If you’re into the clash of ideas and brass-knuckle politics, election campaigns are usually worth watching. But if the mudslinging starts to cross the line, the whole thing can make you feel like taking a shower.
So, it was with particular enthusiasm that roughly 50 political veterans gathered last week to celebrate that they’re still around — and still having civil conversations with people who were their adversaries back in the day.
First, a bit of background. Those of you from a certain generation will remember the name Darcy McKeough. He was nicknamed the Minister of Everything in Bill Davis’s government in the 1970s because (and I’m not exaggerating here) he was the minister of the treasury, economics, intergovernmental affairs, municipal affairs, and housing — and all at the same time. (He also did a stint as minister of energy.)
Former NDP cabinet minister Floyd Laughren with former PC adviser John Laschinger. (Steve Paikin)
McKeough first got into cabinet as a rookie MPP in 1963, and shortly thereafter began holding a lunch in honour of the premier who put him in cabinet, John P. Robarts. It was a decidedly exclusive affair: only Progressive Conservative men were invited to smoke cigars, drink port, dine on fat steaks, and talk smack about the opposition parties.
McKeough kept the lunch going even after Robarts died in 1982. And after I did a TVO documentary about Robarts, McKeough invited me as well, “because you’ve demonstrated some understanding of the man.” I was the lone non-partisan person in the room and loved hearing the stories about how things worked at Queen’s Park in years gone by. The “Robarts Luncheon” lasted for 50 years under McKeough’s auspices.
Toronto city councillor Josh Matlow and former education minister Mitzie Hunter. (Steve Paikin)
But when McKeough died in November 2023, I feared the event would die with him. And I thought it was just too important to let it go. So, I asked McKeough’s two sons whether they wouldn’t mind if I tried to keep the thing going, albeit under different conditions. First, people from all parties would be invited. Second, it could no longer be an exclusively male affair. And third, I wanted to rechristen it the “Robarts-McKeough Luncheon” to acknowledge their father’s commitment to keeping the thing going for so long.
Former provincial NDP education minister Dave Cooke shares a laugh with former federal PC cabinet minister David Crombie. (Steve Paikin)
Last year’s attempt seemed to go well enough that we mounted the second annual luncheon last week. Fifty people, most of them with a direct connection either to Robarts or McKeough, attended: one former premier (Mike Harris), two former treasurers (Greg Sorbara, Floyd Laughren), two former education ministers (Dave Cooke, Mitzie Hunter), nine former cabinet ministers (Jim Bradley, Donna Cansfield, Marilyn Churley, Tony Clement, Tim Hudak, Frances Lankin, Eleanor McMahon, Monte McNaughton, and Gordon Walker), three mayors (Burlington’s Marianne Meed Ward, Sault Ste. Marie’s Matthew Shoemaker, and former Toronto mayor David Crombie), and three former senators (Michael Meighen, Irving Gerstein, and Lankin).
Conservative adviser John Mykytyshyn speaks with columnist and consultant Tasha Kheiriddin, as former PC cabinet ministers Tony Clement and Monte McNaughton look on. (Steve Paikin)
Two of the lions in the room were Robarts’s former deputy minister of finance, 96-year-old Ian Macdonald, and the premier’s almost 91-year-old intergovernmental affairs adviser Don Stevenson.
Don Stevenson and Ian Macdonald, both in their 90s, were senior advisers in the Robarts government in the 1960s. (Steve Paikin)
The point of the whole thing was to give people from different parties, different jobs, and different generations a chance to mingle, swap some old stories, and remind each other that, while politics can get tough in the moment, the relationships formed over time can be pretty rewarding.
Former NDP cabinet ministers Dave Cooke and Floyd Laughren converse with Ontario's 22nd premier, Mike Harris. (Steve Paikin)
For example, I don’t know how many times during question period I saw former Windsor MPP Dave Cooke excoriate almost everything the Mike Harris government was doing in the 1990s. But there they were, having a grand conversation, only a week after Harris had turned 80 years old.
Former premier Mike Harris and former PC cabinet minister Monte McNaughton, in conversation. (Steve Paikin)
One of the loveliest moments of the luncheon was hearing from McKeough’s son Stewart, who flew up from New York for the occasion. While Stewart’s father could definitely demonstrate some rough partisan edges back in the day, it’s also fair to say, as his son did, that “He knew the importance of crossing the aisle to accomplish the people’s business.”
Former NDP cabinet minister Marilyn Churley and former Liberal cabinet minister Donna Cansfield. (Steve Paikin)
It occurred to me as the luncheon was wrapping up that so much of what we see in politics these days is unpleasant. It’s too toxic, too stupidly partisan, and reflects poorly on too many political practitioners.
Former Liberal cabinet colleagues Greg Sorbara, Eleanor McMahon, and Jim Bradley, who, at 41 years, is the second longest-serving member of the legislature of all time. (Steve Paikin)
Seeing these former foes in a different time, in a different light, was good for the soul. I think we’ll try to do this again next year.