Statement made on 30 November 2011 by Senator Dennis Dawson, Senator James Cowan, Senator Claudette Tardif, Senator Wilfred Moore, Senator Joan Fraser and Senator Mobina Jaffer
Hon. Dennis Dawson:
Honourable senators, I rise on the same inquiry and, should I forget to mention it, you can remind me a little later.
Francis, this is not the first time that I have not listened to you. Francis did not want any tributes. Therefore, we might hesitate to say anything good about him, but in any event I would like to tell him this: thank you on behalf of all the members of the Liberal Party in Quebec and Canada, and certainly on behalf of the members of the caucus on this side and former caucuses.
In the 1970s, I had the pleasure of serving with you in a caucus of 74 Quebec members, which was reduced to 14. Furthermore, it was written:
The Liberal Party is dead. Your friend Ian Macdonald this morning had a quotation in The Gazette saying that the demise of the Liberal Party is greatly exaggerated. They have announced us dead many times in the past and we are still alive and well and will continue.
I am sad, honourable senators, and I am also thinking of Senator Carignan. However, I think we will probably return to your riding, Francis, to help your son Daniel get elected.
When I arrived here 35 years ago, in June 1977, I was pleased to have access to the Fox network. Francis was a member of the French Power and one of the pillars of the Quebec caucus of the Liberal Party. I accessed his network immediately because his sister-in-law to be, Marie-Hélène Fox, was an assistant in my office and I dealt with his executive assistant, Claude, whom I see in the visitor's gallery. Their extensive contacts helped me to find my way quickly upon my arrival.
My admiration for Francis also made it possible for me to learn how to work. He has always been an inspiration to me when it comes to defending Quebec's interests in Ottawa.
He was an influential member of the French Power and he was criticized for a long time. However, I can tell you that the people of Quebec are certainly grateful because, in the past 50 years, those were the best years in terms of defending Quebec's interests and the presence of the French language in Quebec. It is unfortunate, but I hope, Francis, that those times will come again.
You boiled down your life to 20 years on Parliament Hill. I would like to add to that and talk about the years you were not here, that gap between 1984, when the Liberal Party of Canada was defeated — we took a beating in Quebec — and your appointment to the Senate. You almost single-handedly took on running the Quebec wing of the Liberal Party of Canada. You held down the fort and worked so that the Liberal Party did not die, as many thought it would, but survived and returned to power in 1993.
You also played a huge part in the Liberal Party's return to power by helping rebuild the party in the province of Quebec.
Beyond those 20 years, you also contributed through your volunteer work for the City of Montreal, Montréal International and the Société du Havre de Montréal. I could send you his résumé, but it is fairly long. I would just like to say that his contribution is not limited to the 18 years he spent here. When he was not sitting in the House of Commons or the Senate, my friend Francis Fox — and I really enjoy saying that — was always the backbone of his family. I see his three children in the gallery.
The following story is for them. I have a daughter who is just finishing her law degree. She met Julianna when Francis was being sworn in. He and I were sworn in on the same day in the same place. At the time, my young daughter asked Julianna whether she liked law. And Julianna pitched common law, civil law and other types of law to her. My daughter will be finished articling in the next few weeks. I hope she will have an equally fine law career. Julianna, I thank you for encouraging her.
I also want to thank Francis. I mentioned what he had done for the party at the national level. I was there when Francis was doing battle to get the Access to Information Act passed, because even within our government, people were resisting these concepts, which might seem banal today, even with regard to the national anthem. This may come as a surprise, but the bill was not passed unanimously. There was opposition in those debates then. Francis stood up to his cabinet colleagues and to the members of the opposition and he stayed the course. Francis owes that accomplishment to his perseverance. I am not saying he is stubborn, because that is not a nice thing to say and we are here to pay tribute to him. He has always proven that contributing to public service is in itself a form of recognition.
Francis, on behalf of the caucus on this side of the chamber and the members of the Liberal Party of Canada in Quebec and in Canada, I want to thank you for everything you have done.
Hon. James S. Cowan (Leader of the Opposition):
Honourable senators, I would like to add a few words to the words that others have contributed to this inquiry.
