A Tribute to the Honourable Elaine McCoy

On February 9, 2021 Senator Omidvar paid tribute to the late Senator McCoy.

Hon. Ratna Omidvar:  Colleagues, I too rise to pay my tribute to Senator McCoy. When the first independents – Lankin, Petitclerc, Pratte, Sinclair, Gagne, Harder were appointed, Senator McCoy was in the process of pulling all the non-affiliates together to create a Senate group which would be independent and non-partisan within an institute whose roots lay deep in partisanship. It is a validation of her vision that today, just a few four short years after, there is not just one independent group – but three.

Looking back, I see all the hurdles that Senator McCoy faced and overcame in her quest to pull together all the basic building blocks of a new group in the Senate. She persuaded, she cajoled, she insisted, she convened, she kept things moving with a focus on getting us off the ground. And here we are today.

I will choose to spend my few minutes on remembering her as a person. She was always tres elegante. I once told her that she reminded me in some ways of the Duchess of Windsor – reed thin, always beautifully dressed, always with the signature piece of jewellery. Her favourite perch on the weekends – no surprise – was the high tea at the Chateau, where you found her presiding, almost always with a cocktail in her hand, with one of our group, advising, coaching, and sometimes insisting, because we all know that she could be very stubborn.

But she was also elegant in different ways as well. After my first speech in the Senate – when I was frankly horribly nervous – she sent me a copy of the speech wrapped in a red ribbon as a reminder. I still have that in my office.

She did not weigh in on every issue in the chamber, but when she did, it was with thoroughness and clarity. She coached me when I took on the job of sponsoring C6 through the Senate, and because as the sponsor, I could not table an amendment, she quickly picked it up, researched it and spoke with a thoroughly researched brief. This amendment was passed into law, it got a fair bit of media time as the McCoy amendment. She was somewhat bemused by this and she jokingly said to me: – Ratna, you have made me famous.

In truth though, she had fame and reputation in her own right. For her vision, for her steely focus on achieving it and for her principled contributions to this chamber.

Rest in peace dear colleague.