Leaders stand up for the sick and the hurting.
Leaders run towards people in danger to offer aid.
Some of those leaders are even politicians.
All joking aside, Friday was a pretty special day for Cariboo-Prince George MP Todd Doherty.
Regardless of what area residents may think of the Conservative Party of Canada, they should be extra proud of their Member of Parliament.
On Friday, Doherty saw his private member's bill pass third reading in the House.
Bill C-211 calls for a federal framework for consistent and ongoing care for first responders and military veterans affected by post-traumatic stress disorder. It now goes to the Senate for consideration.
That piece of legislation has the potential to save lives, as PTSD sufferers in uniform could have better access to resources to help them cope and reduce the number of them who take their own lives each year.
Later on Friday, Doherty got on a plane and literally saved a man's life. The MP sprang into action and administered cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) to a man who had collapsed nearby.
Doherty was already deserving of great praise before his heroic act aboard his flight.
Bill C-211 is an incredible accomplishment. Private member's bills are rarely passed in the House of Commons because they do not have the automatic support of the government in power. That a private member's bill introduced by a rookie MP from an opposition party was passed the first time it was brought forward, with support from all of the major political parties - the Conservatives, the NDP and the Liberals - speaks volumes about Doherty the man and Doherty the politician.
First, the politician.
Doherty has done nothing but shine since he arrived in Ottawa less than two years ago. Within the Conservative caucus, he's been a popular addition, increasingly called upon by Rona Ambrose during her tenure as interim leader to criticize various initiatives of Justin Trudeau's Liberal government. Among the other parties, Doherty quickly built a reputation as hard-working, enthusiastic, friendly and knowledgeable.
They all have to be partisan, of course, but Doherty felt his PTSD bill had nothing to do with politics and everything to do with standing up for brave Canadians during their hours of need. Based on their public statements of support in the House, his fellow MPs in the other parties were sold by Doherty's advocacy and the way he found common ground with each of them over the many PTSD tragedies that might have been averted with more awareness and better treatment.
He even impressed the jaded members of the press gallery.
Peter O'Neill, the Vancouver Sun parliamentary reporter, included Doherty in a story in October 2015 headlined "Newbie B.C. MPs you'll be hearing from." In stark contrast, O'Neill was a fierce critic of Dick Harris, Doherty's predecessor in Cariboo-Prince George, citing Harris for his lofty annual expense tab and his penchant for billing taxpayers to travel not to his riding but to his home in Osoyoos. Now O'Neill regularly calls on Doherty for comment on the softwood lumber dispute and other major federal issues affecting B.C.
Those professional accomplishments in so short a time speak to Doherty the man. For those who have heard Doherty speak more than once or twice about the PTSD bill and the men and women in uniform suffering from this condition, his voice often breaks.
His emotional commitment to helping those people in this small but meaningful way runs deep. The softwood lumber dispute probably doesn't keep him awake at night but the painful stories of people like RCMP Staff Sgt. Kent MacNeill, a popular longtime local officer who made his own battle with PTSD public in February to support the PTSD bill, clearly haunt Doherty.
This kind of engagement in constituents and the issues that affect them is what separates mere politicians from leaders.
Politicians talk about getting things done, leaders make things happen. The residents of Cariboo-Prince George are fortunate to have a leader representing them in Ottawa.
It turns out he's pretty handy in a pinch with first aid, as well.
-- Managing editor Neil Godbout
