SoVote

Decentralized Democracy

House Hansard - 148

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
December 14, 2022 02:00PM
Context: House Hansard - 148 - Dec/14/22
Mr. Richard Cannings (South Okanagan—West Kootenay, NDP)
  • Dec/14/22 4:14:28 p.m.
  • Watch
Mr. Speaker, I rise this afternoon with sadness to pay tribute to our friend and colleague Jim Carr. Jim was very much a friend and colleague to everyone here. In my experience, he was the best kind of politician, someone who truly believed in serving his community, his province and his country. He was someone who was always trying to reach across the aisle to work together with all sides and who sought to bring people together. I think some of those characteristics came from his varied career path. He used to say he was a bit of a hippie in his youth. He was even a member of the NDP for a while. He was a professional musician, playing oboe with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra and was a journalist with the Winnipeg Free Press. For a number of years he was a member of the Manitoba legislature. He was also the president of the Business Council of Manitoba and an early advocate for a clean energy strategy for Canada. That is the kind of background that really allows someone to see all sides of an issue and different ways of solving problems. I got to know Jim when I was the NDP critic for natural resources and he was the minister. We travelled together several times. I did not always agree with him, but he always treated me with complete respect. To my mild discomfort, he several times introduced me at conferences as his “nice critic”. I was a bit torn about that representation, but it really did reflect the collegial relationship we had. Jim was someone who really wanted to bring people together. In 2017, he organized the Generation Energy conference in his home town of Winnipeg. Jim was very proud of that conference and how it brought together people from all over North America and, indeed, the world in his home town to talk about the shift to clean energy. In the middle of the conference he invited many attendees to his own house for a party, which turned out to be his birthday party. I do not think the conference was planned to coincide with his birthday, but it was certainly a great way for us to meet interesting people who had come to tackle some of the difficult questions of our time, all the while enjoying Jim and Colleen's hospitality. The following year, I travelled with Jim to the G20 energy summit in Argentina. There, he was very proud of the hard work he and his team put in to bring the United States on board, with a communiqué that talked of the climate crisis and the need to shift to a greener, low-carbon future. We should remember that this was in the middle of the Trump presidency. Jim moved into the international trade portfolio later that year, so I did not see so much of him after that. By all accounts, he brought the same energy and conviction to that file as he did with natural resources, having faith that parties that seemed far apart on important issues could be brought closer together with honest dialogue. He was also a great chair at meetings and made sure that the honest dialogue actually led to meaningful action whenever possible. Jim was so happy to see his private member's bill on building a green economy on the Prairies pass through the House of Commons last week. Despite his long battle with cancer, he looked great and spent time thanking all of us who had supported him. He knew his cancer was terminal, but, as he often said, “Every day counts.” Jim loved his country. He cared about his community. He went out of his way to encourage new MPs of all parties. We need more people like Jim Carr in this place and at every level of government in Canada. On behalf of the New Democratic Party caucus, I would like to extend my deepest condolences to his wife Colleen and all of his family. I would like to thank them for sharing him with us these past seven years. To Jim, I would like to say, “Farewell my friend. God speed. Shalom.”
707 words
  • Hear!
  • Rabble!
  • star_border