{"id":225602,"date":"2019-08-03T20:45:50","date_gmt":"2019-08-04T00:45:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=225602"},"modified":"2019-08-03T20:45:50","modified_gmt":"2019-08-04T00:45:50","slug":"shocked-heartbroken-conservative-mp-deepak-obhrai-69","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2019\/08\/03\/shocked-heartbroken-conservative-mp-deepak-obhrai-69\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;Shocked,&#8217; &#8216;heartbroken&#8217;: Conservative MP Deepak Obhrai, 69,"},"content":{"rendered":"<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Please see below: <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/xKU2zBx8yv\">pic.twitter.com\/xKU2zBx8yv<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Hon Deepak Obhrai PC (@deepakobhrai) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/deepakobhrai\/status\/1157683403799638018?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 3, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>OTTAWA \u2014 Calgary MP Deepak Obhrai, the scarf-sporting, fun-loving elder statesman of the Conservative caucus and a beloved character on Parliament Hill who championed the virtues of tolerance and human rights, died Friday just weeks after discovering an aggressive form of liver cancer.<\/p>\n<p>The unexpected news came Saturday morning in a statement that said Obhrai \u2014 he just turned 69 last month, roughly the same time he was diagnosed with an advanced Stage 4 case of the disease \u2014 died abruptly in Calgary while surrounded by members of his family, who described themselves as \u201cshocked by his sudden departure.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDeepak was a constant source of joy inside the Conservative caucus,\u201d said a statement from \u201cheartbroken\u201d leader Andrew Scheer, with whom Obhrai shared the battle to lead the party in 2016 and 2017.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe brightened every room he walked into and often injected warmth, kindness, and good humour into our deliberations. I know I speak on behalf of my Conservative colleagues when I say that he will be missed tremendously.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In an interview, Scheer said he only heard \u201ca few days ago\u201d that Obhrai had taken ill.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI was shocked to hear that because he seemed to be in fine form the last time I saw him when the House was still sitting,\u201d Scheer said.<\/p>\n<p>Obhrai is the fourth Conservative MP to die in the last four years, and the second this year: B.C. MP Mark Warawa died in June of pancreatic cancer. Ontario MP Gord Brown died in May 2018 after suffering a heart attack in his Ottawa office, the same fate that befell Lethbridge MP and leukemia survivor Jim Hillyer in March 2016.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt&#8217;s been a tough Parliament for our caucus and our party,\u201d said Scheer, who called Obhrai an \u201cinstitution\u201d in the Conservative party. \u201cIt&#8217;s just so sad.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Obhrai, the first-ever Hindu to be elected to the House of Commons, represented Calgary Forest Lawn since 1997 and was the longest-serving Conservative MP and Indo-Canadian in Parliament. He was also the longest-serving parliamentary secretary to a minister of foreign affairs in Canadian history.<\/p>\n<p>Born and raised in Tanzania, Obhrai studied on three continents before settling in Calgary with his family in 1977. He was set to contest his eighth federal election in a campaign that&#8217;s widely expected to get underway early next month.<\/p>\n<p>Condolences poured in from both sides of the aisle Saturday, with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tweeting that the \u201cparliamentary family\u201d was mourning.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDeepak Obhrai dedicated himself to serving his constituents with utmost integrity, and we will miss him dearly,\u201d the prime minister wrote.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA colourful, animated, outspoken MP, he was always genuinely friendly and stuck to his principles,\u201d tweeted Liberal colleague Ralph Goodale. \u201cParliament will miss him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Obhrai&#8217;s message of inclusion was at its most prominent during the Conservative leadership race to replace Stephen Harper, when he joined a crowded field of contenders in what he said was an effort to woo back supporters turned off by what they saw as divisive, anti-immigrant sentiment.<\/p>\n<p>His pointed opposition to challenger Kellie Leitch, best known for proposing to require face-to-face interviews with would-be newcomers to Canada and to screen them for so-called \u201cCanadian values,\u201d helped to establish him as a progressive voice in a party whose promises in 2015 \u2014 banning niqabs during citizenship ceremonies and a \u201cbarbaric practices\u201d tip line, to name two \u2014 he considered antagonistic.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe want all his friends, constituents of Calgary Forest Lawn, his supporters from all over the world, and all his colleagues to know that their support and love for our dad continued to inspire him to break every glass ceiling, and overcome every obstacle, so that he could continue doing what he loved the most \u2014 standing up for human rights,\u201d the family said in a statement.<\/p>\n<p>That statement appeared on Obhrai&#8217;s Twitter feed Saturday morning, directly above a June 24 photo of members of his campaign team door-knocking in the riding in anticipation of the Oct. 21 election \u2014 a jarring illustration of his rapid decline.<\/p>\n<p>In an email to The Canadian Press, former Conservative MP and interim leader Rona Ambrose fondly recalled Obhrai&#8217;s friendship, as well as his occasionally irreverent bid to lead the party, which she said was loyally endorsed by her own mother.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy mom rooted for him every step of the way in the leadership race. She especially appreciated when he tried valiantly, albeit failed miserably, to speak French in the French debate! She said politics needed more people like Deepak,\u201d Ambrose wrote.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe told me with all sincerity that he didn&#8217;t think he would win, but that it was important for his kids, our party and the country to see a &#8216;brown guy&#8217; (as he jokingly called himself) run to lead our country,\u201d she continued. \u201cHe said no matter what, because of those reasons, he would stay in the race till the end. That said everything about his commitment to his family, cultural community, the party and our country.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Alberta Premier Jason Kenney, a former caucus colleague during Harper&#8217;s tenure as prime minister, paid tribute to his close friend in a lengthy statement posted to his Facebook page.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPerhaps Deepak&#8217;s biggest legacy was the key role that he played in the huge upgrading of Canada-India relations during Stephen Harper&#8217;s premiership,\u201d Kenney wrote.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThose who knew him will always smile in recalling Deepak&#8217;s winsome sense of humour, which reflected his generosity of spirit. He treated colleagues on all sides of the political aisle with respect, while reminding all of us never to take ourselves too seriously.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Obhrai leaves behind his wife Neena, children Priti, Kaajal, and Amman, and grandchildren Davin Jacob and Evasha. Details for the funeral arrangements were not immediately disclosed Saturday.<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 With files from Mia Rabson and Stephanie Levitz in Ottawa<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Please see below: pic.twitter.com\/xKU2zBx8yv &mdash; Hon Deepak Obhrai PC (@deepakobhrai) August 3, 2019 OTTAWA \u2014 Calgary MP Deepak Obhrai, the &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":225603,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18,16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-225602","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news-ca","category-news","mauthors-james-mccarten","mauthors-the-canadian-press"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/225602","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=225602"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/225602\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":225604,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/225602\/revisions\/225604"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/225603"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=225602"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=225602"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=225602"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}