Jim Flaherty, 64, dies at Ottawa home one month after resigning as finance minister
National Post Staff and Postmedia News | April 10, 2014 | Last Updated: Apr 10 3:16 PM ET
Minister of Finance Jim Flaherty responds to a question during question period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Monday, March 3, 2014. Flaherty died in Ottawa on Thursday.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean KilpatrickMinister of Finance Jim Flaherty responds to a question during question period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Monday, March 3, 2014. Flaherty died in Ottawa on Thursday.
Twitter Google+ LinkedIn Email Comments More
Live reaction to Jim Flaherty's death
OTTAWA – Former finance minister Jim Flaherty has passed away.
Police and paramedics were gathered Thursday around a downtown Ottawa condominium.
The House of Commons abruptly suspended its sitting before question period began as word of the death spread. Opposition MPs flooded across the aisle to offer condolences to Flaherty’s colleagues.
Flaherty, 64, had been battling a rare skin condition, but insisted upon his surprise resignation last month that his health was not a contributing factor in his decision to step down. He had stayed on as the MP for Whitby-Oshawa, but was not planning to seek re-election.
The former minister was discovered with no vital signs.
A statement from his wife and family was released Thursday afternoon, saying “Christine Elliott and her triplet sons, John, Galen and Quinn would like to make Canadians aware that her beloved husband and father passed away peacefully today in Ottawa.
It has been an honour to serve Canada. Thank you for the opportunity. http://t.co/vIbBNgT0wY
—
Jim Flaherty (@JimFlaherty) March 18, 2014
“We appreciate that he was so well supported in his public life by Canadians from coast to coast to coast and by his international colleagues.
“The family asks for privacy at this time.”
CBC was reporting Thursday afternoon that he might have died of a heart attack.
A visibly upset NDP leader Tom Mulcair called Flaherty “a very good person.” Mulcair spoke of “profound sadness” at Flaherty’s death. He called him a “strong, tough” character. “He will be greatly missed by all of us.”
Former Liberal leader Bob Rae, one of the first to comment, told CBC Flaherty was “an effective and tenacious” politician and a “very decent man.”
When Flaherty announced he was leaving after serving as finance minister for eight years, it came as a shock to his staff and colleagues, including Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
About Jim Flaherty
James Michael Flaherty, 64, was born Dec. 30, 1949, in the Montreal suburb of Lachine, the sixth of eight Flaherty children.
He took a newspaper delivery route as a kid in order to afford a $52 pair of Tack skates.
His family were Liberal supporters, meaning he was one by default. It was while at Osgoode Hall Law School that Mr. Flaherty once said he gained the “independence of thought” that led him to be a Conservative.
He attended Princeton University on a hockey scholarship after being noticed by a scout at an invitational tournament at McGill University. It was at Princeton he heard Robert Kennedy speak about the call of public service.
He lost his first political bid, running unsuccessfully for the federal Tory nomination in a Toronto-area riding in 1988. He first ran provincially in 1990, coming in third.
Elected to the Ontario legislature in 1995 as part of the so-called “Common Sense Revolution,’’ he served as finance minister and deputy premier in Mike Harris government in Ontario between 2001 and 2002.
He ran unsuccessfully twice for leadership of the Ontario Progressive Conservatives.
First elected to the House of Commons in 2006, he has served as finance minister since.
Mr. Flaherty and his wife, Ontario Tory MPP Christine Elliott, have triplet boys: John, Quinn and Galen.
In a statement issued March 18, Flaherty — a practicing lawyer before entering politics — said he would “focus on life beyond politics as I return to the private sector”. “This decision was made because it is the right one for me and my family at this time.”
As for medical issues, he said: “I am on the road to a full recovery and the decision to leave politics was not related in any way to my health.”
James Michael Flaherty was born Dec. 30, 1949, in the Montreal suburb of Lachine, the sixth of eight Flaherty children.
His family were Liberal supporters, meaning he was one by default. It was while at Osgoode Hall Law School that Flaherty once said he gained the “independence of thought” that led him to be a Conservative.
He attended Princeton University on a hockey scholarship after being noticed by a scout at an invitational tournament at McGill University. It was at Princeton he heard Robert Kennedy speak about the call of public service.
Known for his characteristic green neckties to celebrate his Irish roots, Flaherty spent most of his time as minister trying to pull federal finances out of the red and back into the black following a global economic downturn.
He was widely credited by political observers and many economists as the steady economic hand who helped the government fight its way back from the depths of the recession to the verge of a balanced budget.
Stunning in the House, as MPs sit and reflect. Others console one another. The political game is abandoned for today. As it should be.
—
John Ivison (@IvisonJ) April 10, 2014
Sometimes MPs are forced to coax a tear for the late, and occasionally unlamented. Not this time. Flaherty was most popular MP in caucus.
