[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 195 (Saturday, December 19, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E3061-E3063]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  ON THE RETIREMENT OF SENATOR JERAHMIEL ``JERRY'' GRAFSTEIN OF CANADA

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. ALCEE L. HASTINGS

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                      Saturday, December 19, 2009

  Mr. HASTINGS of Florida. Madam Speaker, as Co-Chairman of the US 
Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe (the Helsinki 
Commission), and a former President of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, 
it is bittersweet that I rise today to honor the retirement of one of 
this nation's closest friends north of our border. Senator Jerahmiel 
``Jerry'' Grafstein of Canada is well known to many in this House. To 
me, he has been a mentor, friend, and colleague for the past 15 years 
or so. Senator Grafstein ends his service to the Canadian Senate this 
month. The distinguished Chairman of the Helsinki Commission, my very 
good friend Ben Cardin of Maryland, recently gave an eloquent tribute 
on the Senate floor to Jerry Grafstein. Rather than try to be redundant 
to what Chairman Cardin has already said, I thought to honor Senator 
Grafstein by sharing with this House his insightful final speech in the 
Senate of Canada. I hope my colleagues will read it and learn from it 
for years to come. Let me finally say to Sen. Grafstein that I thank 
him for his service to his country, his friendship to our country, and 
his tireless work on behalf of humanity. I look forward to seeing him 
in Washington or the great State of Florida sometime very soon.


