Tribute to her late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

Honourable senators, as the former Governor General said yesterday, the Queen — amongst many attributes — was always intentional. I love that description. She did indeed always act with purpose, and was seen but seldom heard — in the sense that she was never heard pontificating in public. But behind the scenes she led and guided presidents and prime ministers to not just rise above politics, but to do the right thing.

I had the great good fortune to meet the Queen on half a dozen occasions, covering royal tours and the Constitution. I am honoured to have received medals that bear her name on four occasions. I have watched in awe as she weathered storms. I took strength from her steely determination and her strength of character through the worst that life brings. We have all had those “annus horribilis.”

The first time I saw the Queen, I was about five. My sister and I got new and matching dresses. As she drove by in a convertible, she was just like a movie star — I thought, anyway, having never met a queen or a movie star. But my grandmother was having none of that. The Queen was to be respected. We were to remember her service through the war as a mechanic. We were to be quietly in awe.

The next time I met her, I had just returned from three months in Argentina covering the Falklands/Malvinas war. The Queen’s son Andrew had gone there to serve and fight. The Queen was on one of her many royal tours in Canada. This one was in British Columbia. Lloyd Robertson and I were there for the special coverage of the royal visit and were invited to a small reception onboard the royal yacht. Under no circumstances was I to broach the subject of the war — but I did. Her face immediately warmed as she spoke of a mother’s fear when a child goes to war, and we chatted easily about other things. She was always like that. She had an enviable ability to make you — millions of you — feel special.

Over the past many days, we have mourned and marked the inevitable. More than 5 billion people watched her funeral. Yet, as we mourned, we also celebrated a life, not just well lived but lived in service.

My heart ached for the family last night. A good friend of mine who was with them said that her children, and particularly King Charles, were profoundly sad as they reunited Queen Elizabeth with her husband, Prince Philip — but responding as children and as a son, not as a king. Charles knowing that he would never see his mom again or seek her advice, and knowing that there was no one to tell him what to do now — that was profoundly sad.

King Charles has sponsored several programs with which I am involved. Prince’s Operation Entrepreneur, through the Prince’s Trust — which I hope the new Prince of Wales carries on — is a program for veterans in need of help to transition to the civilian world. He has also sponsored a program that rescued young Afghan schoolgirls and brought them to Saskatoon to give them a second chance at life.

The Queen was an original: She was an inspiration, and she invented the modern monarchy. It will never be the same — it can’t be. She did live an intentional life, and she changed ours in the process. Her wit, warmth and keen intelligence should always be our guide. She was truly a moral compass.

As expectations and standards of leadership seem to decline in our world today, it should be our challenge now to raise them up again. It will be a show of respect for her and a way to honour her incredible service to us.

So, thank you, Ma’am. We send you victorious.