Senator Joseph Day says faith gives him direction
The Canadian Senate member attends a United church in Hampton, N.B.
In 2001, Joseph Day was called to the Senate upon the recommendation of former Prime Minister Jean Chrétien. He spoke with Trisha Elliott about China, the role of NATO and how faith informs his life.
Trisha Elliott: In January, you led a delegation of Canadian parliamentary representatives on a trip to China as tensions boiled around the detainment of Canadians Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig. Did you achieve what you had hoped to?
Joseph Day: Yes, we did. We had a frank exchange. We didn’t rub salt in wounds. We know that we have a difference of opinion and we won’t resolve it in our group but it’s important that we reiterate the rule of law and the system that we have and why things are happening the way they are. We are following a set of rules and procedures that have long been in place and that are fair. All of that is important to exchange with our colleagues from the National People’s Congress, which is the equivalent of Parliament.
TE: China seems to be balling up trade rules with criminal matters.
JD: Yes. We try to explain to them that our systems are separate. It’s not an easy situation. The important thing is to keep talking, to be reasonable with one another and hopefully a solution will come about. China has been working on modernizing its judiciary and its penal system but it’s a huge, huge country and they are going very slowly on some of the things that we take for granted.
TE: Are there other things that Canadians take for granted?
JD: It’s surprising the number of Christian churches that are still in existence in China. They don’t have a prominent position in the geography like most churches do in North America and in Europe but the churches are there, trying to help out the less fortunate. A lot of [church] activities are allowed but if they grow too quickly, the Chinese government feels threatened so they have to walk a fine line.
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TE: As the international vice president of the NATO parliamentary assembly, what do you think are the most pressing concerns that NATO is addressing today?
JD: There are many. We need to try to help the nations that are being occupied and unfairly treated by Russia. NATO plays an important role in trying to stop any further aggression. In China, the goal is relation-building. For example, by working with them to our mutual advantage to stop piracy off the coasts of Ethiopia and northern Africa.
TE: Closer to home, you are concerned about how our veterans are treated.
JD: Veterans Affairs is selling off beds in hospitals created after the First World War. We have rules that say more recent veterans of Afghanistan and other areas in Eastern Europe are not entitled to the Veterans Affairs beds in different parts of the country. I’ve always felt that individuals can be treated much more compassionately in designated institutions like veterans’ hospitals designed for special types of combined injuries like post-traumatic stress, operational injuries and physical injury. We owe so much to our veterans. They need our support and I’m afraid we’re still not there.
TE: You have taken a strong position on issues like transparency around the Phoenix system, rights of seasonal workers and access to service dogs. Does your faith inform your outlook?
JD: I don’t wear my faith on my sleeve but I have no doubt that it gives me direction when I need it. I can fall back on the teachings that I have been familiar with all my life. I attend the United church in Hampton, New Brunswick. It’s the same church in the little community I grew up in. I think the church performs an important role in supporting the community and I want to be part of that.
This interview was condensed and edited for clarity. It first appeared in the October 2019 issue of Broadview with the title “My faith gives me direction.” For more of Broadview’s award-winning content, subscribe to the magazine today.
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Tribute to the Honourable Joseph A. Day
Honourable senators, on behalf of the Independent Senators Group, I rise today to add my voice in bidding farewell to our colleague Senator Joseph Day. Senator Day has contributed much to this place, and with a little help from some of his friends I will highlight just a few of the ways that he left his mark on Canada’s upper chamber.
Senator Day’s list of accomplishments is long. He graduated from RMC in 1968 and was named best all-around graduate and outstanding college athlete. He has completed nine marathons, and many of you will have had glimpses of him flashing by in his gym kit on the streets of Ottawa on his daily jog to the Senate.
He has a bachelor’s degree in engineering, a Juris Doctorate, a masters in law and he has been a member of the bars of New Brunswick, Quebec and Ontario. Senator Wetston reminds me that, before he joined the Senate, Senator Day had a distinguished career as a lawyer specializing in intellectual property in Toronto.
Throughout his 19 years in Canada’s upper chamber, Senator Day has been a constant advocate for veterans, Indigenous people, New Brunswickers and Canadians on the international stage. His numerous contributions to furthering Canada’s international relations include his role as vice-president of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, and a member of both the Canada-Japan Interparliamentary Association and the Canada-China Legislative Association.
Senator Day has not only been a role model with respect to his work in the Senate, but he has also demonstrated professionalism, generosity and mentorship to senators of all groups and experience levels. If you will indulge me, I would like to pass along anecdotes from my colleagues in the ISG and beyond. There were so many of us who wanted to stand today and pay tribute.
Quite a few of the anecdotes had to do with encounters in the airport and particularly introducing some of our colleagues to A&W burgers. There were references to badminton connections, and expressed pleasure from all of my colleagues who have had the opportunity of travelling with you; they were such pleasant experiences, whether it was on short trips or trips to remote places such as the Arctic.
Senator Cormier wanted to highlight the fact that Senator Day, who comes from an English-speaking region of New Brunswick, went out of his way to master French and express himself so well in that language.
