Hon. Raymonde Saint-Germain: Honourable senators, the few minutes I have for this tribute won’t allow me to adequately recount all the highlights of Senator Wetston’s long and illustrious career. After devotedly serving on the executive side of government, Howard came to the Senate in 2016 to serve on the legislative side as a member of the first wave of independent senators — a historic change to the Senate — which he duly personified, having been appointed in his career to positions by Liberal and Conservative governments, both provincially and federally.

For more than 30 years before joining the Senate, Howard was in pursuit of the public interest, whether as a judge, an enforcement official or as the chair of several administrative tribunals. The prestigious honours he has received over the years are in themselves a testament to his immense contribution to Canadian public life, most notably the Order of Canada for the significant contributions he made as a public servant, jurist and regulator.

Senator Wetston has a breadth of experience and expertise in competition law and policy, securities regulation, energy regulation and administrative law. He has generously shared this expertise, most notably through his work on the Standing Senate Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs, as well as the Standing Senate Committee on Banking, Trade and Commerce. His contributions to the Standing Committee on Ethics and Conflict of Interest for Senators should also be highlighted as they are a key sign of his credibility among his peers, particularly because of his sense of justice and profound ethical values.

I would also like to emphasize his remarkable work on the Competition Act. Here is a senator who has taken advantage of the pandemic to accomplish something greatly useful. His consultation paper, entitled Examining the Canadian Competition Act in the Digital Era, is remarkable in that it offers a happy balance between vision and pragmatism. This demonstrates the wisdom of our colleague who understands that politics, being “the art of the possible,” requires one to sometimes deal with it step by step.

I will now conclude on a more personal note and say that being a senator, with all the demands and sacrifices, also brings the privilege of knowing exceptional colleagues. Howard is one of them, not only for his intelligence and wisdom but his great human values. Since childhood, when he was ostracized and experienced, among other things, refugee camps, life has provided him with its share of challenges — challenges that he overcame and which have made him an exceptional human being, open to the world and attentive to others.

Dear Howard, in the name of all members of the Independent Senators Group, thank you for all you have done, and all the best to you as you enjoy more time with your family and loved ones.

Hon. Lucie Moncion: Howard, how can I possibly pay tribute to you in such a short time and tell you how much I value your brilliance? I am privileged to count you among the people who have enriched my life in so many ways.

You are a skilled, subtle and cunning speaker with great emotional intelligence. Very respectful of your colleagues, you accept and consider the ideas and suggestions of others.

I know you as a humble man with an avid curiosity to constantly acquire additional knowledge and understanding. You are an active listener, balanced, calm despite everything, open-minded and analytical. You enjoy silence and peace, but you also enjoy the company of others, and the exchange of ideas and knowledge.

Howard, you have an impressive track record. Before you were appointed to the Senate, you served as a counsel at Goodmans LLP. You are a prominent Canadian leader and a respected public servant, a distinguished lawyer, jurist, regulator and executive. You are an expert in competition law and policy, securities regulation, energy regulation and administrative law. You were a judge of the Federal Court of Canada for six years. At some point during your career, you were Director of Investigation and Research with the federal Competition Bureau, chair and CEO of the Ontario Securities Commission and chair and CEO of the Ontario Energy Board.

Howard, you were at the heart of many significant changes and played an important role in Ontario.

You were called “Suitcase Wetston,” and you provided the explanation for the nickname, saying to me:

I worked in the public service for most of my career. I looked at whatever job I was in as an opportunity to make a difference — I packed my suitcase and went wherever an opportunity arose. When I didn’t feel what I was doing was making a meaningful difference anymore, then I moved on. To me, the nickname was a metaphor for taking a risk — I was willing to take risks with my career. My career in public service was a lifelong experience of learning.

I know you are an active reader, an avid tennis player and that you count among your close circle an impressive number of friends. You are a busy person, but despite your active lifestyle, I have an assignment for you, Howard. You have a story to tell. Please write your biography. From the time of your family’s immigration to Canada to the brilliant career you forged for yourself and the amount of knowledge and experience you have acquired over the years — all of that needs to be shared.

I am an avid reader of biographies and would immensely benefit from reading about you, your life, your involvements, your knowledge, your expertise and your lessons learned.

You are an excellent writer, a good storyteller and a brilliant man. Howard, please let us know; let the world know. Keep well, my friend. You will be missed.

Hon. Howard Wetston: Honourable senators, once again, I want to thank the Speaker.

