44th Parl. 1st Sess.
September 17, 2024 10:00AM
- Sep/17/24 3:18:29 p.m.
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The House will now proceed to tributes in memory of our former colleague, the late Hon. Chuck Strahl.
Colleagues, it is an honour to rise to pay tribute to our former colleague, the Hon. Chuck Strahl. He was a force of nature.
The historic 1993 election brought winds of change from Canada's west to this place, and with them came Chuck Strahl with his tall stature, his booming voice and his inimitable work ethic. He made friends everywhere he went and found common ground through intelligence, kindness and, of course, his trademark sense of humour.
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- Sep/17/24 3:21:58 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, on behalf of the Conservative caucus, I would like to thank you for those very kind words and a fitting tribute to a man who held a position in the Speakership during part of his tenure here.
This is a difficult task, to try to sum up in just a few minutes the impact that a man like Chuck Strahl had on Parliament, on politics and on not only the Conservative Party but the Conservative movement as a broader whole. However, it is truly an honour for me to do that, as imperfectly as I may.
We all know Chuck's official biography, of course. He was first elected to Parliament in 1993 and re-elected another five times. Over his 18 years as an MP, he served as a third party critic, a whip, a House leader for the official opposition, a minister of the Crown and a Deputy Speaker. Chuck knew that if a position he filled was important, it was first and foremost a reflection of the awesome responsibility of the position. There is such a difference between a man of great integrity and others who view titles and positions as ways to aggrandize themselves and make it a reflection of the individual rather than the position.
Chuck, despite the high offices, never lost touch with his roots. He was a logger from the B.C. interior. He brought a healthy dose of common sense to public life. Speaking of logging, Chuck was a builder. I would often look with great envy at the pictures the current member for Chilliwack—Hope would send me of the latest project he and his father were working on around the house. Being someone who was not gifted with those types of abilities, I would always feel great awe and admiration that Chuck was able to do that.
However, he did not just build things out of wood and metal. He helped build a movement. Chuck was one of the major architects of the wonderful experience that was the Reform Party of Canada. Even though he was from B.C., he helped light that prairie fire that kept burning and spread eastward to help give Canadians hope that power in Canada could one day truly be restored to the people and out of the hands of the elites who had caused so much damage at the time.
We think today, in our modern lives as members of Parliament, about what that was like back then. We all know how hard it is sometimes to organize events, but we have wonderful tools like texting and social media. We can post things on a website. Chuck and the Reform Party team were able to pack church basements, town halls and legions with hundreds and hundreds of people just by using the telephone, maybe some radio messages and those famous newsletters we all got through fax machines. It was incredible. It speaks perhaps not so much to their technological prowess, or the organizational abilities of people like Chuck, but of the message they were carrying and the hope they were giving to Canadians in every corner of the country.
Chuck was a strong family man, a gifted communicator and a natural-born leader who projected honour, integrity and faithfulness in all that he did. We could chat with Chuck for hours and he would rarely brag about any of his political achievements or the offices that he filled. Instead, he was most likely to brag about his province, his community or, most often, his family. We could tell what motivated Chuck just by talking to him for a few minutes.
Chuck inspired so many young members of our movement to take up the fight. He was a happy warrior. It was easy to follow someone like Chuck because he did it with a smile on his face, motivated more by hope and what was possible than by what riled him up. However, if we ever did rile him up, we would know about it.
During my first Parliament, Chuck was the Deputy Speaker. I was a new MP at the age of 25. Let me say that Chuck's deep, baritone voice would leave us in no doubt if we ever found ourselves on the wrong side of the chair.
It was wonderful to work with him in his next role, as minister of agriculture, as he started the process to give western Canadian farmers the freedom to market their own agricultural products.
For those of us who may have come to politics a little later, it is sometimes hard to imagine that for decades, western Canadian farmers had no control of the product of their summers' worth of labour. Instead, they had to trust the government to do that for them. However, Chuck, as was long a part of his mandate, helped lay the groundwork for what would eventually be the successful abolition of the monopoly of the Canadian Wheat Board.
Chuck played a pivotal role as minister of Indian affairs, as it was called then, building the path for Stephen Harper's momentous 2008 apology to former students of Indian residential schools. While there has been the outpouring of messages of support and condolences that we would expect from many people in politics, the tributes from first nations communities across the country are, I know, also very meaningful to the Strahl family, as a reflection of the sincere and deep relationship that Chuck made with the people with whom he worked so hard to address their issues.
As minister of transport and infrastructure, Chuck played the role of builder once again, as he was instrumental in delivering much of Canada's economic action plan. A lot of Canada's recent infrastructure may well have a link back to Chuck the road builder.
