A Rare Non-Partisan Tribute To A Veteran Niagara MPP

A Foreword from Doug Draper

Say what you want about St. Catharines Liberal MPP, and I’ve just about heard it all right up to and including; ‘isn’t it time for him to retire’, but he was and remains the best environment minister Ontario ever had when he held that portfolio through the mid- to late-1980s for the former Liberal government of David Peterson.

I don’t know how many times I have heard David Suzuki, the host of CBC’s Nature of Things and one of Canada’s most high-profile environmentalists, mention in addresses he has delivered here in Ontario that Jim Bradley, during that bright and shining period during the 80s, was the hottest environment this province has had to this day.

Some may then argue that he was a far better environment minister than he is now under the current Liberal government of Dalton McGuinty and that is something that remains to be seen. His record then and now will speak for itself. 

What is a point now is that Jim Bradley, like him or not, has served the people of his St. Catharines, Ontario riding and the province for 35 years – just about as long, if not longer, than any other MPP in the province’s history has served in the legislature.

Out of respect for that, representatives of all three parties, including Premier Dalton McGuinty, Conservative opposition leader Tim Hudak, and veteran NDP member Rosario Marchese stood this June 7 to pay tribute to him in an all too rare moment of non-partisanship. 

Niagara At Large is posting the hansard of those tributes below.

THE Member for St. Catharines

Hon. John Milloy: Mr. Speaker, I believe we have unanimous consent that every party be allowed to speak for up to five minutes in tribute of 35 years of service for the member from St. Catharines, the Minister of the Environment, the Hon. Jim Bradley. 

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): The government House leader has requested up to five minutes for each party to speak on the anniversary of the member from St. Catharines. Do I hear agreement?

Hon. Dalton McGuinty: Speaker, 35 years ago this Saturday, James Joseph Bradley was elected to this Legislature to represent the people of St. Catharines. That day marked the beginning of a truly remarkable political career.

The member of St. Catharines has won 10 consecutive elections. In those elections, he has captured, on average, 50% of the votes cast. He has served in six different critic responsibilities. He has served as House leader in government and in opposition. He has been minister in six different portfolios, and he’s been our party’s interim leader.

While Jim has technically served for 21 years in opposition and 14 years in government, in reality, during all those years, he has been in opposition, Speaker… technically served for 21 years in opposition and 14 in government, in reality, during all those years, he has been in opposition. Speaker, you will know that Jim’s trademark way of weighing in on a caucus discussion around any new government initiative is to begin by saying, “At the risk of being seen as the skunk at the garden party.”

Jim was first elected at a time when it seemed the only thing protecting Liberals in Ontario were the game laws. But Jim’s constituents saw something in him they never lost sight of: a man of good character, someone who, over the years, has only grown in judgment, perspective and good humour. Jim takes his responsibilities seriously, but not himself. He’s proud to serve in government, but he’s most respectful of the role of opposition. Jim embraces his responsibilities here at Queen’s Park, but his devotion is to the people of St. Catharines.

Jim’s mind is always as open to new ideas about progressive politics as it is tightly closed to progress in technology. For Jim, progress in information gathering is to keep adding individual sheets of notes to the yellowed stack he stores in his breast pocket.

I believe the responsibility of those of us lucky enough to serve in this place is to represent Ontarians at their very best. Jim has been doing that every day for the last 35 years. He has been decent, hard-working and respectful. He has been helpful to those in need, demanding of the strong and determined to build a strong and caring society for all Ontarians. He has resisted cynicism and steadfastly embraced the noble ideal of public service. More than that, he has nurtured that idealism in others.

You may know, Speaker, that every year Jim hosts a dinner for current and former staffers. As many as 40 show up. Some worked for him 30 years ago. They return to remember a special time in their young lives and to thank Jim for teaching them values that sustained them throughout life.

Jim’s entire adult life has been devoted to helping people—not to getting but to giving. Jim loves this Legislature and the workings of democracy, and he believes that we in this place can make a difference. He has a record of achievement to prove it. 

As an Ontarian and as a father, I am especially proud of Jim’s leadership in tackling acid rain, bringing the blue box into the world and now acting to protect our Great Lakes.

Mr. Speaker, if we look around the world, it is impossible not to come to the conclusion that we Ontarians are privileged, and with that privilege comes responsibility, the responsibility to keep making our communities, our province, our country and hopefully our world a better place. For 35 unbroken years Jim Bradley has assumed that responsibility with enthusiasm and with integrity.

He has proven to be invulnerable at home, and he’s closing in on venerable here. You’ll notice I didn’t say he is venerable; I said he was closing in on venerable. The problem with being venerable is that it puts you beyond the reach of the leader. 

Let me close with this: Cicero said nothing is more noble, nothing more venerable than faithfulness and truth. Jim, on behalf of your colleagues and the people of Ontario, I thank you for 35 years of service, throughout which you have been faithful to us and true to yourself.

Thank you.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): The leader of Her Majesty’s loyal opposition.

Mr. Tim Hudak:I’m pleased to rise today on behalf of the Ontario PC caucus to recognize the member for St. Catharines on the occasion of the 35th anniversary of his election to this place.

