We were unlikely novitiates in the liberal party of the 1960s. I honestly do not remember where or when we met. Yet I do remember the launching pads of our friendship over the years. Hon. David P. Smith was an impulsive, fun-loving and caring guy. He died on February 26.
A key memory was his first municipal campaign in the 1970s. I had been out and when I arrived home, the wife came out, told me I had people waiting for me in the living room and went to have coffee with a neighbour. It was two guys named Smith: David and his campaign manager, Larry Smith. And prominently displayed on a sofa was the worst election sign I had ever seen.
“Peter, I’m gonna run for alderman in Ward 11. Isn’t that a great sign? With that introduction and that sign, I think I was struck dumb. Then, in the classic line from the movie The Candidate, he asked, “What do we do now?” It was 21 years later that prime minister Jean Chrétien would facetiously complain that Smitty had let him down by not winning all of Ontario’s 99 seats. He lost just one. (Barrie, the area I live in today.)
The only municipal election David lost was when he overreached in a crowded field and went for the Toronto mayor’s job. It was one of the rare times he annoyed me. At his opening campaign meeting around a huge boardroom table at a downtown law firm, people were introducing themselves. They were all lawyers. When it was my turn, David broke in and said I was his good luck charm and he always won when I was involved. If you have ever been in a political campaign run by lawyers, you would understand why I did not return. David lost.
He was much more contrite a couple years later when the Joe Clark conservatives fell and he called me to ask if he could run in my riding. I said sure, the liberals in the riding liked him and he had an easy win.
I was laughing along with prime minister Pierre Trudeau a few years later, when Pierre made him minister of tourism. David was the world’s most avid tourist. Not even I could help David when the Mulroney conservatives won the next election.
David was among the last appointees to really earn that Senate seat. He stepped into the national director role for the liberal party as our friend Keith Davey slipped away into the fog of Alzheimer. David was a dedicated liberal. He will be missed.
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Copyright 2020 © Peter Lowry
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