He leaves behind Deb, his loving wife of almost 50 years, and four children, Karina, Loni, Kyla and the hon. member for Chilliwack—Hope, someone who, as all of us know, has inherited that deep baritone voice.
When we talk about integrity, I think it is important to think about what that meant for Chuck. Chuck would often say that sometimes politics can get complicated because we make it overly complicated, and often what we need to do is just take a step back and think about our first principles: why we got into it in the first place or what we told our constituents at the first meeting, maybe when we were running for the nomination, or on our first election night.
Ottawa can twist and turn things. The bubble is real, and it can affect how we look at things. Chuck would always be able to slice through all that, simplify the complicated and bring it right back to what it would mean for the Canadian people. That shone through every single thing Chuck did.
I know we are all going to miss him, those of us who were wise enough to seek his counsel. Having Chuck on speed dial or as a contact was a smart thing to do for anybody in a leadership position. Chuck was very kind to chair my campaign when I was running for the leadership of the party. I would often call him for advice or wisdom or to run things by him. There was great comfort in knowing that I had someone like that in my life, almost that I could offload some of the stress or overthinking on various issues.
Once again, my deepest sympathies and condolences go to Deb, Karina, Loni, and Kyla. I am going to break protocol here; Mark, I give our very deepest condolences and best wishes to your family as you recover from this tremendous loss.
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- Sep/17/24 3:31:03 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is an honour to rise in the House today to pay tribute to my old colleague the hon. Chuck Strahl. I am deeply saddened by his passing.
Although I sat across the aisle from him for 18 years, I always had a deep respect and admiration for him. That is really the beauty of this place. There is a time for lively debate and different opinions, but we are all here to represent our constituents back home, and Chuck understood that as well as anyone else.
In addition to serving as a member of Parliament from 1993 to 2011, he also served as minister of agriculture, minister of Indian and northern development and minister of transport. These jobs can often be challenging, but he stepped up in service to his country, and I thank him so much for that. Being Minister of Agriculture myself, I know full well what the job entails. Serving our farmers, producers and ranchers has been one of the greatest honours of my life, and I am sure Chuck felt the same way.
I probably should not say this, but I think Chuck would understand and maybe chuckle a bit. Back in 2010, Chuck was serving as minister of transport, and as other previous and probably current ministers of transport know, I was a bit of a thorn in his side. I was grilling him one day in the House in question period about the Wood Islands-Caribou ferry service, which is vitally important to my riding. Eventually he said, “I know the member has asked this question every year for about 10 or 12 years now”, which was certainly true. Even though Chuck was from far on the other side of the country, and the ferry on the eastern end of Prince Edward Island was probably not one of his top priorities, he always showed a willingness to work with me on that issue and many other issues. He showed me and my constituents a great deal of respect, and I am deeply grateful for that.
We were from different parties, but Chuck always had time for my concerns, and I truly believe that is how ministers and members of Parliament should act. We all want what is best for our constituents and Canadians. We may disagree on how we deliver that, but the country is best served when we all communicate and work together on things.
I cannot help but look across the aisle and see Chuck's son, the member for Chilliwack—Hope. I have been in this place for quite a while, and it is quite something to be able to say that I have served with him and with Chuck. I am sure that Chuck was so deeply proud of his son, my hon. colleague, for being his successor. What a great honour the member has brought to his father.
I might just break the rules here a little bit, but to the member for Chilliwack—Hope, Mark, I want to offer my sincerest condolences. It is very difficult.
Chuck's wife, Deb; his other children, Karina, Loni and Kyla; and the rest of his family and friends are all in our thoughts. Losing a loved one is never easy, but I hope that Mark's faith, which I am sure was inherited from his father, brings him comfort in the days ahead.
I truly appreciate the opportunity to rise in the House to honour my old friend Chuck Strahl. His tremendous service to his constituents, province and country will never be forgotten.
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- Sep/17/24 3:36:07 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, who among us can claim to have run against the devil himself? This was one of the exploits of the Hon. Chuck Strahl, a former Conservative cabinet minister who died of cancer on August 13 at just 67 years of age.
In the 1997 election, Chuck really did face off with a man by the name of Sa Tan. He had a gift for telling this anecdote in a humorous way, although it did make him wonder whether it was possible to run for office in Canada under a pseudonym.
Chuck Strahl proudly represented Chilliwack and the Fraser Valley region in the House for nearly two decades, from his first election in 1993 until 2011.