I admired Senator Fox from afar for many years, and I followed his career with interest. I did not really get to know him until he went to work for Prime Minister Martin, and then, of course, we became colleagues here. As I have grown to know him, that admiration has deepened, and I have become more and more aware of how much all of us here in the Senate, and particularly those of us in the Liberal caucus, will miss his wise counsel and his vast experience.
It is easy for people to criticize the Senate and senators. They are free to do so, but it is people like Francis Fox who bring credit to places like this. When you want to point to an individual who brings credit to the institution of Parliament and to the institution of the Senate, there can be no finer example than our colleague, Senator Fox.
Senator Carignan, and Senator Fox, in his own modest way, pointed to a number of significant events in our parliamentary and legislative history where he had his fingerprints indelibly imprinted. That is a record that will live long after he leaves this place.
His contributions to public life in Canada are indeed significant, and he truly, to use his words, is one who has made a difference. If any of us, as we leave this place, either of our own volition or by reaching some magic age, can look back on our parliamentary careers and be able to lay claim to anywhere near the contributions that Francis Fox can, we should be very proud indeed.
While we lose his physical presence here in the Senate, we do not lose his friendship. He is going to Montreal, which is not that far away. Perhaps, on this side of the house, when we fail to live up to his high standards or when we miss the mark, we will hear from him. We look forward to that.
Francis, we regret that you are leaving us. We understand the legitimate reasons you have for taking this step, and we respect your decision. We will miss you, and we will value and continue to hold dear the friendship that we have for you.
Hon. Claudette Tardif (Deputy Leader of the Opposition):
My dear colleague, it is with great emotion and sadness that we say goodbye to you here today. Many people have talked about the long and illustrious career you have had here on the Hill. We have heard about the extraordinary contributions you have made to Canada, to Canadians, to the Liberal Party, to the Senate and to our caucus. Indeed, the Senate has been enhanced by your experience, your wisdom and your savoir-faire. Very early in your career, you were identified as a man with a great deal of talent, a first-class individual and a true gentleman.
Personally, I would like to thank you for the support you have always given me, for your support for Canada's linguistic duality and francophone minorities.
Thank you. Happy retirement, Francis, to you and your family.
Hon. Wilfred P. Moore:
Honourable senators, I wish to be associated with the remarks made by fellow senators here today in regard to our friend Senator Fox.
Senator Carignan mentioned your work with regard to the establishment of Telefilm. That is but one of the great things you have done with respect to the creative people of our society.
Your work and recognition of the writers, the actors, the performing arts and the artists has been exemplary. It has been an absolute pleasure for me to rally behind your leadership as you led us through various issues dealing with that sector of our community, the culture of the creative. Francis, you really understood that group of unsung heroes in our community, who do not really get the credit and support they should get.
I want to thank you for that, and I wish you and your family all the best in the future.
Hon. Joan Fraser:
Honourable senators, it is not possible to add to the long list of Francis Fox's achievements without taking up the whole day. They have been listed here today very eloquently.
There is one thing I do not think has been mentioned yet. The besetting sins of politicians, particularly those who become very famous and who achieve great things, are vanity and arrogance.
When you are a journalist, as some of us have been over the years, you sometimes get a ringside view of the vanity and the arrogance.
From the day I first met Francis Fox, as a human being instead of as one of the mob of journalists, I have seen, with wonderment, the degree to which those two failings are utterly absent from this man. Lord knows, he has plenty that he could have been vain and arrogant about, but that has not been part of his character. Those are, perhaps, some of the reasons that we have all been so profoundly grateful for the chance to work with him, to serve with him and to know him. It is a bit of a cliché to say that it has been an honour and privilege to work with someone, but the words have never been truer than in the case of Francis Fox.
Hon. Mobina S. B. Jaffer:
I rise to say a few words about Francis Fox. Honourable senators have known him as a parliamentarian; I knew him when he was not a parliamentarian. When I first started working for Ted Rogers, Francis was already working for him. Francis took me under his swing and taught me how to work with Ted Rogers, if that is ever possible.
I am from Vancouver and he is from Montreal, but Francis did not look at the diversity or at who I was. He looked at me like a person who was struggling, and he reached out and helped. That is the mark that Francis is leaving in his legacy. Thank you, Francis.
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