Having written four books about the subject and spent more than 30 years covering it, I will confess to having an abnormally high interest in politics and what politicians do after their careers are over.
For many of them, what they did during their public life represents the crowning achievement of their entire career. Certainly the ability to shape the future of their city, province, or country is a mission few can top in a post-political life in the private sector, even if they go on to make lots of money. As former Ontario premier Bill Davis once told me, which turned out to be the catalyst for my first book: “The most fascinating day in the private sector can't touch being premier of Ontario on the dullest.”
So it's with that background in place that I gently inquire into what's happening with a man who is the first Ontario premier in six decades to lead both a provincial and federal party.
Life is good for Bob Rae. He is ensconced in a downtown Toronto law firm, offering advice to aboriginal clients to help improve their economic prospects.
This summer, he was elevated to the highest level of the Order of Canada --- Companion. He also has the Order of Ontario. He is widely respected and has a good sense of humour about his premiership from 1990-95, during the throes of an awful recession.
“I wanted to be premier in the worst way,” Rae has often joked. “And I was.”
Rae has a new book out called What's Happened to Politics. We talked about it on The Agenda.
Last night in Toronto, Rae was honoured yet again, this time by the Churchill Society for the Advancement of Parliamentary Democracy, for his contributions over five decades in Canadian public life.
Even better than all of that, he became a grandfather for the first time this year, and given how often he tweets pictures of his now four-month-old grandson, you'd have to say he's totally loving that experience.
While he's been far from power for 20 years, Rae has been making a difference in the political world. After the Liberals' 2011 election debacle, in which the party fell to third place in the House of Commons for the first time ever, Rae stepped up and led the party through its darkest time. The Grits were broke, directionless, and with no discernible base of support. Essentially, he put the dispirited party on his shoulders, and through the sheer force of his excellent daily performances in the House and speechifying across the country, kept the Liberals relevant.
As new Eglinton-Lawrence MP Marco Mendicino said last night in introducing Rae: “He assumed the mantle of leadership when no one else could.”
In fact, some wanted Rae to run for the permanent leadership of the party, which he did consider, until Justin Trudeau opted to go for the prize.
The party that Trudeau took over was immeasurably better off than the one Rae had inherited. Rae stayed on a few months into Trudeau's reign for an appropriate transition, then left public life for the second time in the summer of 2013. (The first time was in 1996 after resigning from Queen's Park).
Rae's personal ambition could have driven him to challenge Trudeau for the leadership in the spring of 2013, and he'd have run a competitive campaign. After all, he ran for the leadership in 2006, losing to Stéphane Dion, but showing well despite being relatively new to the party.
But Rae feared another divisive fight he'd probably lose so opted to become the party's senior statesman, a role he performed well. As Trudeau himself said upon Rae's departure: “We will miss his passion (but) I am not letting him go far.”
It's with all this background in place that I'm curious as to whether the new prime minister has a future role in public life in mind for Rae. There is gossip aplenty that Rae would make a fine Canadian representative at the United Nations, as one of his predecessors as Ontario NDP leader, Stephen Lewis, once was. Alternatively, Rae once lived in Washington D.C., knows the city well (having been vice president Richard Nixon's paper delivery boy once upon a time) and would represent Canada well as our ambassador there.
But so far, there's no indication out of the Prime Minister's Office that anything is in the offing.
Rae joked about it Wednesday night at the Writers' Trust gala dinner in downtown Toronto. In an unplanned sketch, Rae was hauled up on stage by emcee Steve Patterson, host of CBC Radio's The Debaters. Patterson asked a question and offered Rae multiple-choice answers, all of which humorously insulted the new PM. When asked to select his answer, Rae quipped: “I'm not going to choose any of the above. I'm still holding out hope for an appointment.” The audience roared with laughter at a joke that hinted at an underlying truth.
I haven't talked to Rae about whether he wants or would be open to an appointment. He was surrounded by well-wishers at the Churchill Society gala last night so I left him alone to enjoy the spotlight. If an offer of a good appointment were to come through, I suspect Rae would have a hard time saying no, despite the fact he's now enjoying a less stressful private life and seeing a lot of his new grandson.
What's still unclear is exactly how close Rae and Trudeau are. They appeared to get on well when both were MPs in Ottawa. Rae did not do the kind of high-profile events afforded former prime ministers Jean Chrétien and Paul Martin during Campaign 2015, although the PM's press secretary confirms he was at rallies with Trudeau and travelled across the country, helping other candidates with their individual campaigns.
He was quoted in a lengthy Globe and Mail profile of Trudeau by journalist Ian Brown and some of his comments about the Liberal leader weren't particularly glowing: “I think the thing we don’t know enough about Justin is whether his leadership is about more than just him. And I honestly don’t know the answer to that question.” One wonders if there are some hard feelings there.
In any event, presumably we'll find out in relatively short order whether the former New Democrat MP, former MPP, former NDP leader, former opposition leader, former premier of Ontario, former Liberal MP, former interim federal leader of the Liberals, and now private citizen has yet another act in public life left in him.
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