Tributes are pouring in for Ian Waddell, a former Member of Parliament for Port Moody-Coquitlam for five years, who died Monday in Vancouver. He was 78.
Waddell was the newly-created riding’s first representative to Ottawa when he was elected for the NDP in 1988 and served as the party’s justice critic. The following year, he ran for the federal NDP leadership after Ed Broadbent stepped down but finished sixth on the first ballot. He lost his bid for re-election in the 1993 federal vote.
Waddell returned to politics in 1996, when he was elected as a BC NDP candidate for Vancouver-Fraserview in the provincial election. In 1998, he was appointed Minister of Small Business, Tourism and Culture by Premier Glen Clark and he was instrumental in Vancouver’s successful bid to land the 2010 Winter Olympics.
Waddell lost his seat in the provincial legislature to Liberal candidate Ken Johnston in 2001. Subsequent attempts to return to federal politics, in 2004 and 2006, were also unsuccessful.
In a tweet, British Columbia Premier John Horgan said he was “saddened” to hear of Waddell’s passing.
“Everything Ian did, he approached with passion and desire to make progress for people,” Horgan said, adding Waddell was the first person to greet him when he was a legislative assistant on Parliament Hill in 1967.
Federal NDP leader Jagmeet Singh called Waddell a “champion of social justice,” while former leader Ed Broadbent said, “He will be missed by all who knew him as a lively and thoughtful man committed to the well-being of his friends and of his country.”
Like so many across the country, I am shocked and saddened to hear about the passing of Ian Waddell.
— Jagmeet Singh (@theJagmeetSingh) March 17, 2021
Ian was a champion of social justice — and, his legacy is that of a man who always uplifted those around him.
Rest in Power Ian.https://t.co/Tf3xYD76dO
Former Burnaby MP Svend Robinson, who was Waddell’s roommate in Ottawa when they both first elected to Parliament in 1979, called him his “old friend” whom he inadvertently outed as bisexual to his mother, Isabel. Waddell revealed his sexuality to the rest of the world during the 2004 federal election.
In a Tweet that included a photo Waddell had taken from the back deck of his Vancouver home on Sunday, Robinson said he was recovering from recent surgery, although the cause of his death has not been revealed. Former NDP colleague Bob Rae said Waddell had had a heart procedure and passed away in his sleep.
The view from my deck today as the blossoms start. See Stanley Park in distance and the rest of Canada over the coastal mountains. Paradise pic.twitter.com/89T8CjQctu
— Ian Waddell (@IanWaddell1) March 14, 2021
“Just can’t believe it — a fine man and a great advocate, MP, MLA, Minister and a friend to so many,” he Tweeted.
Some of Waddell’s passion for advocacy may have been formed during his childhood in Glasgow, Scotland, where his dad worked as an electrician and his mom was a waitress. The family immigrated to the Toronto area when he was five.
While Waddell was studying law at the University of Toronto, he joined the school’s Liberal club and even chauffeured federal Liberal leader Lester B. Pearson during the 1962 federal election campaign.
He first ran for office himself in 1979, winning the riding of Vancouver Kingsway for the NDP in the federal election by unseating Liberal incumbent Simma Holt. He was subsequently reelected in 1980 and 1984, after which the riding was dissolved.
Following his political career, Waddell was a consultant in environmental, governmental and aboriginal affairs, as well as a documentary film producer and author. He released a political mystery novel called A Thirst to Die For in 2002 and a memoir in 2018.
Like so many others, I was shocked that Ian Waddell passed away yesterday. He lived such a full life and as always with Ian, he had plans right to the end. We miss him already.
— Adrian Dix (@adriandix) March 17, 2021