                   Senate of Canada, December 9, 2009

       Hon. Jerahmiel S. Grafstein: Honourable senators, thank you 
     for those most generous words. My late father would have been 
     surprised. My late mother would have said, ``Not nearly 
     enough.'' Honourable senators, I have always been curious 
     about the words, ``maiden speech.'' By custom, it designates 
     the first speech a parliamentarian makes when a 
     parliamentarian enters a house of Parliament. What do we call 
     a farewell speech in Parliament when we are no longer a 
     maiden? I leave that to honourable senators' imagination.
       It has been over 25 years since I was first summoned to the 
     Senate by Mr. Trudeau. When he called to appoint me, he said, 
     ``We need you in the Senate; take your time, Jerry, to think 
     about it.'' I told the Prime Minister I did not need any 
     time, that I accepted. ``This is the greatest honour anyone 
     has ever bestowed on me,'' I told him. ``However, Prime 
     Minister, I do have one question.'' Mr. Trudeau laughed. 
     ``What is your question, Jerry?'' he asked. I asked, ``What 
     did you mean when you said, ``We need you in the Senate'?''
       Mr. Trudeau laughed again and I heard the phone drop. A 
     second later he apologized and said he did not mean to laugh. 
     He said, ``Jerry, you are the very first person I have ever 
     appointed who asked me why.'' ``Well, Prime Minister, why?'' 
     I repeated. ``Why am I needed in the Senate?'' He responded 
     so graciously, and he said these words--I made notes at the 
     time: ``You have provided me with great ideas. Now I want you 
     to use the Senate as a platform to share those ideas with the 
     Canadian public.''
       Honourable senators, I have tried. Sometimes I succeeded. 
     Many times I failed. However, I have been motivated by three 
     pieces of advice that Mr. Pearson gave me when I first 
     entered politics and I sat beside him. He told me these three 
     things: Aim high, work hard, and be fair. Some time before my 
     appointment, Mr. Trudeau told me at a meeting, ``Jerry, you 
     have great ideas, but you have not overcome one problem that 
     you have.'' ``What is that?'' I said. ``I do not have any 
     problems.''
       ``Yes, you do,'' he said. ``Each time you advocate a great 
     idea, automatically and spontaneously, a coalition of `antis' 
     spring up to fight any good idea. Your job as a politician is 
     to navigate around that coalition and get to the other 
     side.'' Then he said these words that I have never forgotten: 
     ``Never give up.''
       Honourable senators, each day when I awake at the Chateau 
     Laurier, I say a short Hebrew prayer: Modeh ani Lefanecha--
     Thank God who has awakened my soul to live another day. I 
     walk a hundred steps from the Chateau Laurier across the 
     historic bridge over the Rideau Canal and look up to the 
     statue of my great political hero, as Senator Munson 
     mentioned, Sir Wilfrid Laurier, and give him a morning 
     salute. Then I take another hundred steps, past the East 
     Block, and the most beautiful building in Canada looms into 
     sight. What a sight it is.
       I see the Parliament buildings, the Peace Tower and, on top 
     of it, the Canadian flag flying. I remember the courage of 
     Mr. Pearson, who introduced the flag in the face of great 
     division in this country. I swear every morning that I will 
     do my very best that day for the privilege of serving in the 
     Senate and here in Parliament. Honourable senators, I have 
     served under eight Prime Ministers and twelve leaders in the 
     Senate. I want to thank all of my colleagues, but especially 
     the current deputy leaders, Senator Tardif and Senator 
     Comeau, who have the most complex jobs in the Senate. I want 
     to say how much I admire both of them.
       Hon. Senators: Hear, hear.
       Senator Grafstein: Of course, I salute my own leader, the 
     graceful Senator Cowan, and the Leader of the Government in 
     the Senate, Senator LeBreton, both of whom lead us here so 
     very ably. Thank you so much. May I thank the reporters who 
     have reproduced--do not be shocked--almost 5 million words of 
     my speeches, resolutions, comments and reports. I would be 
     remiss if I did not mention the researchers of the Library of 
