections to guests at her annual barbecue.

By the time the well-attended event was winding down, she slumped her svelte frame into the middle of a tartan-print couch at the Aurora seniors’ centre for a fire-side chat with The Era-Banner.

“When I look at my life, I feel very lucky,” she said, a wide smile of contentment spread across her face.

Her days at the centre of political drama are behind her now, along with her battle with breast cancer last year.

“I have no idea what caused it. I forget about it most of the time,” she said.

Reconstructive breast surgery forced her to miss last year’s Thrill from the Hill barbecue for constituents.

Between her duties as Magna’s executive vice-chairperson, local MP, tending the needs of two teenage kids and varying philanthropic causes, she has embraced a healthy lifestyle that includes 90-minutes of yoga four times a week, cardio workouts and a vegan diet.

 Tofu, avocados and quinoa now frequently find their way onto her plate.

“If you want a different result, you have to change your patterns,” she said.

But after four years, her time as a politician is drawing to a close.

She was summoned back to her father’s multi-national auto parts corporation, Magna International, and wants to spend more time with her two adolescent children and, therefore, won’t seek re-election.

During the next federal election, Ms Stronach will be replaced by Newmarket-Aurora Liberal candidate Tim Jones.

“I’m not leaving because I’m not interested. Really, it is family,” she said.

As the woman who helped create a united Conservative party, enjoyed a whirlwind foray into politics, only later to defect to the Liberals and prop up the government, now said she embraces the role of a back-bench MP.

With the political spotlight trained elsewhere, she has lent her name and support to Liberia and Haiti, where crushing poverty and political instability remain the biggest challenges.

As co-founder of Spread the Net, Ms Stronach visited Liberia in May, where she distributed nets to Africans to help eradicate malaria.

By draping netting around sleeping areas, the simple gesture can prevent the mosquito-borne disease that kills nearly one million Africans a year.

She recalled one little girl she presented with a net.

“She was silent when I gave it to her. It’s so precious to them, they don’t know what to do,” Ms Stronach said.

Her goal is to provide Africans with 500,000 nets by the end of this year.

“Public service still drives me,” she said.

“I’ve stopped worrying about when we’re having an election and I’m just going to do my job in the meantime.”