I wish I could be there physically with you, but I took the decision not to appear in the chamber today because I’ve come down with a cold or a flu. I so much wanted to participate, so I decided to do it from my office. Please forgive me for not being in the chamber with you today.

I want to thank you for your kind words on the occasion of my retirement. Your comments are very, very thoughtful, and they mean so much to me. I wonder, though, if I might ask you for something. Might, perhaps, one or two or three of the senators who provided tributes to me wish to write a reference letter for me when I apply for my next job? I may call on you to do that, but I am very, very thankful.

I do have a lot of things to do before I clean out my office, but nothing is more important than what I want to do today, and that is to say thank you to each of you.

Speaking about retirement, as Senator Cotter once said in the Senate in a somewhat different context, “I expected this.” Senator Cotter would remember that.

I have moved around a lot in my career and often had to consider whether to leave before my best-before date. On this occasion, I don’t have to consider that. Nevertheless, not all aspects about my retirement are negative. I won’t have to think about seeing the clock. I won’t have to struggle to figure out how to change channels on Microsoft Teams, and I won’t have to wait through another one-hour bell. Those must be positive things.

Let me begin by thanking our extremely skilled and highly professional administrative staff. I have very much appreciated the advice of the Clerk of the Senate, the law clerks, the staff in Chamber Operations, the clerks of all our Senate committees, as well as the committed staff who support these offices.

I would especially like to thank our Speaker and Speaker pro tempore for their incredibly patient, wise and objective management of Senate proceedings.

As a member of the Independent Senators Group, I wish to express my thanks to its leadership team. I have valued your tireless efforts and commitment, Senator Saint-Germain, Senator Dean, Senator Woo, Senator Duncan, Senator Omidvar and Senator Peticlerc. It’s been a lot of heavy lifting over the last six years and will continue to be, but I’m optimistic about where the Senate is heading.

I would also thank my seatmate over the past five and a half years, my good friend Senator Marwah. You could not find a better person to have in your corner. I’ve always appreciated and enjoyed how he cuts through complex issues like a hot knife through butter. More importantly, I have considerable respect and admiration for him as a person.

Senators, I believe that my most satisfying professional achievement was being appointed to the Senate of Canada as it allowed me to serve in all three branches of our parliamentary democracy: executive, both federally and provincially; judicial, at the Federal Court of Canada, as you know; and legislative. I was able to complete the parliamentary trifecta when I was appointed to the Senate.

You might ask what I learned from these experiences — obviously, a great deal — but first, common sense and pragmatism work best in the reform of markets. Second, regulation has always been about addressing problems with human behaviour, not necessarily problems with innovation. Third, policy making involves complex trade-offs, as you all know, but the bigger challenge is always implementation. And, fourth, I may now know more, but I am sure of less. It is a complex world.

Colleagues, as you have heard from other senators, my parents were Jewish immigrants who fled Poland to Uzbekistan and were then relocated by the Allied forces to a displaced persons’ camp in Ulm, Germany, where I was born. By the way, Albert Einstein was also born in Ulm, Germany. Don’t take too much from that comment. Surprisingly, we share very little in common, other than we have similar hair.

We eventually settled in Whitney Pier in Sydney, Nova Scotia, and my Nova Scotian colleagues would understand where that is. My parents lived there for nearly 60 years.

I was raised in a multicultural and multi-ethnic community, which shaped my value system. We were the only Jewish family in the neighbourhood. We were a religious family. Growing up, we accommodated our differences culturally, socially and economically. There was no internet or Google to keep us occupied. Sports and education brought us together. There were many challenges, but our community was resilient and hard-working.

My upbringing provided me with a strong sense of social and economic justice, which carried through my entire career as a public servant, as a judge and as a senator.

When I consider my time in the Senate, it feels too short, and, to be honest, I feel somewhat cheated. Maybe it’s because of my age but, more so, we lost meaningful time due to the pandemic, an election, a prorogation and, of course, our important committee work was curtailed significantly.

During this time, we also sadly lost three of our own devoted senators: Senator Forest-Niesing, Senator Keating and Senator McCoy. Their contributions will always be remembered. In the Jewish tradition, we say, “May their memories be for a blessing.”

Senators, I enjoyed my work with Senator Colin Deacon in the Banking Committee under the leadership of Senator Doug Black in preparing a report on open banking, which was well received by the fintec community. Indeed, the government is now proceeding to develop an open banking framework, as you know. It will help transform how financial institutions operate. It puts consumers first.

