Michael Higgins: Garneau's moral compass always pointed true north
It is a measure of the man that in a world where values, virtue, and self-sacrifice seem anachronistic, Marc Garneau embodied them.
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Following his death on Wednesday at age 76 after a brief illness, there was lavish praise and kind words for Garneau whose life was devoted to serving his country.
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As an astronaut, Garneau reached the stars, as a politician he served honourably and faithfully, despite his tawdry treatment at the hands of Justin Trudeau.
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In a statement, Prime Minister Mark Carney said, 'To those who worked alongside him, Marc was a trusted colleague and friend. To Canadians, he was a symbol of national pride and possibility.'
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Mary Simon, the Governor General, said he left behind a legacy of integrity and professionalism.
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Erin O'Toole, the former Conservative leader who also served as a captain in the air force, said of Garneau, who had been a commander and captain in the navy, that he represented the very best of Canada and had inspired countless people 'including me.'
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Garneau began his service to Canada by serving in the navy before joining the Canadian Astronaut Program. In 1984, he made history when he became the first Canadian in space as a payload specialist on the Space Shuttle Challenger. He went on to make two other space missions aboard the Endeavour.
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'I have been around planet earth…about 450 times,' Garneau recounted at a Ted Talk in 2013.
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He was president of the Canadian Space Agency from 2001 to 2005 and in 2008 was elected as a Liberal MP for Notre-Dame-de-Grâce–Westmount (formerly Westmount–Ville-Marie).
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In 2013, he ran for the Liberal leadership against Trudeau, and in a debate that year, pointedly asked the future prime minister, 'So please tell us what in your resume qualifies you to be the leader of the country.'
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'I was never sure after that whether he held that against me,' Garneau told the CBC's Rosemary Barton last year. 'But on balance, I think he didn't because he appointed me transport minister when we were finally elected.'
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Garneau became transport minister in 2015 with one of his first acts being to introduce a passenger bill of rights for fliers. From January to October of 2021, he was foreign minister until suddenly being dropped without explanation by Trudeau and replaced by the more sycophantic Mélanie Joly.
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