Hon. Brent Cotter: Honourable senators, others have spoken eloquently about Senator Keating’s professional talents, achievements and contributions. My remarks will mostly be personal reflections.

I had known Judith Keating by reputation prior to her coming to the Senate — her dedication to the citizens of New Brunswick, her work on official languages, her commitment to women and to Indigenous people and her distinction in senior executive positions within the Government of New Brunswick — but we had never met prior to the day on which she and I were sworn in to this place in February 2020. My impression on that day was that her family was ecstatic that Judith was being recognized by the Senate appointment, and the air was electric with joy for her.

After she passed away, her daughter Stephanie and I shared reflections on Judith in a few communications this summer. This reinforced both the love and admiration her family had for her. Stephanie wrote:

Her appointment to the Senate brought me (and her!) great joy. Mom’s life wasn’t easy. She overcame a lot of obstacles. When challenges came her way, she always pushed through, always worked harder, always put others before herself. . . . She was the toughest, smartest person I know.

Judith was also an intensely private person. While many of us got to be good friends with her, most of us were completely unaware of the health challenges she faced prior to taking her leave from the Senate and ultimately, sadly, never being able to return.

It was a small example of the gifts she extended to others, minimizing our worry and grief had we known how serious her health problems were. Indeed, at the very end of her life, she asked Stephanie to convey to me her thanks for the embroidered pillow my daughter had made for her, saying, “She loved the pillow your daughter sent her and kept it on her bed beside her until she died.” In her very last days, a gift from her to my daughter.

Her premature death is a loss to so many of us who were her friends and a deep loss to the Senate — her contributions here would have been great — but most of all to the family and friends who loved and admired her.

I would like to end this on a small personal reflection. Sometime after we’d been sworn in to this place, I asked Senator Keating why she had asked Senator Percy Mockler to be her sponsor. To be honest, I was a bit surprised because I didn’t have the sense that she and Percy were philosophical fellow travellers, if I can put it that way.

Her answer was:

Well, Percy is a friend and sometime mentor, and has had a distinguished career in public service in New Brunswick and here in the Senate, and, most importantly, he is a good, decent and principled person.

Her intention was to emulate that. In a sense, to breathe life and meaning into the title “honourable” that was bestowed on her and on all of us. Perhaps this is Judith Keating’s greatest gift to us.

Thank you, Judith Keating, for being my friend and for the message of goodness you have provided to all of us in your too short time in this place.