Editorial: A farewell to Rex Murphy

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We’d like to recognize Rex Murphy, the political commentator who represented Atlantic Canada on a national stage, who died this week.

In his later years, Murphy became a staunch critic of the Liberal government in Ottawa. Yet this was not always the case: Twenty years ago, he pitched Pierre Elliott Trudeau on the CBC as the Greatest Canadian – a sign he, a conservative, was able to see both sides of our national politics.

Our admiration for Murphy, partisanship aside, was for his defence of our region. What he cared about was the future of Atlantic Canada and the ability of families to earn a living, beyond handouts from Central Canada.

This may seem like a distant memory. But in the time Murphy came to the height of his national attention, untold Atlantic Canadian families were sustained by the demand for labour in Alberta’s oil industry, which allowed workers willing to travel west and send money home when few other options were available.

Against environmentalist slurs about Alberta’s “tar sands,” Murphy made the case – on his platforms in the National Post and a former weekly segment on the CBC – of an industry that allowed countless breadwinners to provide for their families.

In time, Atlantic Canada’s economic situation has improved. But these advances, in domestic terms, came on the stepladder of economic activity to the west.

Murphy understood, perhaps better than any other commentator, how Western Canada was a lifeline for the Maritimes – and a source of income we oughtn’t take for granted. We should be grateful that someone else was willing to pay real money to be sent back home.

We imagine he would have seen this as his best achievement. Atlantic Canada has always needed a champion; Murphy will be missed as a compelling advocate for the East Coast.