A SENATOR AND A GENTLEMAN
To many, he was perfect face for the chamber at time of national scandal
Colleagues remember Speaker Nolin
He was a gentleman in Parliament, someone who wanted to take the partisan nastiness out of the Senate.
By the time he became Senate Speaker last fall after 21 years in the Red Chamber, Pierre Claude Nolin had long ago earned the reputation among his peers on both sides of the aisle as a man of integrity.
To many, he was the perfect man to become the face of the Senate at a time of scandal and embarrassment.
Nolin had big plans to reach out to Canadians, to improve the public image of the institution he loved so much, and to make the case for its role in a parliamentary democracy.
But on Thursday evening, just five months after he became Speaker, Nolin died at the age of 64 after a lengthy battle with cancer.
On Friday, he was widely remembered for his service to Canada and for the fortitude of his character.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who appointed Nolin as Senate Speaker last November, said Nolin was a strong advocate of “fundamental rights.”
“Thanks to his courage and patriotism, this affable and cultured man was able to exercise his talents as a unifying and enlightened guide to his colleagues up to the end lot of his life, in spite of a cruel illness,” said Harper.
Sen. Claude Carignan, the government leader in the Senate, said Nolin continued to work hard after he was diagnosed with cancer in 2010.
Nolin wanted to modernize the upper chamber.
“For him, it was a mission,” said Carignan. “He said many times to his doctors that he didn’t want to stop. Because if he stopped he would pass away.”
Sen. James Cowan, leader of the Senate Liberals, said Nolin’s death was a “real loss.”
“He deeply cared about the institution, and now as we talk about the Senate needing to be more independent, he was that.”
Nolin’s route to the Senate began decades ago when he was a Quebec lawyer and member of the federal Progressive Conservatives.
He became a Quebec organizer for Brian Mulroney in the 1983 leadership race and the 1984 general election.
In an interview Friday, Mulroney spoke fondly of his longtime friend — how he was a “prudent and wise counsellor” and a “brilliant political strategist.”
“He was one of the rare people who combined those qualities with the capacity to get out and do the nitty-gritty of the organizing himself.”
For decades, Quebec had been a political fiefdom for the federal Liberals, but Nolin said the Big Red Machine was a myth.
“He said if we organized at the constituency level and we had a leader who could get through to the population, we could have a winning combination.”
Nolin was one of a handful of Quebec organizers who helped Mulroney’s Tories win 58 seats in the province in 1984.
In 1993, Mulroney appointed him to the Senate.
He said Nolin had been “appalled” by the filibuster in the Senate in 1990 when the Liberals used tactics like shouting and blowing kazoos to slow down GST legislation.
“He said one of the things that he would like to do if he had a chance would be to help de-politicize the institution and restore it to its original grandeur, as contemplated by Sir John (A. Macdonald) and the founders.”
Right from the start, said Mulroney, he could see Nolin — 42 at the time — adopting a different approach.
“He was a gentleman and, while a partisan, he was not in any way a blind partisan. He respected the other side. He had friendly relations with the other side and I knew that he could make a change in the mood in the Senate.”
Liberal senator Colin Kenny recalled being impressed by the new senator.
“He was deliberately non-partisan. People went after him that he wasn’t toeing the party line. And his response consistently was, ‘Look, I’m here for the next 25, 30 years and I have to get along with people.’ ”
In the late 90s, Kenny introduced a private member’s bill to place a special levy on cigarettes in a bid to battle teen smoking.
Nolin volunteered to help promote the bill in Quebec.
“He saw a job and thought it was important and stepped right into it,” said Kenny.
Later, Nolin embarked on his own initiative — a Senate committee to examine drug laws — and Kenny was co-chair with him.
Their 2002 report recommended the legalization of marijuana and caused a political stir, but it typified Nolin’s independent streak.
Also at the core of his character was a burning desire to improve the Senate’s image.
Last fall, in an interview with the Citizen, Nolin spoke about what he wanted to achieve as Speaker.
“Over a short period of time, I want the Senate to be respected. If I’m able to be part of that, I will have achieved a lot.”
Mulroney said that Nolin was working “right up until the end” to achieve that goal.
“You need a guiding hand and he was that man. He’s going to be difficult to replace.”
Nolin is survived by his wife, Camille, three children and three grandchildren.
His body will lie in repose in the Senate chamber next Tuesday from 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. and a funeral will be held at NotreDame Basilica in Montreal two days later.