It’s an honour today to pay tribute to Mitro “Mac” Makarchuk on behalf of the official opposition, the people of Ontario, and on behalf of our party—the party he served with such distinction.

Before I begin, I’d like to welcome Mac’s friends and family to the Legislature. His many successes speak to the love and support of those closest to him. In particular, running for office and serving as an MPP is a group project, so it’s an honour to have you here as we celebrate his contributions to the Legislature and to the province.

I never had the opportunity to meet Mac, but as I read this, there are many similarities that make me wish I had, and we will touch on some of them.

Mac was the kind of person who wouldn’t be kept down. He trusted his instincts, fought for what he believed in, and made a point of having lots of fun along the way.

As a child, his family struggled to settle themselves in Canada after emigrating from Ukraine—my parents emigrated from Holland; I can understand that—and there were days he went hungry for lunch. I will never eat liver, because we ate a lot of liver. Even still, he occupied himself by constructing a radio and building a darkroom.

At 17, when he decided to expand his horizons beyond his family farm in rural Saskatchewan—and that touched me, because at 17, I had to decide whether to keep the family farm or move on, and I made a decision different than his, but I respect the decision. He first joined the navy and then the air force as a pilot and a parachute jumper. It takes a special kind of person to volunteer for those jobs, and throughout his life, he proved time and time again that he wasn’t afraid to make the jump.

When he left the University of Toronto after two years, he quickly pivoted to a career in journalism. One day, when he was covering an NDP nomination meeting and saw that nobody was running, he threw his own hat in the ring. I was also one of the most unlikely NDP candidates ever, except for him.

He lost his first race, as did I, but as was his way, he didn’t let that setback stop him—not even when he was forced to choose between running for office and his job with the newspaper. In fact, he later said that getting fired by the Expositor was the best thing to ever happen to him.

He won that election in 1967 and then won again in 1975, at which time he took on the role of whip for the NDP. As current whip for the NDP, I know he had to have a sense of humour.

After being re-elected in 1977, he lent his expertise in housing and urban affairs as critic for regional development and planning.

Mac was prescient in the causes he advocated for, including his support for environmental organizations and the anti-nuclear-arms movement. He also never overlooked the local projects that make people’s everyday lives better. From championing the creation of a new community centre to offering to personally underwrite a national university hockey championship, he did what he could to make life more joyful for everyone around him.

While most people would stop there, as if that were not enough, he also built a yacht while he was serving as an MPP. I give him credit for that. Nobody was ever going to put Mac in a box. He would always surprise you.

After his career in politics, he reinvented himself once again. Mac built a successful business operating a charter boat and travelled the world with his wife. He filled his life with good food, good wine, good conversation and, of course, lots of laughter.

Mac truly lived life to the fullest. There are not a lot of people who can say that. He grew from humble beginnings as a child of new immigrants in the Prairies to become an air force parachutist, journalist, whip in a provincial Legislature, shipbuilder, entrepreneur and world traveller, all the while collecting many new friends. It’s the kind of story that movies should be made of. It’s the Canadian dream.

Where others might stay in their comfort zone, Mac went looking for adventure. Where others might be hindered by self-doubt, Mac embraced new challenges. Where others might just talk about the things that need fixing, Mac took action—truly a life well lived.

We thank you, Mac, for your service. May you rest in peace.

Applause.