Hon. Judy A. White: Honourable senators, I too rise today, on behalf of the Progressive Senate Group, to pay tribute to the Honourable David Adams Richards, who, as we have heard, will be celebrating his seventy-fifth birthday next Friday.
As he is an acclaimed writer, it seems fitting that he tends to be judicious about how he uses his voice here. Though his words outside of this chamber are certainly prolific, he is deliberate in how he participates here in this chamber. We do not see him rising on every occasion, but once he does, it is clear that when Senator Richards enters debate, he has judged it to be more important to speak than to stay silent on that particular issue.
He often used his voice to highlight why we are all here, reminding us of the real impacts of our decisions on Canadians — especially those he represents, both New Brunswickers and rural Canadians — and asking poignant and thoughtful questions.
It also seems very fitting that his body of work in terms of Senate chamber interventions, of course, is quite neatly bookended right now, if you’ll pardon the writerly pun. We heard last month as Senator Richards paid tribute to a friend and fellow Canadian writer, the late Ray Fraser of New Brunswick. In fact, his very first intervention in this chamber was also a tribute to a fellow Canadian writer. That time, it was the late Alden Nowlan, who was born in Nova Scotia but resettled in New Brunswick.
With your indulgence, Senator Richards, I’d like to quote from one of his poems:
. . . it’s what we all want, in the end,
not to be worshipped, not to be admired,
not to be famous, not to be feared,
not even to be loved, but simply to be held.
Your voice in Canadian literature has been so important to so many people, and we are so fortunate that you have brought that voice into this chamber for the last eight years. New Brunswickers and all Canadians have been ably represented by you.
On behalf of the Progressive Senate Group, I wish you the very best in the future and in your impending retirement.