Cancer claims former NDP foreign affairs critic at 56
OTTAWA — Paul Dewar, a teacher and union leader from Ottawa who became the federal New Democratic Party’s foreignaffairs critic, died Wednesday after contending with brain cancer for a year.
Despite struggling with dyslexia as a child, getting trounced by Ed Broadbent during his initial foray into politics, losing his seat in the House of Commons in the Liberal wave of 2015 and being diagnosed with a terminal illness, the 56-year-old was infused with a belief that the world could be made a better place.
“True change can only come when power is transferred to young people unburdened by cynicism,” Dewar wrote in a farewell message posted to his Facebook page after his death. “That’s why I used what energy I had left this year to create Youth Action Now. Hopefully, it will help unleash the power of the young people in our community to make a real difference. I hope you will be inspired to be a part of that project and continue my work.”
He urged Canadians and his former constituents in Ottawa to respect the Earth, to build a future rooted in Indigenous wisdom, to welcome people who need safe homes and to help people who have been left behind.
“Let’s make more art. Let’s play more. Let’s embrace each other in these days of cynicism and doubt,” the message said.
Dewar is survived by his wife, Julia Sneyd, and their two sons, Nathaniel and Jordan. A statement from the NDP said they were with him when he died at home.
Dewar is perhaps best known for having served as the MP for Ottawa Centre from 2006 to 2015, much of which he also spent as the NDP’s foreign-affairs critic, following an early career as an elementary-school teacher and union executive.
Dewar’s path into politics meant following in some pretty big footsteps. His mother, Marion Dewar, was one of Ottawa’s most beloved mayors and a heavyweight in the federal NDP and social-activist circles in the 1970s and ’80s.