Even Senator Day’s former colleagues have reached out to me to offer their tributes. Former Senator Jack Austin specifically asked me to pass along that Senator Day exemplifies dedication to the public interest of the highest standard, and that he represented the finest level of Canadian values.
I will end with a quote that former Senator Austin asked me to pass to Senator Day:
My personal best wishes to Senator Day, and my advice: Don’t retire; rewire.
Former New Brunswick Sen. Joe Day has died
He was 79 years old
The Hampton military man, lawyer, and marthoner in his spare time was 79 years old.
The Senate confirmed Day’s passing in a statement on Monday afternoon.
“He was a distinguished lawyer recognized for his expertise on matters of intellectual property and was the longstanding chair of the Standing Senate Committee on National Finance,” Usher of the Black Rod J. Greg Peters said in a statement on behalf of Speaker Raymonde Gagné.
Day represented New Brunswick in the Senate for just over 18 years, from 2001 to 2020, when he reached the mandatory retirement age of 75.
He was also widely known for being on the front lines of furthering Canada’s international relations, in his final days in the upper chamber meeting with Chinese officials amid growing tensions.
“We do not live in a silo called Canada,” Day said in his farewell speech to the Senate four years ago. “We live in a country which is a valued and influential member of the international community, and that gives rise to obligations on the international stage.”
The Liberal senator had led the Canadian parliamentary delegation travelling to China in the year before his retirement, even as two Canadians remain detained there in what became apparent as retaliation for Canada honouring its extradition treaty with the U.S. in arresting Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou.
Day was a member of the Canada-China Legislative Association.
He was also a member of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly and served as the international vice-president for a term.
Before his time in the Senate, Day was a former lieutenant-colonel in the air force, lawyer, and one-time candidate for the leadership of the New Brunswick Liberal Party.
Those on Parliament Hill would recall him as the senator that you would see flashing by in his gym kit on the streets of Ottawa as part of his daily jog to work.
He also ran nine marathons.
Inside the Senate, he was a staple of the upper chamber’s Finance committee, known for meticulous work during the estimates process.
“In Senator Day, we have a renaissance man: engineer, lawyer, military man, marathoner and senator,” said Peter Harder, the government’s former representative in the Senate, during a farewell held for Day in the upper chamber in 2020. “Of course, the sum of every person is much more than what they have accomplished in their professional lives.
“In the case of Senator Day, we have a man who combines great accomplishments with great humility and kindness.”
In honouring Day, Sen. Percy Downe recalled how former Prime Minister Jean Chrétien instructed him to vet Day now more than two decades ago to see if he could be New Brunswick’s next senator.
“I was struck then, that notwithstanding his outstanding education and career, he was a very humble person, only motivated to help others,” Downe said.
To his closest colleagues, he was also a beer expert.
Day said he had taken brewery tours around the world, always making sure to ask where brewers then get hops, before plugging the Canadian grain industry.
“He combines that knowledge of beer with a running routine, so he enjoys the occasional beer but avoids the corresponding weight gain,” Downe said.
New Brunswick Sen. René Cormier highlighted how Day, who comes from southern New Brunswick, “went out of his way to master French and express himself so well in that language.”
Day had also been at the centre of a dramatic shift inside the Senate itself.
In 2016, he became leader of the Independent Liberal Senate caucus and would become Interim leader of the Progressive Senate Group in 2019.
Tributes continued to pour in on Tuesday.
“His dedication as a senator and commitment to New Brunswickers was truly inspiring,” Liberal Leader Susan Holt said in a statement. “Personally, he was kind and generous with his time, wisdom, and smile.”
Sen. Don Plett said, “Canadians will remember his service, one of dedication and distinction.”
“Although his retirement goes back four years, it seems like he was in the Senate just yesterday,” Plett said.
The Naval Association of Canada called him “a strong advocate for Canada’s navy.”
As a senator, Day co-sponsored Bill C-411, which established Merchant Navy Veterans Day held every Sept. 3.
Former Progressive Conservative MP and current Liberal Hampton-Fundy-St. Martins candidate John Herron called Day a “community icon,” brought up in Hampton, “who went on to do big things at home and abroad.”
“But I knew him as Joe, a fellow runner, a loving father and grandfather and partner,” Herron said.
Hampton-Fundy-St. Martins Green candidate Laura Myers called Day a “kind, gentleman who was incredibly respected by all who knew him.”
Former Fundy Royal MP Alaina Lockhart turned to social media to call Day a “special person looking out for Fundy Royal for decades.”
Paul Zed, another former Fundy Royal MP, called Day and his wife “staples of any Liberal campaign and always had important advice for young lawyers and politicians because Joe was so passionate and dedicated to the law and our country.”
He was married to Georgie Day, a former Liberal MLA who represented Kings Centre and then Hampton-Belleisle throughout the 1990s.
They had two children, Emilie and Fraser.
The statement from the Senate said that further information concerning funeral or memorial service arrangements will be communicated as they become available.