     Parliament who have responded to my needs. To Mark Audcent 
     and to the legislative staff who drafted my bills, motions 
     and resolutions with skill and professionalism, I thank you.
       For the many courtesies offered to me by the Speaker, his 
     predecessors, by the Deputy Speaker, and to all the table 
     officers, my sincere appreciation for your patience and 
     advice. I have learned much from all of you. Of course my 
     special appreciation goes to my executive assistant, who is 
     sitting up in the gallery, Mary de Toro, who leads my mighty 
     staff of one, the wisest woman on Parliament Hill who has 
     kept me from making disastrous mistakes.
       My first decision when I came to the Senate was what name 
     and what designation I should use as senator. I chose my 
     first given name, Jerahmiel, although people have called me 
     Jerry. People have been curious about why that name and not 
     my customary name, Jerry. Jerahmiel is mentioned only once in 
     the Bible. He was the son of the last King of Israel. The 
     name means ``the mercy of God.'' It is meant to remind the 
     holders of that name to remember that they are here to help 
     the less fortunate. My other designation as senator is Metro 
     Toronto, to remind me of the great city of Toronto and the 
     regional base of the key of my responsibilities here.
       What lessons have I learned in the Senate? Honourable 
     senators, I will not predict the future. I have always worked 
     hard in the past and in the present. In the process, I became 
     a much better criminal lawyer, a substantial constitutional 
     lawyer, as my friend Senator Nolin has become, and an expert 
     international lawyer. The future, honourable senators, I 
     leave to you.
       The precious gift that the Fathers of Confederation 
     bestowed on the Senate and senators was independence and the 
     freedom to make choices. That is what Sir John A. Macdonald 
     and the Fathers of Confederation gave each and every one of 
     us. Most of my choices I shared with my party and my leader, 
     and sometimes I disagreed and did as Mr. Trudeau advised, 
     spoke my mind to the discomfort at times of my leaders and my 
     colleagues on this side.
       I have served on all the committees of the Senate, and I 
     have been kicked off several committees several times when I 
     did so, and I do not regret it. I always believed that the 
     Senate acts best when it is true to its mandate as a chamber 
     of second sober thought. The Senate has always made mistakes 
     when there has been a rush to judgment. ``Principles and 
     pragmatism,'' so said Lloyd George, ``march best when they 
     march together.''
       This chamber, following the teachings of the great 
     Blackstone, is a chamber dedicated to checks and balances. To 
     check and balance the executive and the other house of 
     Parliament is our constitutional mandate. Hence, we should 
     not place our trust blindly in government. Governments do 
     what they do and do what they want and do what they must. It 
     can be best summed up in Psalm 146: ``Put not your trust in 
     princes.'' We are here to speak truth to power. That is our 
     constitutional duty.
       I recall my maiden speech when I advocated an apology to 
     Canadians of Japanese descent. Mr. Trudeau, who had just 
     appointed me, disagreed. He argued that we cannot correct the 
     past but can only improve the future. I disagreed with him on 
     the facts. Citizens of Japanese origin had been deprived of 
     their rights and property during the war, and there was no 
     evidence whatsoever provided to me or to the Prime Minister 
     at the time to call in or question their loyalty to Canada. I 
     advocated for an apology, and ultimately it was given by 
     Brian Mulroney, and I respect him for that.
       I recall the extradition bill, as Senator Joyal pointed 
     out, passed by a Liberal government in haste, with barely a 
     debate in the other place. Under that bill, the Liberal 
     Attorney General of Canada of the day would have had the 
     power to extradite Canadians to a state that practiced 
     capital punishment even though Parliament had abolished 
     capital punishment under Mr. Trudeau after a fantastic and 
     unbelievable fight across the

