Hon. James S. Cowan (Leader of the Opposition):

Honourable senators, it is a privilege to pay tribute to former Senator Keith Davey, who passed away on January 17.

Tom Axworthy spoke eloquently at Senator Davey's funeral about the key role Senator Davey played in our nation's modern political development. Mr. Axworthy said:

The modern Canada we love is a product of the politics and policies of Pearson and Trudeau. They were the prime architects of our Just Society of social equity, and Charter rights.

But if Pearson and Trudeau were the architects, Keith Davey was the general contractor. He recruited the men and women to run for office, ran the campaigns and advised prime ministers on who could get the job done.

Senator Davey described himself as a "wide-eyed pragmatist," even after decades in Canadian politics. He loved the full span of politics from the grassroots — knocking on doors and getting out the vote, especially in his beloved Toronto — to advising prime ministers and planning grand national campaigns. He never lost perspective on himself or what he was doing.

Keith Davey was a man of rock-solid convictions and, above all, of great loyalty and dedication to the Liberal Party of Canada, to the many prime ministers he served, to the Yankees, the Blue Jays and even the Maple Leafs.

Senator Davey's warmth was enveloping. The many obituaries and eulogies from across the political spectrum attest to the deep and genuine respect and affection that so many Canadians had for him. One headline expressed this particularly well: "Rain he made, sunshine he gave."

Keith Davey had an extraordinary gift for finding talented Canadians and engaging them in the political life of their country. There is a seemingly endless list of some of the very best parliamentarians in our history, all of whom were drawn to public service by Keith Davey.

During his long tenure in the Senate, Keith served on several committees, but unquestionably, the work of which he was most proud was spearheading the landmark study on the mass media entitled: The Uncertain Mirror. That study is still cited today as a classic example of the best work produced by this chamber. It shone a light on the potentially overwhelming influence of American media on Canada and the value of ensuring that Canadian media are able, he said: " . . . to promote our apartness from the American reality."

Keith Davey loved Canada.

Honourable senators, it is remarkable that in the span of a few short months, we have paid tribute to two icons of Canadian politics: Senator Keith Davey, a great Liberal; and Senator Norm Atkins, a great Progressive Conservative. Each man was a legend in his party and committed to his party with every fibre of his being. Each man relished the stuff of politics from the ground up to the highest level. Each man embodied the highest standards of integrity, decency and absolute passion for Canada. They were, of course, professional adversaries; but during their years together here in the Senate, they became deep personal friends. That, to me, is emblematic of the best of this country and the Canadian political tradition, where absolutely determined partisans with diametrically opposed views can nevertheless forge a strong friendship and work together as Senator Davey and Senator Atkins did in this chamber for the betterment of Canada.

Honourable senators, each of these great men believed in the power of politics to do good and they believed in the power of political parties to do good. They saw first-hand the power of political parties to engage citizens in the political life of the country. They fought intensely but with respect for their adversaries and, above all, with the firm conviction that the democratic process was more important than the win. They were truly honourable men.

Senator Davey included at the end of his memoirs a quote from Teddy Roosevelt, and it reads as follows:

The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by the dust and sweat and blood; . . . who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.

Honourable senators, I cannot conclude without speaking of Senator Davey's family and the deep love that he had for his children and for his beloved wife, Dorothy. They all suffered greatly over past few years as Senator Davey's great mind was ravaged by the terrible disease of Alzheimer's. We all send our deepest condolences to them.

---

Hon. David P. Smith:

Honourable senators, I rise to pay tribute to the late Senator Keith Davey, who was a pillar within the Liberal Party of Canada, and a hero.

I came to Ottawa in 1961, 50 years ago. Needless to say, I was very, very young. However, I became involved with the Liberal Party at university. Within the next two or three years, I was president of the Carleton University Young Liberals, then the Ontario president, then the president of the National Young Liberals of Canada. Since I was here, hanging around Parliament Hill, I came to know Keith well. When I graduated, I was about to go to law school. He said, "No, take a year off. Be my right-hand guy at headquarters and you will be the National Youth Director, going coast to coast every few weeks." I did. Those were exciting days.

It is fair to say that Keith was a mentor, a role model and most important, a lifelong friend. If one can beatify a few Liberals from that period, the three I would suggest would be Lester B. Pearson, Walter Gordon and Keith Davey. Make them Liberal saints; I think that would be appropriate.