After starting his career in forestry and business, he made his mark in politics. He served in various capacities in the House before becoming a minister, taking on the agriculture, indigenous affairs and transport portfolios. He was, without a doubt, one of Prime Minister Stephen Harper's most trusted advisers.
On behalf of the Bloc Québécois, I would like to thank Chuck Strahl for his years of public service. I want to offer my deepest condolences to the woman with whom he shared his life for almost 50 years, as well as to his three daughters and 13 grandchildren. It is with the utmost empathy that I also extend my condolences to his worthy successor in the riding of Chilliwack—Hope, his favourite MP, his son Mark, who helps to keep the memory of his wonderful father alive through his presence in the House.
Although he decided not to run for office again in 2011, Chuck Strahl never really left politics. People continued to turn to him for advice. In an open letter to The Globe and Mail in 2011, he shared his advice with his son and successor. Although this public message was meant to be personal, every man and woman working in politics would be well advised to learn from it.
In that letter, he emphasized the importance of keeping one's word and listening to one's voters, to local residents. He believed that our constituents are always our best advisers. He also advocated solidarity. Even when debates become heated and potentially divide political families, it is essential that colleagues know they can always count on each other. Above all, he stressed the importance of family, because outside the political arena, family is our main anchor. Though the brouhaha of politics all too often requires us to live at a frantic pace, it is important that we not forget ourselves and, above all, that we never forget our loved ones.
This is sound advice that is still as relevant today as it was then, and it speaks volumes about Chuck Strahl as a politician and as a family man, as well as the values that he cherished and that live on today in people like his son in the House and his family outside the House.
I recognize the man I worked closely with and had the great pleasure of working with when we both served as chief whip of our respective political parties. I will always remember him as an affable, funny, reliable and efficient man, a man who fought tooth and nail for the values he held dear and the ideas he put forward, but always in a respectful manner.
When he left politics for health reasons, I admit that I was worried about him. Then, as time passed and I saw him make occasional public appearances, I came to believe—wrongly, obviously—that he was doing quite well. His passing came as a shock to me and to many of his former colleagues and constituents. I cannot imagine how tough it must have been for his loved ones, for whom I have enormous sympathy.
I would like to think that Chuck will continue to look down on us and inspire us with his wise counsel. I am positive he is up there now, and for good reason, because did he not beat the devil himself in an election?
Thank you for everything, Chuck, my dear friend. Now try to get some rest, because you have earned it.
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- Sep/17/24 3:44:35 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I am thankful for all the tributes that have already been made. Your own words were profoundly moving. It is in this place, in moments like these, that we are united with exactly the same sense of shared humanity in paying tribute to someone we universally loved and admired.
I know Chuck Strahl to have been, throughout his life, an honest man, doing an honest day's work every single day. His life is a profile in faith and courage. I will never forget how young he was. I think of it now and just checked the dates; he was only 48 years old when he told the world he had mesothelioma, as the hon. member for Windsor West just mentioned, because of an exposure to asbestos. People did not think about its being in the brake lines of the vehicles when he was doing honest work in the forest industry.
All those years later, he would be given a sentence from his doctor that would have stopped many people. It did not stop him. He was told at only 48 years old that he had a lung cancer that would kill him. He did not stop. He did not feel sorry for himself. He ran again. He got re-elected in 2006. We have heard from so many members about his achievements in cabinet and his hard work, that I will not repeat them.
However, we know that by 2011, he announced he would not run again. That is when I was elected, after he was not here anymore, but we had become friends before that happened. Whenever I would run into him, as we do, those of us who live in B.C. and travel to Ottawa, I would always tell him that he must be so proud of the member for Chilliwack—Hope, and he would always burst with pride. He was so proud. I know how much he loved all of his kids. He always spoke also of Karina, Loni, Kyla and his grandchildren. I thank God he defied the odds to live to the age of 67 to see so many of them.
The thing is that I am still angry. I am still angry that this country produced a product that was the single biggest occupational killer, killing hundreds of thousands of people around the world, and this year taking Chuck Strahl from us.
I want to salute his profile and courage, because it took courage. He resigned from Parliament. He did not have to put himself out there. He went on national television to say that it was time to say that chrysotile asbestos kills, time to say it out loud and time for Canada to do the right thing. With that, even as Chuck Strahl left politics, he saved lives around the world by speaking truth to power.
God bless him. We know he is with a heavenly host. We know that the Lord he loved has welcomed him home.
As one of his many colleagues who admired him, I just want to offer my deep thanks. It is people like Chuck who make this place decent. I thank him, and I thank all his family with much love and deepest sympathy.
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