[[Page E3062]]

     country. The government wanted that bill. They wanted it 
     then. They urged it was important because of pending 
     decisions.
       I disagreed, and so did my colleague Senator Joyal. 
     Together, with other colleagues in this chamber, we kept that 
     debate going for several months, but finally we succumbed to 
     our leadership and to government pressure. Senator Joyal and 
     I decided to make our arguments in the Senate at third 
     reading as if we were arguing before the Supreme Court of 
     Canada because we felt that that bill would be ultimately 
     challenged and would be shown to be unconstitutional. We sent 
     the Senate Hansard, a public document, to all the judges of 
     the Supreme Court, and we were so pleased over a year later 
     when the Supreme Court of Canada upheld our major arguments.
       I remember another important debate on a resolution 
     introduced in the other place declaring Quebec ``a distinct 
     society.'' The government introduced that resolution here 
     shortly after the referendum. I angered my colleagues on this 
     side, I angered the Prime Minister, I angered the leader of 
     the Senate, my great friend Allan MacEachen, and other 
     colleagues on this side, when I refused to support that 
     resolution. I gave the shortest speech I have ever given in 
     the Senate, and I repeat it here now: Canada is a distinct 
     society. All the rest is commentary.
       While Quebecers are different, so are Newfoundlanders, so 
     are Acadians, so are hundreds and hundreds of Aboriginal 
     tribes and many other groups in Canada. Honourable senators, 
     I believed then and I believe now in one Canada, bilingual 
     and multicultural--one Canada.
       One of my most stimulating periods was as chairman of the 
     Standing Senate Committee on Banking, Trade and Commerce with 
     Senator Angus as my congenial deputy chairman. Together, with 
     a total consensus of all members on both sides, we did a 
     number of important, sharp and pointed studies dealing with 
     consumer protection of the financial securities sector, the 
     volunteer and charitable sector, the demographic time bomb, 
     stemming the flow of illicit money to Canada and others.
       Hopefully the work we commenced on hedge funds and 
     derivatives, started well before the last financial meltdown, 
     and the work on reducing interprovincial trade barriers to 
     make Canada one dynamic competitive marketplace will be 
     completed by others in the Senate. Being a Canadian senator 
     offers unique opportunities to travel and to participate in 
     international affairs. One of my most satisfying experiences 
     has been as co-chairman of the Canada-U.S. Inter-
     Parliamentary Group. I was elected to that office by members 
     of Parliament in both houses for eight successive terms and 
     served for over 16 years in that position.
       The Canada-U.S. Inter-Parliamentary Group was founded in 
     1959 and recently celebrated its fiftieth anniversary. During 
     my term in office, with the support of colleagues on all 
     sides, bipartisan, we transformed that organization from one 
     annual meeting with the Americans to an active, vigorous 
     advocacy group meeting with state legislators, governors in 
     every corner of America, in addition to regular meetings on 
     Capitol Hill in Washington with congressmen and senators to 
     advocate one thing, Canada's interest. We learned that all 
     politics is local, and so we have to work at the local level 
     in the United States, and hence our meeting with state 
     officials and governors. All problems in the United States 
     affecting Canada start at the local level and, if detected 
     early enough, can be diluted if not resolved.
       After each meeting, honourable senators, as I will do later 
     today, we tabled a complete report of our activities to the 
     Senate to ensure that the senators who were interested could 
     benefit from our experience. We were not there to represent 
     ourselves. We were there to represent Canada, and that is why 
     we tabled these reports. I want to thank my current co-chair 
     in the house, Gord Brown, and my current American co-chairs, 
     Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and Congressman James 
     Oberstar of Minnesota, who is the only member of our group 
     who has served the Canada-U.S. Inter-Parliamentary Group 
     longer than I.
       When I first came to the Senate, I was able to travel to a 
     number of international organizations consistent with my work 
     on the Standing Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs and 
     International Trade, where I and my colleague Senator 
     Stollery have been the longest serving members. I decided 
     that I would focus my activities where Canada and the United 
     States both had a vote, the Organization for Security and Co-
     operation in Europe, Parliamentary Assembly, which flowed out 
     of the Helsinki Accord in 1974, currently with 56 member 
     states from Vladivostok to Vancouver.
       There I became an active member on the executive and served 
     as an elected member for 15 years. This organization is the 
     largest parliamentary assembly dedicated to human rights, 
     economic rights and democratic rights in the world. I became 
     a witness to history serving as one of the heads of election 
     monitoring in Russia, Ukraine during the Orange Revolution, 
     Georgia during the Rose Revolution and on the Independence 
     Referendum for Montenegro and many others. Senator Di Nino 
     has also served on a number of those committees with great 
     skill and expertise.
       I learned how precious democracy is and how important 
     democracy building is for the future of the world. I worked 
     closely with elected presidents of the assembly, and I want 
     to pay special tribute to two recent presidents: Congressmen 
     Alcee Hastings of Florida and Joao Soares, the head of the 
     Portuguese Delegation and current Vice-President of the OSCE 
     Parliamentary Assembly, who have done outstanding work 
     travelling the length and breadth of the OSCE space. We have 
     become great personal friends.
       A sparkplug in this organization, which is headquartered in 
     Copenhagen, is Spencer Oliver, the long-serving Secretary 
     General, who is the most brilliant and knowledgeable American 
     I have ever met, with a deep and penetrating insight into 
     foreign affairs. He has become one of my closest friends in 
     public life. While at the OSCE PA, I served as leader of the 