Also, as has been stated, I worked on Bill C-25, which modernized certain elements of the Canada Business Corporations Act. I am especially pleased with the corporate governance reforms with respect to directors’ duties and board director diversity. I recognize that Senator Omidvar was somewhat disappointed that we didn’t go far enough, but I might just say that there’s more to be done and I hope you pursue it.

I worked closely with Senator Woo, and others, on Bill C-69, the wide-ranging environmental impact legislation. That was a massive undertaking for the Energy Committee under the chairmanship of Senator Galvez. The bill was studied over 36 committee meetings; those were the good old days. We worked very closely with other senators in passing this complex piece of legislation, which included numerous amendments from all across the chamber.

I served as a member of the Ethics Committee, which was very meaningful for me. We consistently approached our work with objectivity and fair-mindedness. I enjoyed working with all my colleagues on this committee.

I also think I can recall a period when I was chair of the Banking Committee. I was probably the shortest-serving chair of this committee in the history of the Senate, but at least I can put it on my CV.

Finally, I am most satisfied to have initiated a Senate consultation to examine the Canadian Competition Act in the digital era.

Honourable senators, I want to emphasize that this was a Senate consultation, and I believe the Senate should be proud of the fact that we’ve seen some action on the part of the federal government. Feedback from stakeholders who participated in the consultation indicated that it nudged government to proceed with limited — but important — amendments to the Competition Act. You have seen that in the pre-study to the budget implementation act. I am pleased that the government also intends to proceed with a broad-based stakeholder consultation in the future.

Honourable senators, I joined the Senate at an important time in its history and in the wake of the Supreme Court of Canada’s decision regarding Senate reform, which clarified the federal government’s ability to change the terms of Senate appointments.

I believe we are moving toward a Senate that is more reflective of Canada’s diverse population, which is giving more voice to these perspectives and conversations. This has resulted in a more diverse scrutiny of bills and the initiation of special studies and inquiries, which also gives senators the opportunity to join different groups, changing the structural composition of the new independent model. It provides more options for senators. I had a very long chat about this with Senator Dean and I was very satisfied with my being able to present this to the Senate today.

Honourable senators, I believe the Senate is now functioning as it was originally intended — that is, as an independent and complementary legislative body of sober second thought, and not in competition with the House of Commons.

It is my belief that the Senate’s reputation has improved over these last six years. The independent model appears to be building more confidence and trust with the public.

I also agree with the article Senator Harder wrote several years ago — it found its way into a constitutional magazine, which was quite surprising, Senator Harder — in which he asserts that the renewed Senate has acted neither as a rubber stamp for the government nor as a rival to the people’s elected representatives.

In addition, I’m optimistic because I see positive developments in the Senate. Senators are moving between groups. There is more communication and collaboration. Senators from all groups, including the opposition — and I do respect the important work of the opposition; the challenge function is critical — are working together on bills, inquiries and motions in advancing social and economic justice in Canada.

Honourable senators, we live in a more complex and unfriendly world. Indeed, it is distressing to observe the brutality of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Parliament must continue to stand up against this cruelty and I am confident that it will.

It was Mark Twain who said that history may not repeat itself, but it rhymes.

In conclusion, I am grateful to have been part of an institution that represents Canada’s diverse regional, linguistic, cultural and socio-economic interests.

The Senate has been hard at work and I have observed the thoroughness, commitment and thoughtfulness of the Senate’s legislative and committee work.

I wish to thank my staff, Jonathan Bishop and Lisa Fisher. They have served me exceptionally well. They have juggled all my files — and there was no shortage of files — with dedication, enthusiasm and hard work.

Colleagues, I will now look forward to being less scheduled. I will spend more time travelling with Debbie, whom I would like to thank for always being by my side. I’m also going to spend more time studying music; Debbie often asks me, “How many guitars do you need?” I always say, “Just one more.”

That’s a message to Senator Gold.

I’m going to get back on the tennis court and start playing golf again. Maybe we’ll have that golf game, Senator Plett; I hope we do.

There’s always more to do. I’ve been asked to take on some new work — it’s been hard to say no, but I’m trying to get better at it.

Honourable senators, it has been a pleasure and a privilege working with you. It’s been an honour to be a senator. Thank you for your commitment. You have my deepest respect. Thank you for your friendship.