The death has occurred of Rex Murphy, of cancer. He was 77.And we mourn.For, with his passing, Canada’s conservatives have lost one of our most able spokesmen. Courageous, charming, hilarious in a way that only Newfoundlanders know how to be, he could with his rapier inflict the destruction of a small nuclear weapon upon vaulting egos and the pretensions of self-seeking politicians. But more than that, in the assessment of former prime minister Stephen Harper, he was “one of the most intelligent and fiercely free-thinking journalists this country has ever known.”And he was on our side.On the side of truth, that is. On the side of ordinary Canadians, whose common sense he defended with keen enthusiasm, against the mockery of liberal elites... Premier Danielle Smith says he was on the side of Alberta, to whom he “was always a good and true friend.” Exactly.Rex Murphy was utterly fearless. “Everything written,” he once opined, “if it has anything in it, will offend someone, and if the mere taking of offence was to amount to a licence to kill the offender, well the world would be sadly underpopulated of novelists, columnists, bloggers, and the writers of editorials.”He never cared, however. He said what he wanted to say and as it turned out, what so many Canadians were actually thinking but didn’t quite know how to express. For that, he earned our gratitude almost daily.And the plaudits keep coming. Conrad Black, who described Murphy as "a great man and a dear friend," called his death "a terrible loss to Canadian journalism." John Carpay, president of the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms called Murphy a great friend of the JCCF and "a friend of truth, freedom and justice whose masterful use of English would eviscerate popular but foolish slogans and cherished notions, particularly those favoured by ruling elites." Murphy was a regular speaker at the JCCF's George Jonas Freedom Award dinners in Toronto and Calgary, and in 2022 introduced Tamara Lich, when she was presented with the prestigious Award that year.Says Western Standard publisher Derek Fildebrandt, "Rex Murphy was — to me and many others — the greatest columnist and political commentator of a generation. Growing up, I remember his monologues on the CBC, captivated by the wisdom of his common sense and curious of his peculiar accent. This impossibly articulate Newfoundlander wrote beautifully of the West and its rightful place of respect in Canada, making him an honorary Albertan, and in many ways, the poet laureate of the West."There is one thing more: as we realize sadly that this great voice is silent forever, his many admirers can take satisfaction from knowing that he was their champion to the very end.In his last column, published just two days ago, he declared that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had faced ‘an essential moral test’ over his response to Israel’s defence of its people against Hamas — and was found wanting. It was vintage Murphy: “Our loudly, proudly self-proclaimed first male-feminist prime minister was silent on the horrid tortures and rapes of Israeli women….”Let us not in honouring Rex Murphy, lose ourselves in condemnation of the “clumsy, incompetent and amateur” Mr. Trudeau. There will be time enough for that.But Murphy truly knew and understood what the foundational issues were that threatened this country and the people in it. Sadly, they continue to threaten it. And the philosophy and beliefs that guided his thoughts in this column was also in many ways a summation of everything he stood for.So let us also acknowledge with gratitude that to the very end and in his own famous last words, he fought for the honour of Canada and for the beliefs that so many of us here in Western Canada hold to be deep certainties.We shall have more, much more, to say about Rex Murphy in the days to come.For now, let us admit that Rex Murphy is finally at peace. And to channel Conrad Black once more, "He really was a great man."
The death has occurred of Rex Murphy, of cancer. He was 77.And we mourn.For, with his passing, Canada’s conservatives have lost one of our most able spokesmen. Courageous, charming, hilarious in a way that only Newfoundlanders know how to be, he could with his rapier inflict the destruction of a small nuclear weapon upon vaulting egos and the pretensions of self-seeking politicians. But more than that, in the assessment of former prime minister Stephen Harper, he was “one of the most intelligent and fiercely free-thinking journalists this country has ever known.”And he was on our side.On the side of truth, that is. On the side of ordinary Canadians, whose common sense he defended with keen enthusiasm, against the mockery of liberal elites... Premier Danielle Smith says he was on the side of Alberta, to whom he “was always a good and true friend.” Exactly.Rex Murphy was utterly fearless. “Everything written,” he once opined, “if it has anything in it, will offend someone, and if the mere taking of offence was to amount to a licence to kill the offender, well the world would be sadly underpopulated of novelists, columnists, bloggers, and the writers of editorials.”He never cared, however. He said what he wanted to say and as it turned out, what so many Canadians were actually thinking but didn’t quite know how to express. For that, he earned our gratitude almost daily.And the plaudits keep coming. Conrad Black, who described Murphy as "a great man and a dear friend," called his death "a terrible loss to Canadian journalism." John Carpay, president of the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms called Murphy a great friend of the JCCF and "a friend of truth, freedom and justice whose masterful use of English would eviscerate popular but foolish slogans and cherished notions, particularly those favoured by ruling elites." Murphy was a regular speaker at the JCCF's George Jonas Freedom Award dinners in Toronto and Calgary, and in 2022 introduced Tamara Lich, when she was presented with the prestigious Award that year.Says Western Standard publisher Derek Fildebrandt, "Rex Murphy was — to me and many others — the greatest columnist and political commentator of a generation. Growing up, I remember his monologues on the CBC, captivated by the wisdom of his common sense and curious of his peculiar accent. This impossibly articulate Newfoundlander wrote beautifully of the West and its rightful place of respect in Canada, making him an honorary Albertan, and in many ways, the poet laureate of the West."There is one thing more: as we realize sadly that this great voice is silent forever, his many admirers can take satisfaction from knowing that he was their champion to the very end.In his last column, published just two days ago, he declared that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had faced ‘an essential moral test’ over his response to Israel’s defence of its people against Hamas — and was found wanting. It was vintage Murphy: “Our loudly, proudly self-proclaimed first male-feminist prime minister was silent on the horrid tortures and rapes of Israeli women….”Let us not in honouring Rex Murphy, lose ourselves in condemnation of the “clumsy, incompetent and amateur” Mr. Trudeau. There will be time enough for that.But Murphy truly knew and understood what the foundational issues were that threatened this country and the people in it. Sadly, they continue to threaten it. And the philosophy and beliefs that guided his thoughts in this column was also in many ways a summation of everything he stood for.So let us also acknowledge with gratitude that to the very end and in his own famous last words, he fought for the honour of Canada and for the beliefs that so many of us here in Western Canada hold to be deep certainties.We shall have more, much more, to say about Rex Murphy in the days to come.For now, let us admit that Rex Murphy is finally at peace. And to channel Conrad Black once more, "He really was a great man."
