Former Chilliwack-Fraser Canyon MP Chuck Strahl has died at the age of 67, according to his family.
Strahl died after a battle with mesothelioma, a rare form of cancer, according to a family statement that his son, Chilliwack-Hope MP Mark Strahl, posted to social media.
“Our loss is deep and profound,” his family said. “Our dad was our best friend, our greatest defender, our biggest promoter and our rock.”
Strahl served as an MP for more than 17 years, winning six consecutive elections. He was first elected to the House of Commons in 1993, in the Fraser Valley East riding.
During his time in government, Strahl worked in former prime minister Stephen Harper’s cabinet in several roles, including minister of agriculture and agri-food, minister of transport, infrastructure and communities, and what was then called the minister of Indian affairs and northern development.
He helped negotiate the Tsawwassen First Nation Final Agreement, an agreement between the Tsawwassen First Nation, Canada and B.C. which outlines the nation’s jurisdiction. During his time in government, Strahl also sponsored an act that overhauled how the federal Indigenous governments manage oil and gas found on Indigenous land.
“He didn’t let his job define who he was,” reads his son’s statement. “He never lost sight of what was truly important: his faith, his family and his friends.”
Worked as logger and businessman
Strahl was born on Feb. 25, 1957, in New Westminster, B.C., according to the House of Commons website. According to his son’s statement, Strahl’s family moved around rural B.C. until settling near Ryder Lake, in Chilliwack, when he was 10.
There, Strahl met his wife, Debby Bateman. They married in 1975, and the two had four children and 13 grandchildren, the statement said.
Early in his career, Strahl worked as a logger and a businessman in British Columbia.
He was elected to represent the new riding of Chilliwack-Fraser Canyon in 2004, as a member of the Conservative Party of Canada, after the boundaries of his former riding of Fraser Valley East were changed.
During his time in government, Strahl was also a member of the Reform Party of Canada and the Canadian Reform Conservative Alliance. So was former West Vancouver-Sunshine Coast-Sea to Sky Country MP John Reynolds.
“He was a great guy to know,” Reynolds told On The Coast Wednesday. “Of all of the people you know in politics, Chuck is someone I remember just being a good friend.”
Former Conservative cabinet minister Chuck Strahl disagreed with his party numerous times over the issue of asbestos exports. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press)
In 2005, at the age of 48, Strahl announced he had lung cancer. That July, Strahl said he’d had a collapsed lung — he was hospitalized when it collapsed a second time.
He left the house of commons in 2011, before going on to chair the security intelligence review committee, which oversees the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, until he stepped down in 2014.
After his diagnosis, Strahl broke ranks with his party several times to speak out against Canadian exports of asbestos, a mineral that can cause mesothelioma after exposure.
Conservative Party of Canada leader Pierre Poilievre said in a post to X (formerly Twitter) that he was saddened to hear of Strahl’s passing.
“Chuck’s unwavering commitment to our movement and his deep love for Canada were part of everything he did,” Poilievre wrote. “He was a man of principle, integrity, and compassion, and a foundational member of our Conservative Party.”
VANCOUVER – Contract negotiations resume today in Vancouver in a labour dispute that has paralyzed container cargo shipping at British Columbia’s ports since Monday.
The BC Maritime Employers Association and International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 514 are scheduled to meet for the next three days in mediated talks to try to break a deadlock in negotiations.
The union, which represents more than 700 longshore supervisors at ports, including Vancouver, Prince Rupert and Nanaimo, has been without a contract since March last year.
The latest talks come after employers locked out workers in response to what it said was “strike activity” by union members.
The start of the lockout was then followed by several days of no engagement between the two parties, prompting federal Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon to speak with leaders on both sides, asking them to restart talks.
MacKinnon had said that the talks were “progressing at an insufficient pace, indicating a concerning absence of urgency from the parties involved” — a sentiment echoed by several business groups across Canada.
In a joint letter, more than 100 organizations, including the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, Business Council of Canada and associations representing industries from automotive and fertilizer to retail and mining, urged the government to do whatever it takes to end the work stoppage.
“While we acknowledge efforts to continue with mediation, parties have not been able to come to a negotiated agreement,” the letter says. “So, the federal government must take decisive action, using every tool at its disposal to resolve this dispute and limit the damage caused by this disruption.
“We simply cannot afford to once again put Canadian businesses at risk, which in turn puts Canadian livelihoods at risk.”
In the meantime, the union says it has filed a complaint to the Canada Industrial Relations Board against the employers, alleging the association threatened to pull existing conditions out of the last contract in direct contact with its members.
“The BCMEA is trying to undermine the union by attempting to turn members against its democratically elected leadership and bargaining committee — despite the fact that the BCMEA knows full well we received a 96 per cent mandate to take job action if needed,” union president Frank Morena said in a statement.
The employers have responded by calling the complaint “another meritless claim,” adding the final offer to the union that includes a 19.2 per cent wage increase over a four-year term remains on the table.
“The final offer has been on the table for over a week and represents a fair and balanced proposal for employees, and if accepted would end this dispute,” the employers’ statement says. “The offer does not require any concessions from the union.”
The union says the offer does not address the key issue of staffing requirement at the terminals as the port introduces more automation to cargo loading and unloading, which could potentially require fewer workers to operate than older systems.
The Port of Vancouver is the largest in Canada and has seen a number of labour disruptions, including two instances involving the rail and grain storage sectors earlier this year.
A 13-day strike by another group of workers at the port last year resulted in the disruption of a significant amount of shipping and trade.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
The Royal Canadian Legion says a new partnership with e-commerce giant Amazon is helping boost its veterans’ fund, and will hopefully expand its donor base in the digital world.
Since the Oct. 25 launch of its Amazon.ca storefront, the legion says it has received nearly 10,000 orders for poppies.
Online shoppers can order lapel poppies on Amazon in exchange for donations or buy items such as “We Remember” lawn signs, Remembrance Day pins and other accessories, with all proceeds going to the legion’s Poppy Trust Fund for Canadian veterans and their families.
Nujma Bond, the legion’s national spokesperson, said the organization sees this move as keeping up with modern purchasing habits.
“As the world around us evolves we have been looking at different ways to distribute poppies and to make it easier for people to access them,” she said in an interview.
“This is definitely a way to reach a wider number of Canadians of all ages. And certainly younger Canadians are much more active on the web, on social media in general, so we’re also engaging in that way.”
Al Plume, a member of a legion branch in Trenton, Ont., said the online store can also help with outreach to veterans who are far from home.
“For veterans that are overseas and are away, (or) can’t get to a store they can order them online, it’s Amazon.” Plume said.
Plume spent 35 years in the military with the Royal Engineers, and retired eight years ago. He said making sure veterans are looked after is his passion.
“I’ve seen the struggles that our veterans have had with Veterans Affairs … and that’s why I got involved, with making sure that the people get to them and help the veterans with their paperwork.”
But the message about the Amazon storefront didn’t appear to reach all of the legion’s locations, with volunteers at Branch 179 on Vancouver’s Commercial Drive saying they hadn’t heard about the online push.
Holly Paddon, the branch’s poppy campaign co-ordinator and bartender, said the Amazon partnership never came up in meetings with other legion volunteers and officials.
“I work at the legion, I work with the Vancouver poppy office and I go to the meetings for the Vancouver poppy campaign — which includes all the legions in Vancouver — and not once has this been mentioned,” she said.
Paddon said the initiative is a great idea, but she would like to have known more about it.
The legion also sells a larger collection of items at poppystore.ca.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
