I am sad today. I am thinking of Jim's three young boys (men in their early twenties) who no longer have their father at their side to give them courage and to pass on wisdom and to love them. I am thinking of Christine and the boys three months from now when the undercurrent of grief will tempt despondency, meaninglessness, and anger to knock at the door.

By Michael Van Pelt April 11, 2014

1 minute read

(Re: Jim Flaherty, 64, dies at Ottawa home one month after resigning as finance minister)

My favourite memories still are traveling with Jim in and out of living rooms all over southern Ontario packed full of people wanting to hear Jim's hopeful vision for Ontario. If Jim would call me tomorrow and say, "Michael, here is the next project I am tackling," I would do the same thing I did back then—go to work to get it done.

My family and I are proud of Jim Flaherty—the man and the ideas he believed in.

Michael

Read Father Raymond de Souza's tribute to Jim Flaherty: http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2014/04/10/father-raymond-j-de-souza-jim-flaherty-a-good-family-man-a-good-servant-to-canada-and-a-good-friend/

You'll also enjoy...

Creature Comforts, or Putting the Past Behind You

In fairness, my late cousin, a lifelong Montrealer who died far too young five years ago this month, used to argue persuasively that the 1998 ice storm put an ice pick through the heart of the separatist movement Those who persisted afterward in promoting separatist ideology were either neurotic gru...

Cultural PTSD

But recently with great earnestness host Matt Lauer asked Zachary Quinto, "What is it about our zeitgeist that so many of the blockbuster films are apocalyptic in nature?" Zachary was on the show to promote his film, Star Trek Into Darkness, where he plays the character of Spock How shall we, the mu...

Part of the Problem with Politics is You

The sort of castigation that dominated my social media feed last evening regarding the legacies of both Premier Redford and Minister Flaherty reminded me that the problem of contemporary politics is as much a problem of citizenship as it is of leadership Premier Redford is not a witch whose politica...