Bob Rae’s colourful career comes full circle
OTTAWA — Bob Rae’s first brush with the Liberal party came in 1968, when, as a 19-year-old student, he volunteered on Pierre Trudeau’s leadership campaign. Ten years later, as an NDP member of Parliament, Rae sparred across the floor of the House of Commons with Trudeau Sr., who by then was well into his time as prime minister.
On Wednesday, an emotional Rae — his hair now snow-white, the geeky glasses of his youth long gone — announced he’s stepping down as a member of Parliament. Trudeau Sr.’s son, Justin, now Liberal leader, stood by his side.
Rae, one of Canada’s most seasoned politicians and skilled orators, made the surprise announcement after breaking the news to the Liberal caucus, of which he has been a member since 2008. His decision signals the departure of one of the House of Commons’s bestregarded parliamentarians and, apparently, marks the end of a political career that saw no shortage of both admiration and controversy.
Rae said Wednesday that it was a “very difficult decision” to resign, though he will devote himself to his role as chief negotiator for First Nations in northern Ontario, who are in talks with the province about the resource-rich “Ring of Fire” mining area. But, he said, it became clear that he couldn’t perform that role and continue his duties as an MP.
He served as interim Liberal leader from May 2011 until April 2013, when Justin Trudeau was elected party leader. Rae’s departure now is seen by some as a blow for the Liberal caucus, which loses his decades of political wisdom and heavyweight presence in the Commons. The Liberals also recently lost Montreal-area MP Denis Coderre, another experienced parliamentarian who is taking a run at municipal politics.
“It is a big loss,” said Greg MacEachern, vicepresident at Environics Communications and a former Liberal strategist. “When Bob Rae stood to ask a question, the entire House tended to quiet down. He just had such ability as a parliamentarian.”
When Rae’s last day on the job will be is unclear.
Educated at the University of Toronto and University of Oxford, Rae burst onto the federal political scene in 1978 at age 30 as a New Democrat MP. The following year, he gained either notoriety or fame — depending on how one saw it — when he introduced the non-confidence motion that brought down Joe Clark’s minority Progressive Conservative government.
He jumped to provincial politics in 1982, becoming the Ontario NDP leader, and was premier from 1990 to 1995. It was the first — and so far only — time the NDP has governed Ontario.
Some remember Rae’s premiership as tumultuous: his austerity measures to deal with a deep recession included 10 unpaid days for public workers annually — so-called “Rae days” — that saw him attacked from the political left as much as from the right. But others say that’s par for the course for prominent political figures.
“I think half the people like him, half of the people don’t like him, and that applies to most people in politics. Nobody escapes from this thing with everybody loving them,” said former Ontario premier David Peterson.
Peterson, who ran against Rae three times and whose government Rae’s NDP unseated in 1990, said Rae was a “fearsome adversary.
“He’s very talented, bright and quick. I have great respect for his talents,” he said.
Rae’s NDP lost badly in 1995 to Mike Harris’s Progressive Conservatives, and although Rae retained his seat, he resigned it in 1996 — and resigned his party membership in 1998.
He spent his years outside of elected office working as a lawyer and mediator, including mediating an aboriginal fishing rights crisis in Burnt Church, N.B., and writing the Rae Report on post-secondary education for the Ontario government.
In 2006, four years after officially breaking with the NDP, he sought the federal Liberal leadership, but lost to Stephane Dion. He briefly campaigned again for the leadership in 2008 after winning a byelection in Toronto Centre, but withdrew his candidacy. Michael Ignatieff, Rae’s longtime friend, former leadership rival and one-time roommate at the University of Toronto, took the party reins.
“He was the most accomplished parliamentarian in the house in my time, funny, caustic and formidable in attack,” Ignatieff said on Wednesday. “He was loyal under my leadership and he steered the party exceptionally well as interim leader. I’m sure we haven’t heard the last of him: he has many more contributions to make to Canada.”
Rae took the interim Liberal leader’s job after the 2011 election, which saw the Liberals drop to 34 seats in the House of Commons, the fewest in the party’s history. Many see him as the driving force for keeping the party relevant, and preventing it from fading into oblivion.
“I think he deserves credit for trying to hold the Liberal party together,” Peterson said. “He’s got lots of feathers in his cap.”
The loss of Rae’s veteran presence will be a blow to Trudeau in the run-up to an election in 2015. But Peterson said he doesn’t think Rae’s departure will affect the party’s chances.
“I don’t think it matters a bit. The graveyard is filled with indispensable people. He was a real talent, but he’s not going to get the party elected or unelected,” Peterson said. “Very few nonleaders have any influence beyond their own riding.”
Rae said his decision to step down is not about money, and that he hasn’t been paid for his work in the North.
Trudeau on Wednesday said he was “sad” Rae is leaving and praised his “passion” and “emotion.”
Trudeau said history will remember Rae as a great leader for the Liberal party during a difficult time, and that he will continue to be a “valued friend and ally and resource for all Liberals in this country.” Rae said that he’s “more than confident” that Trudeau will become prime minister of Canada and pledged to provide any help he could to the party.
“I have thoroughly enjoyed my time with (Trudeau) and I deeply regret that I will not be going the rest of the journey with him,” Rae said. “But I hope that I have been able in my own way, in the last few years, to help to create the conditions in the party that have strengthened our position.”
Tributes for Rae poured in from other politicians on Wednesday, including Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Opposition leader Tom Mulcair.