Local MPs paid tribute to former finance minister Jim Flaherty on Thursday, following the news that Flaherty had died suddenly in his home in Ottawa.
Cariboo-Prince George MP Dick Harris said Flaherty was both an excellent manager of the federal budget and a friendly, open person who always took the time to listen.
"I along with so many of our colleagues and Jim's friends and family, we'll all feel a little something gone today, tomorrow and the next day. It is certainly too soon for him to leave us," Harris said. "I think he was the consummate leader. He guided Canada through some very difficult economic times. He never wavered in his belief that we were going to make it through and come out the other side. This, ironically, was the year we were going to come out of it."
Harris said Flaherty was always willing to take input from his colleagues.
"From the day Jim Flaherty arrived on the hill... I found him an easy minister to talk to," Harris said. "When he was consulting with the MPs in the prebudget time he was very eager and genuinely wanted to know what you thought. I'm happy to say that some of the things... I mentioned to him came to fruition."
Although Flaherty often joked about his short stature, "he left giant shoes to fill," Harris said.
Prince George-Peace River MP Bob Zimmer said while he and others knew Flaherty had been battling a rare illness from some time "it was a shock to all of us," to hear that he'd died.
"There was just a surreal quietness in the House of Commons -a real sadness," Zimmer said. "...He'll be missed, and my thoughts and prayers are with his family."
The success Canada had in surviving the Great Recession was in part because of Flaherty's skillful management of the economy, Zimmer added.
"[He] was just a steady hand at the wheel," he said.
But despite handling a difficult portfolio in challenging times -and battling personal illness -Flaherty always retained his sense of humour, he said.
"Even in the most hotly-debated issues... he'd bring some levity to it," Zimmer said. "He had a way of connecting with you. He had a big portfolio, but he could still talk to the regular folks. He had that way about him."
Skeena-Bulkley Valley MP, and NDP finance critic, Nathan Cullen said he and Flaherty didn't see eye to eye on policy, but Flaherty was a Conservative who earned his respect.
"I very much consider his a colleague. I didn't always care for his budgets, but I did care and respect the man," Cullen said. "He was able to separate the personal and the political. It felt like when you were speaking to Jim Flaherty, you were speaking to Jim Flaherty - not just someone from the prime minister's [inner circle]."
Cullen said he respected Flaherty's commitment to continue working even though, "it was apparent to everybody that the illness was very tough on him."
Cullen said he and Flaherty bounded over being proud Irish Canadians and would often poke fun at the other's Irish heritage.
The timing of his sudden death, only a month after retiring from politics, is particularly saddening, Cullen said.
"His family, they deserved more time with him. I'm sure they made sacrifices while he was in politics. It's hard to be normal with a politicians schedule," he said. "I feel for them right now."
Former Finance Canada employee Nicholas Fedorkiw, now a Prince George-based energy consultant, said he was impressed with Flaherty when he took over the finance minister position in 2006. Fedorkiw worked as an economist for Finance Canada from 2002 to 2008.
"Being part of the civic service... there was very high expectations for him. There was a lot of people who didn't think the Conservatives were up to running the country. He surpassed all expectations," Fedorkiw said. "He really had a good grasp of what the people the people wanted. He really listened to those grassroots party members and the general public."
At the same time, he was willing to make the hard decisions: like taxing income trusts.
"I worked for the tax policy branch when that happened," he said. "He had to do it, it looked like every corporation in Canada was going to [convert to a trust.]"
Fedorkiw said he met Flaherty several times during his tenure with Finance Canada, and again at the Conservative Party convention in Calgary last year.
"He liked to play up his Irish roots, so he hosted Guiness parties," he said. "That was the last time I saw him... we shared a Guiness together."