     Liberal group there, and I finally resigned this year after 
     12 years. They elected me as Liberal Leader Emeritus 
     Perpetual, a title I will cherish all my life. I do not kid 
     myself: I achieved these offices overseas because I was 
     Canadian, because the world respects Canada and Canadians who 
     represent Canada.
       I think the Senate should have a brief explanation, 
     particularly those senators who have been mildly critical of 
     the numerous OSCE resolutions combating anti-Semitism on the 
     Order Paper that I tabled and that are still on the Order 
     Paper. Why those many resolutions? After the Berlin Wall came 
     down in 1989--and I was in Germany before and after the wall 
     came down--I thought I would finally close my dossier on 
     anti-Semitism. There was hope for a new world order. But it 
     was not to be. The UN had passed an invidious resolution 
     equating Zionism with racism.
       Anti-Semitism was on the rise not only across the face of 
     the earth and around the globe, not only across Europe, but 
     also in South America and in Canada. In 1994, a diligent 
     congressman from New Jersey, Chris Smith, approached me to 
     work on a resolution to combat anti-Semitism and to present 
     it to the OSCE parliamentary assembly annual meeting. I 
     agreed. We were joined by Congressman Steny Hoyer, now the 
     majority leader of the Congress and one the most powerful men 
     in the United States, a good friend; Congressman Alcee 
     Hastings; Congressman Ben Cardin, now a senator from 
     Maryland; Gert Weisskirchen of the German Parliament and 
     parliamentarians from Italy, France, Austria, Ukraine, Poland 
     and others.
       That first resolution was passed by a bare majority. 
     Thereafter, across the face of Europe, in Copenhagen, twice 
     in Berlin, Oporto, Cordoba, Rotterdam, Edinburgh, Vienna, 
     London, Rome, St. Petersburg, Kazakhstan, Madrid, Washington 
     and so forth, we continued the thrust of those resolutions, 
     parliamentary, ministerial and side meetings.
       There were two chilly experiences. I spoke on these 
     resolutions in the Berlin Reichstag at the very podium where 
     Hitler had declared the Nuremberg Laws in 1933. I spoke in 
     the Hofberg Palace at the very same place in Vienna where 
     Hitler announced the Anschluss between Germany and Austria in 
     1938 that most historians agree ignited World War II. This 
     work continued, meeting after meeting, and finally, 
     honourable senators, I brought one of these resolutions to 
     the Senate in 2002. It was passed in 2004 and was referred to 
     the Standing Senate Committee on Human Rights. That committee 
     held meetings for a day or so, and then, without explanation, 
     decided not to complete its work.
       It is the first time I can recall that a resolution passed 
     by the Senate was not followed by a committee of the Senate. 
     I urged members of the committee to complete their work, but 
     without success. I decided to put down resolution after 
     resolution on the Order Paper until there could be some 
     closure and conclusion to this matter. I was pleased some 
     years ago that the UN would use those very resolutions to 
     hold a one-day conference on anti-Semitism, the first of its 
     kind at the UN. I was delighted when the British Parliament 
     did a landmark study on this topic several years ago and 
     published it. I am pleased that, finally, parliamentarians on 
     the other side, under the leadership of Mario Silva and Scott 
     Reid, are holding hearings on combating anti-Semitism. I live 
     in hope that the Senate will consider its findings and add 
     its considerable expertise and credit to its recommendations.
       I have learned two things about this topic, ``anti-
     Semitism,'' the oldest of all prejudices. First, that 
     discrimination starts with Jews, but never ends with Jews, as 
     one great Danish Prime Minister once said. Second, what to 
     do? Education is the answer. The Nobel Prize winner Elie 
     Wiesel said these words at the Berlin conference: ``You can 
     teach a child to love or you can teach a child to hate.'' So 
     education is an answer. A word about Senator Di Nino: I 
     admire very much his work with respect to human rights not 
     only at the OSCE but also with respect to the Dalai Lama. He 
     has been a great and compatible companion at the OSCE, and he 
     will continue to do great and important work over there. My 
     congratulations to him.
       Senators, I am coming to the close, but before I end, I 
     would like to say a word about the current atmosphere in the 
     Senate that I dislike. While I am as partisan--as everyone 
     knows--as any senator, and will vigorously attack on behalf 
     of my party and on behalf of my principles, I also believe in 
     political companionship and congeniality that rises above 
     partisan politics. I do not enjoy those who downgrade the 
     Senate, the institution we are all privileged and summoned to 
     serve. I have made good friends on both sides of the aisle 
     here and in the other place. I take my leave of this hallowed 
     hall with no regrets. I

[[Page E3063]]

     tried my best, and if I failed, I have failed trying to do my 
     best.
       Honourable senators opposite will forgive me if I remind 
     them that my great parliamentary hero was and is Sir Winston 
     Churchill, whose printed works and speeches I have read 
     avidly. When Britain was in the most desperate straits in the 
     early part of World War II, he gave this advice to his 
     colleagues, and this is my advice to my colleagues on this 
     side: KBO, keep buggering on. As for my colleagues on the 
     other side, I recall that Sir Winston Churchill in his dotage 
     confessed that he had always been a Liberal. Good advice.
       If I have succeeded, I owe it to my late father and the 
     great mentors I have encountered in politics: Mr. Pearson, 
     Mr. Trudeau, Mr. Turner, Mr. Chretien and Mr. Martin, and, of 
     course, Keith Davey, our former colleague, who taught us all 
     on this side to love the Liberal Party. I will not say 
     goodbye, but au revoir. On January 2, I start my third act. 
     Regretfully, you have not heard the last of me yet. To my 
     wife who might feel trepidation on my return to Toronto: Do 
     not worry. I have lots of new projects that will keep me 
     eternally occupied. All the very best to all of you, Godspeed 
     and thank you so much.

                          ____________________