A couple of years ago, I wrote a piece for the Post about an Ottawa art exhibit about shit. In passing, I made a few snide remarks about some comments that MP Chuck Strahl had made regarding the show, assuming Strahl was just another humourless paleo-conservative. Strahl wrote a good-natured and quite funny reply to the Post clarifying his position, taking it all in thick-skinned stride. I sent Strahl a brief email apologising for jumping to stereotypes, and he replied with grace and intelligence. We had a couple of brief exchanges after that, then that was it.
Strahl has just been diagnosed with lung cancer, and while things don’t look good, he’s approaching it (at least publicly) with the sort of bluff confidence Canadians have come to expect from him. Strahl has consistently been one of the best-performing MPs in the House, and — though this won’t go down too well with readers of This Magazine — I’ve hoped for a long time to see him in Cabinet.
I still hope to see Mr. Strahl in Cabinet, because that would mean that two miracles have ocurred: The Liberals have lost an electon, and Strahl has beat lung cancer.
Miracles can happen.