It was 1977 when Jim was first elected here. Jimmy Carter was in the White House. Knowlton Nash was on The National. Donna Summer dominated disco. A single computer would fill an entire room. Monte McNaughton, Rob Leone, Michael Harris, Jagmeet Singh—I don’t think they were even born yet. And Jim’s favourite hockey team, the Buffalo Sabres, were only one or two seasons away from winning the Stanley Cup— and still are.

And by the way, 1977 was also Her Majesty the Queen’s Silver Jubilee, and here she goes again trying to steal the proper spotlight away from Jim this year with her Diamond Jubilee.

After 1977, Jim Bradley rose to the benches very rapidly, and of course for good reason. He was a man very much dedicated to public life as a teacher and a city councillor before that. Jim has always been involved in his community, caring deeply for the good people of St. Catharines.

He’s a good and decent man. Coming from Niagara, a bordering riding, and following the politics before I even got here, to me Jim Bradley’s name always stood in the Liberal ranks among that pantheon of celebrated Liberal names and cabinet ministers. I think of people like Ian Scott, Sean Conway and Bob Nixon. They were among the major political lights of the Peterson government, and I count Jim as a man of equal stature and dignity.

The Premier mentioned the blue box program. When Jim Bradley advanced the blue box program across the province it was highly controversial at the time. Now it’s a program embraced right across our province and part of everyday life. The acid rain debate was also controversial at the time. Those were victories under Jim Bradley’s leadership as environment minister, as were polluter pays fines, to name a few.

Jim has taken on a number of cabinet portfolios, but I think the smile on his face is always widest when he’s carrying his environment briefing binder and in looking at the many accomplishments he’s achieved.

Ian, Sean and Bob—great careers; no longer here. Jim Bradley still is. He has not just dedicated the most productive years of his life to this place and his constituents, but he’s dedicated virtually all his adult life to public service and, despite our occasional differences, we’re all the better for it.

Jim always asks about my daughter, Miller. He asks about what he calls his favourite “Harris Whiz Kid”, my wife, Debbie.

This is a secret I will admit to here, Jim. There was a bit of a—troika is probably not the right word—détente, perhaps, between Jim Bradley, Peter Kormos and myself: three different parties and we all served area ridings for some time. Of course, in our discussions Peter Kormos was the model of centrist moderation, Jim was the wild-eyed gambler, and I was always the soft-spoken guy smack in the middle trying to reach trying to reach compromise wherever I could.

I don’t know a better term for it, but Jim also comes from that old school. No matter what your political party, if there’s an announcement in Niagara, for example, my riding, Jim always gives credit to the local member. He respects their position and the honour we all share here, the unique 107 of us who have the privilege of sitting in his place. Jim would never let party colours get in the way. I respect that and appreciate that. That tells you there is still honour in this place, still dignity in this place, that there are still people who understand the importance of the role we play, no matter what party we represent. Jim embodies that, and we appreciate that and we respect that.

At times, the folks watching at home may lose faith in the political process, may get a dose of cynicism about politicians. They need look no further than Jim Bradley and his career for reassurance. That there is decency in this place. There is honour. There is dignity.

On behalf of the Ontario PC caucus, I thank the distinguished member from St. Catharines for all these things and more. Jim, congratulations on 35 years of making an incredible impact on St. Catharines, Niagara and our beloved province of Ontario.

Mr. Rosario Marchese: On behalf of the New Democrats, the words that I want to offer on behalf of the member from St. Catharines—I have known Jim for the last 22 years. That is a long, long, long time.

I want to say that—I am careful, because we’re not speaking about a man who has retired. He’s still here. As I listened to the Premier and Mr. Hudak, the leader of the official opposition, I thought, “They’re giving him praise for a man who’s just retired.” And I say, “But he’s still here.” So my comments are related to the member who is still here, and I say the reason why he’s still here is because we have no pension.

It does take about 50 years to have a pension that is half of what the federal members earn. People make fun of this; I understand. A lot of people in the audience think we do have a pension—God bless—but we don’t. We are still here, earning a wage, trying to make sure that when we retire, we have a decent pension, whatever we’re getting from the government.

One of the things that Jim and I have in common is that we’re not very good with the latest technology—we’re not. But at least I have a BlackBerry over your black book, which I have learned to use ever so painfully and slowly, but I’m getting there. You realize that without it, we’re in the Dark Ages. Jim, please, you’ve got to get onto it, like I have. It’s a tiny one, I understand. How do you get your fingers on that? 

Jim is a man who respects opposition, and we have been in opposition together. We respect government, and we respect the role of opposition members. That’s something that we all have in common here—at least, Jim and I and many others in this place. We know that in a democracy, we need all the different players to do their job. Government has a job to do, and the opposition parties have a job to do. He used to remind us of that every time he was here, and he reminds us of that every time he is there as well. For that, I respect you, Jim. 

I want to say that longevity has a lot to do with intelligence, sensitivity, resilience, knowing how to respect the people in the riding, knowing how to respect the people here. One doesn’t last that long unless you have those abilities, those rare abilities, to be able to reflect your constituents over the years, to be able to change with them, and to be able to work in a way that allows you to resist all the political changes, including the changes of the 1990s and including the changes of 1995. That has a lot to do with your personality, the respect that you give to the people in your riding and the respect you have for this institution.

Jim, on behalf of New Democrats, we respect the work that you do. You are a good Liberal, and I want to say that, because there are times when I don’t say that of many Liberals. You are one of the finest Liberals this government has. On behalf of us all, thank you.

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