—
John Ivison (@IvisonJ) April 10, 2014
Yet some of the government’s current fiscal woes can be linked to the 2006 campaign promise Flaherty was responsible for implementing: reducing the GST from seven per cent to five per cent.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin TangPrime Minister Stephen Harper arrives with Finance Minister Jim Flaherty as he enters the House of Commons to table the budget on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2014. Flaherty has died in Ottawa.
Several cabinet ministers entered the House of Commons grim-faced, declining comment. Employment Minister Jason Kenney was visibly upset.
The prime minister was expected to comment later.
Recently, Flaherty had openly questioned the wisdom of the government’s plan to introduce income-splitting for families, a position that placed him at odds with other cabinet ministers and even Harper.
Statement by the family of Jim Flaherty on his passing
Christine Elliott and her triplet sons, John, Galen and Quinn would like to make Canadians aware that her beloved husband an father passed away peacefully today in Ottawa.
We appreciate that he was so well supported in his public life by Canadians from coast to coast to coast and by his international colleagues.
The family asks for privacy at this time.
Flaherty also served as a minister in the cabinet of Ontario premiers Mike Harris and Ernie Eves from 1997 to 2003, including about a year as the province’s finance minister.
Flaherty was known as one of Harris’s most trusted MPPs, and later vied for the Progressive Conservative leadership in 2002 after Harris stepped down, ultimately losing to Eves.
Here's the House of Commons moments after finding out Jim Flaherty died. #cdnpoli http://t.co/WaY5JsFqhI
—
Paul McLeod (@pdmcleod) April 10, 2014
Flaherty was known as one of Harris’s most trusted MPPs, and later vied for the Progressive Conservative leadership in 2002 after Harris stepped down, ultimately losing to Eves.
Despite his background at Queen’s Park, or perhaps because of it, Flaherty didn’t shy away from mixing it up with Liberal premier Dalton McGuinty. The two often feuded in public over the Ontario’s finances, including its corporate tax rate.
Flaherty is survived by his wife, Ontario Tory MPP Christine Elliott, and triplet boys: John, Quinn and Galen who were born in 1991.
JASON FEKETE/POSTMEDIA NEWS
JASON FEKETE/POSTMEDIA NEWSThe scene outside of the Ottawa home of former Canadian Finance Minister Jim Flaherty on Thursday, April 10, 2014, as posted to Twitter
Flaherty was extremely open about his son John’s mental disability, which served as an impetus for his championing more support for people with disabilities as an MP.
The first public reports that Flaherty had been diagnosed with the rare skin disease bullous pemphigoid came in January 2013. Bullous pemphigoid causes large blisters on certain areas of the skin. Treatment usually involves powerful steroids that suppress the immune system. There was no indication of whether this had contributed to his death.
The Ontario legislature also recessed Thursday.
Devastated to hear news of my friend Jim Flaherty passing. My prayers go out to Christine Elliot & family. The Ford family is heart broken
—
Mayor Rob Ford (@TOMayorFord) April 10, 2014
-
Joe Rayment APRIL 10, 20143:19 PM
Stephen Harper: “It is with the heaviest of hearts that I offer my family’s condolences”
Joe Rayment APRIL 10, 20143:18 PM
Flaherty's best act as fin min: in depth of economic crisis, he forgot ideology and ran big stimulative deficits for the good of the country—
John McCallum (@JohnMcCallumMP) April 10, 2014
Joe Rayment APRIL 10, 20143:18 PM
Just finished a panel on education to learn about Jim Flaherty's passing. What a sad day for Canadian entrepreneurs.—
CFIB Dan Kelly (@CFIB) April 10, 2014
Joe Rayment APRIL 10, 20143:17 PM
What an extraordinary statement by Tom Mulcair: generous, decent, empathetic, unreserved, not a hint of politics.—
Andrew Coyne (@acoyne) April 10, 2014
Joe Rayment APRIL 10, 20143:16 PM
Two police officers block the entrance to Jim Flaherty's condo building in Ottawa's Byward Market. #cdnpoli http://t.co/1ofbjwf2R2—
Jason Fekete (@jasonfekete) April 10, 2014
Joe Rayment APRIL 10, 20143:16 PM
Somber room awaits @pmharper for statement on @JimFlaherty http://t.co/3ljcZkWbdL—
Stephen Maher (@stphnmaher) April 10, 2014
Joe Rayment APRIL 10, 20143:15 PM
Jim Flaherty speaks with reporters as he leaves question period March 6, 2014, after announcing he’d be leaving government. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang)
Daniel Kaszor APRIL 10, 20143:12 PM
British Columbia Premier Christy Clark said she was shocked to hear the news.
“That’s a real loss for our country,” she said.
“Jim Flaherty returned our country to a balanced budget. I can tell you from experience, that’s really hard to do, it takes a lot of tough decisions. He was man of character, that’s a terrible loss for Canada.”
