Honourable senators, I rise today to pay tribute to a colleague, a great Canadian and a friend, Senator David Richards, as he prepares to retire from this chamber.

Senator Richards joined this place with a voice already well known and deeply respected across Canada, a Giller Prize winner, an Order of Canada recipient and a novelist whose work has chronicled the soul of our country with clarity and compassion. From the moment he took his seat here, it was clear that the Senate had gained something rare. Indeed, his words in this institution have always carried the weight of thought, conviction and deep compassion.

Whether at committee or in this chamber, he has stood up time and again for individual dignity and defended the fundamental freedoms at the heart of our democracy, bringing a conscience to our deliberations that is all too rare in public life. His powerful speeches on the importance of free expression, on resisting ideological conformity and on the dangers of silencing opposition views have left their mark not only on this chamber but on Canadians far beyond it. That’s why, when he made the decision to join the Conservative Senate caucus, it felt like a welcomed alignment. His principles had always resonated with many of us. In truth, it didn’t feel like he was joining us so much as finding his way to a group of colleagues who already saw him as one of their own.

David, your presence in our caucus, however brief, has been meaningful. Your insights have always challenged us to think more deeply, and your words reminded us of the responsibilities we bear. Your courage in joining us in our caucus reaffirmed the importance of standing firm in one’s convictions.

As you now turn the page on your time here, we know that your voice won’t go silent; far from it. Whether through your writing or your continued contributions to Canadian life, you will no doubt continue to provoke, inspire and lead.

I also had the privilege of meeting and spending some time with Peggy McIntyre-Richards. I can tell you, she is even more wonderful — if that’s possible — than Senator Richards himself.

Peggy, thank you for lending your husband to this institution and this country. We wish you, of course, only the best.

Colleagues, with the retirement of Senator Richards, his executive assistant Diane Lacombe, a long-time member on the Hill, is retiring, too. She had the opportunity to work for two great senators.

Diane worked for me when I first came to the Senate of Canada, and I know that Senator Richards found her support invaluable. Of course, Diane and I go back to municipal politics in the great City of Montreal.

Diane, we wish you all the best.

Senator Richards, on behalf of the entire Senate caucus, thank you for your friendship, your honesty, your service and your tremendous integrity. We wish you and your family only continued health and all the best in the next chapter of your wonderful life. Thank you.

Honourable senators, I rise today on behalf of the Government Representative’s Office, or GRO, and all of my colleagues to pay tribute to our colleague the Honourable Senator David Richards.

While I may not have the same way with words that Senator Richards possesses, I hope in this desperate hour that this tribute will do you justice, senator.

Born in Newcastle, New Brunswick, Senator Richards has been a lifelong advocate for his fellow New Brunswickers, particularly those living in Miramichi. A writer from a very young age, he won his first of many literary awards in 1972 while still an unpublished university student.

While I do not have enough time to list all of the awards that Senator Richards has received, I do want to highlight that he has been the recipient of nearly every major Canadian literary prize, including the Governor General’s Literary Award in both fiction and non-fiction, an achievement matched by only two other Canadians.

Senator Richards’ ability to capture the stories of the working-class people of Miramichi brought to life their experiences, struggles and triumphs to a broader audience across Canada and beyond. His penmanship has been nothing short of remarkable.

I know a little bit about being a published author and definitely know how many struggles and hurdles one faces when seeking to get published previously unheard voices and stories. The consistency and quality of Senator Richards’ work underlie a dedication to his craft that is often forgotten in the arts.

Since his appointment to the Senate, Senator Richards has passionately represented these same people, once again bringing their voices and stories to the national stage. When serving on the Standing Senate Committee on Energy, the Environment and Natural Resources, where we both worked together, particularly on Bill C-69; when he ardently shared his son’s experiences in the oil and gas sector; and in his steadfast support of hunters, Senator Richards has always been a fiercely independent voice.

At the time of his appointment, Senator Richards was quoted as saying:

I’m sitting as an independent man. I’ll make my own decisions to the best of my ability when I’m in the chamber.

