We’re now seeing the real China
It speaks eloquently to Paul Dewar’s character that he called his diagnosis of terminal brain cancer “a gift.” He did so in an interview with the Citizen last year, explaining, “The gift is you’re being given a moment to see what life is, what it can be and what it has been.”
He had already lived his life well. But to the surprise of no one, Dewar used his remaining time well, too. Although the incurable disease from which he passed away Wednesday, at age 56, ended his political ambitions, it did not stop him from continuing to do good.
For instance, soon after his diagnosis, Dewar founded an initiative called Youth Action Now, which helps young people develop their leadership skills so they can work to better our world. He hoped it would be his legacy. It will be one of many.
He also spoke openly and frankly about the cancer and about the love of his family — giving many others courage to also seek support. When he was given the Key to the City in November as a special honour, he said he was accepting it on behalf of all the people who had helped him, and who have worked to improve their community.
Dewar was a husband, father, teacher, union leader and devoted New Democrat. Elected to represent Ottawa Centre federally in 2006, he spent much of his political career as the party’s foreign affairs critic, a natural role for a longtime human rights activist, and he championed global issues even after losing the seat to Liberal Catherine McKenna is 2015. Even after his diagnosis, he wrote opinion articles for this newspaper on human rights, specifically the battle to prevent genocide. He also maintained a
To the surprise of no one, Dewar used his remaining time well.
staunch commitment to Indigenous rights. Asked in 2017 by the Citizen what should be the lasting legacy in the national capital of Canada’s 150th anniversary year, he said he’d love to see a national Indigenous centre built on Victoria Island as a “real step” in reconciliation.
Dewar also spoke out for immigrants and refugees. In an op-ed penned for the Citizen soon after Donald Trump’s inauguration, he supported making Ottawa a “sanctuary city,” which would protect and provide for all residents, regardless of their immigration status. “The world’s refugees have diverse and valuable talent and skills to offer. Ottawa should claim its share of that human capital, by welcoming its share of people in need,” he explained.
This, of course, hearkened back to the beliefs of his much-admired mother, former mayor Marion Dewar, who drove Project 4000 in the late 1970s and early 1980s, welcoming Vietnamese refugees to the capital. He had learned compassion and humanity from the best, and it stayed with him.
Like any good politician, Dewar could be feisty, but it’s a measure of how well-liked he was, even by opponents, that some of his staunchest past foes publicly mourned him Wednesday. Former Ottawa West-Nepean Conservative MP John Baird tweeted that he was devastated by the death of his “friend.” Jason Kenney, another former Tory minister and now head of the United Conservative party in Alberta, said he often disagreed with Dewar, “but there was no doubt that he was a principled, dedicated public servant who cared a great deal about his country.”
When a politician can touch the hearts of two such highly partisan players, there is something very special about him.
But of course, Ottawa already knew that.