The death of Montreal Canadiens legend Ken Dryden resonated in political circles on Saturday where the former NHL great left his mark as a long-standing member of Parliament and former Liberal cabinet minister.
The Montreal Canadiens organization announced Dryden’s death shortly after 12:30 a.m. Saturday. He died Friday at age 78 following a battle with cancer.
Dryden left the Toronto Maple Leafs organization to run federally in 2004 for the Liberal Party of Canada, elected in the Toronto riding of York Centre.
“A lot of people would have commented that he seemed to be a fish out of water (as an MP), but I’m starting to think it was perhaps the water that was different and not the fish so much,” said Mark Watton.
“He was genuinely interested in everyone he met including his colleagues around the cabinet table, his staff, his colleagues in Parliament and the advocates or constituents or others who he would come across.”
It was that insatiable curiosity exhibited by Dryden that made him stand out, Watton said.
“Even though he was most passionate about the social policy matters that we’re in front of him as the minister of social development, he was genuinely curious about everything else around the cabinet table,” Watton said.
Lise Jolicoeur, a former press secretary in Ottawa who would later go on to work on Dryden’s leadership bid, recalled two instances where his humanity and decency stood out during his interactions with her.
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at : Politics…