Senator Richards, I think we can all agree that those words have been true throughout your time here in the Senate.

On behalf of the GRO, I wish you all the best in your retirement. I hope you and your wife, Peggy, enjoy more time with family and friends. Once again, congratulations on your retirement.

Honourable senators, I rise today on behalf of the Independent Senators Group to pay tribute to our colleague Senator Richards on the occasion of his retirement.

I believe most of you know that David is the author of 19 novels — soon to be 20 — and has written extensively in other forms, including poetry, non-fiction, short stories and plays.

However, you may not be aware of the long list of accolades and awards that he has received for his writing. David is very humble. The list is too long to mention today. Suffice it to say, all are well deserved.

In fall of 2023, we were all invited to a screening at the Bytowne Cinema of the National Film Board film about David entitled The Geographies of DAR. The film offers an incredibly moving and personal glimpse of David and his home region of Miramichi. On display are his kindness and gentle sense of humour, as well as his innate ability to connect with people on an individual basis and, perhaps most importantly, his love for his wife, Peg.

As his novels, David’s speeches have proudly drawn attention to Miramichi, to New Brunswick and to Canada. Time and again, he wove tapestries for us, painting vivid pictures of his home and his neighbours. It seems appropriate that we are paying tribute to David today, since it is the two-hundredth anniversary of the Great Miramichi Fire, which David has described to us on multiple occasions.

David, in the Senate you have always been clear about your beliefs and convictions but unfailingly respectful in debate. It is one of the things I admire most about you.

Colleagues, I personally got to best see David in action during our work on the Subcommittee on Veterans Affairs around homelessness for veterans, where he always demonstrated an ability to connect and relate to witnesses during often very emotional testimony.

One of the direct quotes that I found very revealing from the National Film Board film is when David said:

People sometimes mistake the idea that I’m writing about poverty and desperation. I’m not going to shun the fact that I do write about it. Of course I do. But I’m writing about the absolute greatness of the human soul. And we all have the same greatness. And it is our obligation to use that.

David, you have met that obligation consistently in the Senate of Canada. Simply put, you truly are a gentleman and a scholar. Thank you for your contributions to the Senate, to the province of New Brunswick and to our country.

On behalf of the Independent Senators Group, I wish you and Peg happy retirement and continued success in all your next adventures, wherever they may take you.

“Now the end is going to come — in one fashion or another,” Bines said, softly, and again he turned to Ralphie and smiled. “We all know, the end will come. You either face your hunters or run from them.”

Honourable senators, those are the haunting words of Senator David Richards in For Those Who Hunt the Wounded Down.

I was reluctant to use that quote, since Senator Richards once told us the story of Samuel Johnson, a towering intellect of the 18th century who said the rudest thing a person could ever do is quote something someone once said to use it against them. But I assure you that I’m not quoting to use it against you, as we all hold you in the highest esteem.

Next week, we see the departure of Senator Richards from this place as he hits his mandatory retirement age. We not only lose an award-winning novelist, essayist, screenwriter and poet; we also lose a voice of common sense and the view from the street, so to speak.

He brought a strict tell-it-like-it-is approach to legislating and policy-making. His interventions always had literary flair and were always from the heart; that heart included his beloved Miramichi. It is part of his DNA. I am sure that my colleagues will agree that he is one of the River Valley’s greatest ambassadors.

I had the privilege of working closely with him when he was part of the Canadian Senators Group. We all remember warmly his participation in our weekly discussions when he brought reasoned, sensible and solid views on the matters before this chamber.

At times, he stood alone, and we respected him immensely. As Senator Richards wrote in Mercy Among the Children, “There is no worse flaw in man’s character than that of wanting to belong.”

Senator Richards, while your time in this chamber is coming to end, rest assured that you leave this place with a legacy, good friends and having contributed to the betterment of this country. To us, you will always be more than a thug with Tolstoy in your pocket, which is also from your book Mercy Among the Children.

David, on behalf of the senators in the Canadian Senators Group, we wish you a happy retirement from the Senate.

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.