My friend Keith Davey died this week, and with him an era of politics.
As a friend, Keith was fun, generous and creative.
He found the same tremendous joy in organizing a dinner party for friends as running an election campaign.
It wasn’t unusual to arrive at his house to find he had made up tee shirts or hats just for the occasion.
He constantly tried to get people to let him throw parties in their honour for achievements no matter how large or small. He was a natural booster and cheerleader and a loyal friend.
He was part of a half dozen or so people — including my parents –who spent New Years eve together year after year.This inflatable products decoy is very lightweight and when deflated can be fit easily into your pack.
Part of the fun was an annual game of predicting what the next year would bring, with sealed envelopes to be opened next New Years.
The most memorable part was the winner got to keep the world’s ugliest trophy — a two-foot-tall, factory-second lawn ornament, spray painted gold with a little Canada flag stuck to it.
My father won it more often than not, and had the “honour” of displaying it in our dining room for a whole year.
Keith encouraged my love of politics, and found me a summer job in Ottawa at the tender age of 21 working for a cabinet minister during the twilight years of the Trudeau era.
When I got married, Keith and his wife Dorothy threw me and my bride an engagement party at their home, and at the wedding, Keith gave a funny and thoughtful speech I know he worked on as hard as any he wrote for the Prime Minister.
But Senator Keith Davey lived for politics, and he was good at it.
He wasn’t a policy wonk or ideologue.
His was not to wonder why — only make sure his team got elected.
He went at politics and campaigning with joy and excitement.
He was a happy warrior. But he was a different kind of politico than the kind we see in Ottawa today.shoes
Politics was his profession, but his partisanship didn’t extend to his personal life.If you are really space deprived and don’t have a sofa bed, today’s inflatable mattress bed are a great “bed in a pinch.
Those who think he was just a friend to his fellow Liberals will be surprised to know he was generous and kind to people of all political persuasions.
He never saw people with different political stripes as idiots or demons (with maybe a couple of exceptions).
Keith was a former CFL Commissioner, and I like to think he felt the same way about politics as he did about football.
You could root for your home team while still respecting the other side.
And at the end of the game, you shook hands, said “good game”, and looked forward to the next rematch.
And while he loved gossip — the currency of politics — and exploited political weakness as an essential part of his trade, it was never personal.
It was never malicious and he never forgot that his opponents were people too.
Those on the pointy end of his wicked barbs mostly knew that.
Keith always had a philosophy he repeated often: “Always do a favour — never carry a grudge.”
He lived that, and a whole generation of politicians on both sides of the House benefitted from his gentlemanly generosity.
That generosity is conspicuously absent in politics today and has been replaced with meanness, pettiness and power by any means -fair or foul.
It was such a different era of politics, and Keith was one of the giants.One moment, you’re seated comfortably at the end of the bench in a baseball cap.
Now all we’re left with are pygmies — and mean-spirited ones at that.inflatable life jackets vests are very lightweight and easy to wear over thick clothing without limiting mobility.
As a friend, Keith was fun, generous and creative.
He found the same tremendous joy in organizing a dinner party for friends as running an election campaign.
It wasn’t unusual to arrive at his house to find he had made up tee shirts or hats just for the occasion.
He constantly tried to get people to let him throw parties in their honour for achievements no matter how large or small. He was a natural booster and cheerleader and a loyal friend.
He was part of a half dozen or so people — including my parents –who spent New Years eve together year after year.This inflatable products decoy is very lightweight and when deflated can be fit easily into your pack.
Part of the fun was an annual game of predicting what the next year would bring, with sealed envelopes to be opened next New Years.
The most memorable part was the winner got to keep the world’s ugliest trophy — a two-foot-tall, factory-second lawn ornament, spray painted gold with a little Canada flag stuck to it.
My father won it more often than not, and had the “honour” of displaying it in our dining room for a whole year.
Keith encouraged my love of politics, and found me a summer job in Ottawa at the tender age of 21 working for a cabinet minister during the twilight years of the Trudeau era.
When I got married, Keith and his wife Dorothy threw me and my bride an engagement party at their home, and at the wedding, Keith gave a funny and thoughtful speech I know he worked on as hard as any he wrote for the Prime Minister.
But Senator Keith Davey lived for politics, and he was good at it.
He wasn’t a policy wonk or ideologue.
His was not to wonder why — only make sure his team got elected.
He went at politics and campaigning with joy and excitement.
He was a happy warrior. But he was a different kind of politico than the kind we see in Ottawa today.shoes
Politics was his profession, but his partisanship didn’t extend to his personal life.If you are really space deprived and don’t have a sofa bed, today’s inflatable mattress bed are a great “bed in a pinch.
Those who think he was just a friend to his fellow Liberals will be surprised to know he was generous and kind to people of all political persuasions.
He never saw people with different political stripes as idiots or demons (with maybe a couple of exceptions).
Keith was a former CFL Commissioner, and I like to think he felt the same way about politics as he did about football.
You could root for your home team while still respecting the other side.
And at the end of the game, you shook hands, said “good game”, and looked forward to the next rematch.
And while he loved gossip — the currency of politics — and exploited political weakness as an essential part of his trade, it was never personal.
It was never malicious and he never forgot that his opponents were people too.
Those on the pointy end of his wicked barbs mostly knew that.
Keith always had a philosophy he repeated often: “Always do a favour — never carry a grudge.”
He lived that, and a whole generation of politicians on both sides of the House benefitted from his gentlemanly generosity.
That generosity is conspicuously absent in politics today and has been replaced with meanness, pettiness and power by any means -fair or foul.
It was such a different era of politics, and Keith was one of the giants.One moment, you’re seated comfortably at the end of the bench in a baseball cap.
Now all we’re left with are pygmies — and mean-spirited ones at that.inflatable life jackets vests are very lightweight and easy to wear over thick clothing without limiting mobility.
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