Statement made on 05 November 2009 by Senator James Cowan
Hon. James S. Cowan (Leader of the Opposition):
Honourable senators, I am pleased to join my friend, Senator Dickson, in remembering the late Honourable George Isaac Smith on the occasion of the exhibit in his honour which opens this Saturday, November 7, in Truro, Nova Scotia. That date will be the one-hundredth anniversary of Senator Smith's birth.
Ike Smith is somewhat of a legend in Nova Scotia for his achievements and lifelong devotion to his province and his country. Senator Al Graham accurately described him as one of the modern-day political giants of Nova Scotia.
Senator Smith was, as Senator Dickson has said, a man of many accomplishments — a lawyer, a soldier and a politician. As a soldier, he served his country with great distinction before, during and after the Second World War earning, amongst other honours, the Order of the British Empire. As a lawyer, together with the late Justice Frank H. Patterson, he established the firm of Patterson and Smith, now known as Patterson Law, one of the leading law firms in Nova Scotia.
Senator Jacques Flynn, then the Leader of the Opposition in the Senate and a former federal Minister of Justice, said in his tribute after Senator Smith's death in 1982 that law was his first love. That is what he prepared for as a young man and where his heart really was.
However, it is as a politician that most remember him today. He was a staunch Progressive Conservative, beginning in the days when the party did not have a single seat in the Nova Scotia legislature. He and Robert Stanfield basically rebuilt the Progressive Conservative Party in Nova Scotia.
G.I. Smith served for 25 years as a member of the Nova Scotia legislature, including over a decade as a senior cabinet minister in the government of Premier Stanfield. He then succeeded Premier Stanfield as leader and premier when Mr. Stanfield turned from provincial politics to the federal arena. Senator Smith left electoral politics shortly after his government was defeated in 1970.
His time as premier was relatively brief, but was marked by a number of accomplishments. He introduced medicare in Nova Scotia; established the Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission; and, when Hawker Siddeley announced that it would close the Sydney steel plant — then employing 4,000 people in Cape Breton — Premier Smith decided the government would take over the plant, establishing the Sydney Steel Corporation.
In 1975, Prime Minister Trudeau appointed him to the Senate, where he served with distinction until his death in 1982. When Senator Smith spoke for the first time in this chamber on November 20, 1975, he observed that his was the first instance of a prime minister appointing a senator from an opposition party, which Senator Smith pronounced to be a very wise policy.
While he was unquestionably and passionately partisan, he was equally respectful of his opponents and, as one senator described, he left behind him neither resentment nor enemies but, rather, a gracious memory of a fine person, one of high character who served his country well. After his sudden death, senators on both sides of the chamber spoke at length about his remarkable life. I was struck by the number of Liberal senators who proudly described him as a great friend.
I wanted to speak here today, in part because I believe that this tradition exemplified by Senator Smith, of partisanship with respect, is crucial to real success and achievement in Parliament generally and perhaps especially so here in the Senate.
I also wanted to speak because of a personal connection my family had to Senator Smith. He and my father were classmates at Dalhousie Law School. They sat opposite each other in the Nova Scotia legislature for a time. I know that Senator Smith later appeared before my father in court. My father always had great respect for G.I. Smith, even as they disagreed over policy and political issues. That is a tradition I am proud to follow.
I am delighted that the Colchester Historical Society in Truro has chosen to honour Senator Smith's memory with this exhibit. My very best wishes go out to his family, his widow Sally and his three children, Alison, Rob and George, of whom he was so very proud. Their father's life is an example to all Canadians.