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.”
Demands for government intervention in Air Canada labour talks could negatively affect airline competition in Canada, the CEO of travel company Transat AT Inc. said.
“The extension of such an extraordinary intervention to Air Canada would be an undeniable competitive advantage to the detriment of other Canadian airlines,” Annick Guérard told analysts on an earnings conference call on Thursday.
“The time and urgency is now. It is time to restore healthy competition in Canada,” she added.
Air Canada has asked the federal government to be ready to intervene and request arbitration as early as this weekend to avoid disruptions.
Comments on the potential Air Canada pilot strike or lock out came as Transat reported third-quarter financial results.
Guérard recalled Transat’s labour negotiations with its flight attendants earlier this year, which the company said it handled without asking for government intervention.
The airline’s 2,100 flight attendants voted 99 per cent in favour of a strike mandate and twice rejected tentative deals before approving a new collective agreement in late February.
As the collective agreement for Air Transat pilots ends in June next year, Guérard anticipates similar pressure to increase overall wages as seen in Air Canada’s negotiations, but reckons it will come out “as a win, win, win deal.”
“The pilots are preparing on their side, we are preparing on our side and we’re confident that we’re going to come up with a reasonable deal,” she told analysts when asked about the upcoming negotiations.
The parent company of Air Transat reported it lost $39.9 million or $1.03 per diluted share in its quarter ended July 31. The result compared with a profit of $57.3 million or $1.49 per diluted share a year earlier.
Revenue totalled $736.2 million, down from $746.3 million in the same quarter last year.
On an adjusted basis, Transat says it lost $1.10 per share in its latest quarter compared with an adjusted profit of $1.10 per share a year earlier.
It attributed reduced revenues to lower airline unit revenues, competition, industry-wide overcapacity and economic uncertainty.
Air Transat is also among the airlines facing challenges related to the recall of Pratt & Whitney turbofan jet engines for inspection and repair.
The recall has so far grounded six aircraft, Guérard said on the call.
“We have agreed to financial compensation for grounded aircraft during the 2023-2024 period,” she said. “Alongside this financial compensation, Pratt & Whitney will provide us with two additional spare engines, which we intend to monetize through a sell and lease back transaction.”
Looking ahead, the CEO said she expects consumer demand to remain somewhat uncertain amid high interest rates.
“We are currently seeing ongoing pricing pressure extending into the winter season,” she added. Air Transat is not planning on adding additional aircraft next year but anticipates stability.
“(2025) for us will be much more stable than 2024 in terms of fleet movements and operation, and this will definitely have a positive effect on cost and customer satisfaction as well,” the CEO told analysts.
“We are more and more moving away from all the disruption that we had to go through early in 2024,” she added.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
