The Honourable Pat O'Brien

I was a consultant to the Canadian Federal Government. I had a gig with Industry Canada, and we were doing socially significant work that won the Government of Canada, on behalf of Her Majesty the Queen, international accolades.

Other than the satisfying work, there were two bonuses. The first was that we worked on the 14th floor, the virtual penthouse floor of Heritage Place, 155 Queen Street in Ottawa, Canada. We had an indescribable view of Parliament Hill, the Ottawa River and the glorious Gatineau Hills.

The ninth floor housed the national headquarters of the Conservative Party of Canada, as well as the NDP party. Many people noticed the irony, that as you got off the elevator, you turned right for the Conservatives and left for the NDP.

The second bonus was that I led a crack team of consultants, and my younger brother was part of that team. He attended OCHS as well.

When the weather was nice, we would take our breaks outside, standing at the corner of Queen Street and O'Connor Street. The north side of our building bounded Sparks Street, the great pedestrian mall where Thomas D'Arcy McGee was assassinated shortly after Confederation.

My brother and I would stand outside, and we became convinced that if you had to stand on a street corner anywhere in Canada, that was the place to be. We used the see the Prime Minister being driven up O'Connor Street to the House. We saw the president of Slovakia and his entourage. My brother was interviewed on TV for the state memorial of the Queen Mother. Jack Layton would pace back and forth talking on his cell phone. Joe Clark dropped by. Ian Hanomansing (real short guy and its not apparent on TV) and Craig Oliver would amble up to the House. We were right in the thick of the protests for the summit of the G8 countries, that shut down the city.

We met Ed Broadbent in the elevator, and said that we were from Oshawa. He was generous with his time. In short, there was a constant flow of Canada's Who's Who. One beautiful spring day, I was standing in the sun, being a life voyeur, and a familiar face goes by. It took a few seconds for the penny to drop, and I blurted out loud -- "Pat O'Brien". Mr. O'Brien turned around at the sound of his name.

He was our English and Gym teacher. He was now, the Honourable Pat O'Brien, MP for London Fanshawe. I was flattered that he remembered me. I made an appointment to deliver some of these black and white pics to his office on Parliament Hill. Circumstances prevented that, but Mr. O'Brien, consider this the debt paid with this blog entry.

Here is a synopsis of his career from Wikipedia:

Patrick Wayne "Pat" O'Brien, M.Ed , BA (born January 13, 1948) is a former member of the Canadian House of Commons. Elected as a Liberal, he ended his career in 2005 as the independent Member of Parliament (MP) for London—Fanshawe in London, Ontario.


O'Brien graduated with an honours Bachelor of Arts in history from the University of Western Ontario in 1971, and earned his Master of Education from UWO in 1981. He has served as a high school history teacher and was a member of London City Council from 1982 to 1993. He was also a school trustee from 1980 to 1982.


He was elected to Parliament as a candidate of the Liberal Party of Canada in the 1993 election, and was re-elected in the 1997, 2000, and 2004 elections. From 2000 to 2003, he was Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for International Trade.


Before leaving the party, O'Brien was often considered as representing the right-wing of the Liberal party. He was one of the fiercest opponents of same-sex marriage in the Liberal caucus, along with Tom Wappel. He has frequently chastised Prime Minister Paul Martin for not allowing a free vote among his Cabinet on Bill C-38, which is the act to legalize same-sex marriage in Canada. He has repeatedly called for the notwithstanding clause to be used to override the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which courts have repeatedly ruled requires the government to recognize same-sex marriages. He is also strongly against abortion.


On June 6, 2005, O'Brien left the Liberal Party to sit as an independent, citing his opposition to same-sex marriage, and his discomfort with the revelations coming out of the Gomery Commission on the sponsorship scandal.


On June 14, O'Brien issued an ultimatum to the government, indicating that he and an anonymous Liberal MP would vote against the government in a series of confidence votes that evening unless the same-sex marriage bill is delayed until the fall session of Parliament. However, the Liberals went on to survive the confidence votes and eventually got the same-sex marriage bill passed in the summer session of parliament.


In the fall of 2005, O'Brien announced that he and a former Conservative MP were founding an advocacy group to try to reverse the legalization of same-sex marriage.
O'Brien has stated that up to 90% of his constituents were opposed to same-sex marriage, and in the 2004 election, he defeated New Democrat candidate Irene Mathyssen by over 3000 votes, a supporter of same sex marriage. In the 2006 election, although he did not run, he endorsed a Conservative who opposed same-sex marriage; but this time, Mathyssen won the riding.




The Hon. Pat O'Brien is a principled man who is not afraid to stand up for what he believes in.

Below left is Pat O'Brien working as an MP in the London Fanshaw riding: