Earlier today I had the honour of paying tribute to Jim Flaherty in the House of Commons: Mr. Speaker, Just a few weeks ago, on March 18, when Jim retired from politics, we all expressed our best wishes to Jim, Christine and their sons for their next promising chapter of life together. Il semble injuste, qu’aussitot après, nous fassions nos adieux à ce grand serviteur, époux et père. To Christine, Quinn, Galen and John, while his time with you has been cut tragically short, his legacy, one of his enduring gifts to you, is the example Jim set with his life of public service. Jim and I sparred in the House, and at Committee, but away from the spotlight, we had a trusted and candid relationship. Jim used to call himself an old hockey player … and he was disciplined enough to be in the MPs gym regularly early in the morning … 6:30am or earlier. Jim’s locker was near mine in the men’s changing area. We would often chat there, sometimes about policy, and issues of the day, and often we enjoyed some laughs. Mind you, Jim’s Irish sense of humour was tested a few times when I would remind him, later in the day, and always in front of some of his cabinet and caucus colleagues that “Jim Flaherty is the first man I see naked most mornings”. Jim was even competitive when he congratulated me on the news of the impending birth of our twins. He winked at me and reminded me “You know we have triplets”. Even then, and to his credit, Jim’s greatest pride was in his family. Jim was a tough, resilient warrior. He ran in 4 provincial elections. He lost the first time in 1990, but came back to win in 1995, 1999, 2003. He won 3 federal elections. He ran in two leadership races. All told, about 700 days at campaigning, not including all the times he campaigned for others. Jim suffered losses, but his defeats neither stopped him, nor defined him. He bounced back and went on to bigger and better things. His life sets a high bar and serves as a lesson to all of us and to his boys that there are no permanent victories or permanent defeats just permanent battles. Jim never gave up. All those campaigns, all those battles, prepared him for what was his biggest battle, Canada’s response to the financial crisis. It was not easy, he faced immense ideological pressure to take a different approach. Jim ultimately knew what he had to do and what Canada had to do and he showed international leadership in getting the job done. I met with Jim on January 28, in his office, to discuss the upcoming budget. I hadn’t realized until then just how much he was suffering from his illness. Even so, he battled on, and kept working, kept serving the public. Jim believed profoundly in public life. In his own words he put it best: “Public service is good for you. It will give your life a greater impact on others and your country”. The following words by Teddy Roosevelt make me think of Jim: “The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat”. On behalf of the Leader of the Liberal Party and all of us, good bye to an old hockey player, and, a happy warrior. Merci Jim pour ton engagement et tous tes services rendus au Canada. Thank you to Christine, Quinn, Galen and John for sharing Jim with Canada.
Posted on: Fri, 11 Apr 2014 15:17:52 +0000
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