Life and politics

By Aaron Wherry - Tuesday, August 17, 2010 at 9:37 AM - 0 Comments

Friends, family, colleagues and peers gathered in Montreal yesterday for the funeral of Mario Lague.

Ignatieff spoke briefly during the service and called Lague a team leader. The Liberal leader admitted he had a habit of taking things seriously, but that Lague would just roll his eyes and tell him that “this too shall pass.” In a final moving gesture, Ignatieff placed his hand on Lague’s coffin and said “Au revoir, Mario.”

Adam Goldenberg, Mr. Ignatieff’s speechwriter, was preparing to rejoin the Liberal tour on Thursday morning and has written about learning of Mr. Lague’s passing and the continuation of work the next day in Winnipeg. After pausing for a few days, the tour resumes this evening in Whitehorse.

Mario Laguë

By Paul Wells - Thursday, August 12, 2010 at 11:45 AM - 0 Comments

Caroline Phillips/Ottawa Citizen

Mario Laguë, Michael Ignatieff’s communications director, died this morning in a motorcycle crash in Ottawa. The news has come as a horrible shock to many who follow politics.

Between 2005 and 2009 I received perhaps a dozen long emails from Laguë, from wherever he was living at the time: Costa Rica, Switzerland, Montreal. I did not know him well when the correspondence began. He was a public servant in Quebec City when Robert Bourassa was premier; his close work with Bourassa gave him, as it gave many who learned from that life-long student of electoral realism, a lasting reputation as an authority on Quebec politics and political strategy in general.

Bourassa made him Quebec’s delegate-general to Mexico City. He left that job rather than pledge allegiance to the sovereignist cause after Jacques Parizeau’s election in 1994. Mario really didn’t want to pledge allegiance to the sovereignist cause: He moved to Ottawa, joined the Privy Council Office and became a key player in the group of civil servants who joined elected officials from Quebec City and Ottawa who, haphazardly to be sure, helped win the 1995 referendum. Continue…

Sad morning

By Aaron Wherry - Thursday, August 12, 2010 at 11:09 AM - 0 Comments

It is being reported that Mario Lague, Michael Ignatieff’s director of communications, was killed this morning in a motorcycle crash. The Globe has a short profile.

Mr. Ignatieff has issued the following statement.

“It is with great sadness that we learned this morning that our Director of Communications, Mario Laguë, was tragically killed in a motorcycle accident in Ottawa.

“A man of many talents and accomplishments, Mario was a beloved member of our staff, and a valued personal advisor to me and the entire Liberal team. A man of great integrity and spirit, Mario served his country in many capacities with honour and dignity. Whether as a public servant under Prime Ministers Jean Chrétien and Paul Martin, Ambassador to Costa Rica or in his most cherished role as a husband and father, Mario brought a bright light to everything he did.

“While we will miss Mario’s extensive talents, we will miss most of all his warmth, his humour, and his passion for Canada that inspired us all.

“On behalf of the Liberal Party of Canada and our Parliamentary caucus, my thoughts and prayers go out to his family, loved ones and the many, many friends and colleagues that knew him.”

It's a very vertical DonOLO

By Paul Wells - Tuesday, November 17, 2009 at 12:11 PM - 126 Comments

It’s Peter Donolo day here on the Hill — pasta and vintage movies for everyone! Especially the vaguely-familiar names on the org chart the Liberal Opposition sent out this morning. Meet the hardy band of scrappers who move on to the next episode of Survivor: Fourth Floor, Centre Block:

Now I’m going to make some general comments on this crew and the way they’re organized. Continue…