Hedy Fry, Canada's oldest MP, is running for reelection. She got her start by taking down a PM
Among the grand old men and women of world politics, Paul Biya stands out as a record holder, the oldest serving state leader at age 92, and president of Cameroon since 1982.
In America, where electoral politics is typically fairer, Chuck Grassley has been in office even longer, senator for Iowa since 1981, and he is chasing the late Strom Thurmond’s astonishing record of having made it to age 100 in office, and the late Robert Byrd’s record of serving in the Senate for more than 51 years.
Canada, as usual, is not out there at the extremes of global politics, with neither the oldest politicians nor the youngest. (South Africa elected 20-year-old Cleo Wilskut to the National Assembly last year.)
But in Vancouver Centre, a record breaking politician goes to the electorate today for yet another endorsement by voters.
Hedy Fry is not even the longest serving Canadian MP up for re-election today. That honour is held by Louis Plamondon, 81, Canada’s Dean of the House as the MP with the longest unbroken record of service, and his is the longest ever.
But Plamondon represents the Bloc Québécois in Bécancour–Nicolet–Saurel–Alnôbak on the rural South Shore of the St. Lawrence River across from Trois-Rivières, as he has done since 1984. As a Liberal in central Vancouver, Fry’s riding is arguably more vulnerable to changing political fortunes on the national scale, which makes her longevity as the longest serving female Member of Parliament all the more notable. Over the years, she has faced serious challengers from both the left and the right.
Also, Fry is older than Plamondon by about two years, each of which arguably counts for more bragging rights at that age.
What really sets Fry apart, though, is that her parliamentary career started with taking down a prime minister.
Fry was a doctor when she ran against short-lived Progressive Conservative prime minister Kim Campbell in 1993, beating her by 31 per cent of votes to 25, marking the end of Campbell’s time in elected office.
She was named to cabinet in 1996 as minister for multiculturalism and the status of women. She came to the greatest public notice across Canada for inflammatory and false comments in the House of Commons, while speaking in 2001 to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.
“We can just go to British Columbia in Prince George, where crosses are being burned on lawns as we speak,” Fry said. That prompted an RCMP denial, general outrage, and an apology delivered in Parliament the next day.
Shuffled out the next year, she never returned to cabinet, but she continued to win the riding in every election, and to serve in lesser roles as parliamentary secretary with various portfolios. In Opposition under the Conservative governments of Stephen Harper, she was critic for Canadian Heritage, later Sport, and after the Liberal Party’s 2011 wipeout, Health.
Fry became the oldest serving MP after winning in 2015, which brought the Liberals back to power under Justin Trudeau, who named her to the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians. She remains the longest serving woman.
Polls suggest she has a lock on this election too, against competition that includes NDP candidate Avi Lewis, the filmmaker husband of author Naomi Klein and son of the former diplomat Stephen Lewis. Another victory could mean she is in office until approximately age 88.
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