Keith helped make it happen for Mr. Pearson. When Jack Granatstein conducted a survey a few years ago of all the Canadian history professors, and had them rank prime ministers, Mr. Pearson came in fourth, after Prime Ministers Macdonald, Laurier and King. Mr. Pearson was fourth, and Keith was there.

Keith and I had similarities. First, we were from Toronto. We were Toronto sports fans.

Keith brought to Mr. Pearson what Mr. Pearson did not have. Mr. Pearson was a great academic, a great bureaucrat and he was 52 years old before he was elected. However, Keith understood media, advertising and polling, and he had savvy political instincts. I often equate political instinct to an ear for music: One has to be born with it; if one is not born with an ear for music, one can go to a thousand concerts and still be out of tune. However, Keith had that savvy political instinct.

I will never forget the night of the 1965 election. I was with Keith and we were at party headquarters. There were 265 seats, so we needed 134 if we had the Speaker; otherwise we needed 133. We were at 131: Oh, the pain. Keith said to me, "Get out the soldier votes from the last two lists." I said, "Keith, 131. We're going down to Mr. Pearson's suite at the Chateau Laurier. We will relax and have some fun."

Right now, I would probably settle for coming within two seats of a majority, and look what Mr. Pearson did. That is what we need more of here. I have many good friends on the other side. I hesitate to identify them because I do not want to get them into trouble, but we need more of that, and Keith was great at making friends.

I will never forget the night of his seventieth birthday in Toronto at the Ontario Club. He announced that he was stepping down when Parliament rose later. We did not all realize it — only two or three people knew — but he knew what he had. It was such a classy thing to do. He wanted people to remember him at his best, and he was terrific.

Dorothy, Doug, Ian and Cathy, I cannot pay enough tribute to Keith Davey.

---

Hon. Sharon Carstairs:

Honourable senators, I first met Keith Davey through my husband John and a mutual friend of Keith's, Jim Coutts. Jim Coutts was the best man at our marriage and Keith sent us best wishes on that occasion some 45 years ago.

Honourable senators, had John and I not been in Geneva because I was attending the Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians, we would have been at Keith's funeral. It seemed prophetic, though, that I would be protecting parliamentarians around the world, and therefore we sat in our Geneva hotel and raised a glass to our dear friend Keith.

White hair, sparkling eyes, military bearing, snazzy dresser — all of those things were Keith Davey. For me, as a woman in politics, it was perhaps most prophetic that in 1976, he asked me to be the chair of the federal campaign in Alberta. I should have known that would not have been an unusual thing for Keith to ask because, after all, Dorothy was so much a part of his life, but women were not asked to be federal campaign chairs in 1976. Unfortunately, I was not able to do it because I was moving to Manitoba, and therein lies a story.

I only spent two years with Keith Davey in this chamber. He chose to retire because he knew that he had Alzheimer's, a dreadful disease that will affect so many of us. I only hope that all of us bear it with the dignity of Keith and Dorothy Davey.

---

Hon. Art Eggleton:

Honourable senators, I am happy to join my colleagues in paying tribute to Keith Davey, his life and times in the Senate Chamber, in service to his party, the Liberal Party of Canada, and in service to the people of this country. Yes, Senator Davey felt very strongly about all of those things; he felt very passionate about Canada.

I knew Senator Davey for most of the 35 years I have been in public office. In fact, he first recruited me to run as a candidate in a by-election in 1978. Running for the governing party was not great at that time, but, with his help, I had the opportunity to come back in the 1980s and become the Mayor of Toronto. I became Mayor of Toronto with Keith Davey's help, support and advice. Ironically, Norm Atkins was also a great supporter. Even Senator Hugh Segal will admit that he voted for me — the only Liberal he ever voted for — when I ran for Mayor of Toronto.

Keith gave great advice and great support. He was a good listener, a very kind and honourable individual. I remember meeting with him on many occasions in those years in my capacity as Mayor of Toronto. I remember many breakfasts at the Park Plaza where we would discuss the important issues of the day.

Keith Davey was known as "the rainmaker." He chose that title for his book and that is the name that we most often attribute to him. However, honourable senators, I think the Right Honourable Pierre Elliott Trudeau penned the best description of Keith Davey on a photograph. The Prime Minister whom Keith served well over many years, wrote, "You made the sun shine."

Honourable senators, indeed, Keith Davey made the sun shine for a great many of us. I am very grateful to him and to his family for having shared his life with us.

Recent Statements from Liberal Senators