Canada needs more people like Ed Lumley

We have both had the good fortune to have known Ed Lumley as colleagues and friends for many years. In these days of hyper-partisanship and a political focus on the immediate, his enduring achievements are worth celebrating and his character is worth emulating. Lumley grew up in tough circumstances on the other side of the tracks in the cross-border motor city of Windsor, Ont. He played football as a young man, and never forgot what being a team player meant. One time, when his team checked into a hotel, the innkeeper said a Black player couldn’t stay. Lumley abruptly told him that everyone was staying or his team would trash the hotel. That steely resolve was seen throughout his life, including when he—in his early seventies—inserted himself between a much younger protester and then-Ontario premier Dalton McGuinty when the OPP seemed nowhere to be found. Privately, he remarked, “If he took a run at the premier, I would have decked him.” Armed with a commerce degree from Assumption University (University of Windsor) and an entrepreneurial nature, he became very successful at a young age at Coca-Cola, which brought him to Cornwall, Ont. There, in his early thirties, Lumley decided to throw his hat in the race for mayor of Cornwall. He worked hard and won in a landslide. Two years later in 1974, he was off to Ottawa as the newly-minted MP for Stormont—Dundas, Ont. He held key cabinet portfolios, including industry, trade, and commerce, where he excelled, and he developed lifelong friendships in government and business. It was likely his Windsor roots that drove Lumley’s passion for autos and trade. The Canadian auto industry owes an enormous debt of gratitude to him. In the early 1980s, Canada’s domestic auto industry was in the tank and losing ground badly to Japanese imports. Lumley flew to Japan in an attempt to get the country to agree to voluntary quotas on their auto exports. Lumley’s initial pitch was not embraced by the Japanese. Undeterred, he initiated a "border action" on the West Coast, which slowed down the importation of shiploads of Japanese cars. Some claimed there was a line of ships between Japan and Vancouver. Lumley stared down the Japanese and they blinked first. He got limits on Japanese imports, and encouraged them to build plants in Canada because of the advantages the Canadian economy offered. Honda opened a plant in Alliston, Ont., and Toyota opened one in Cambridge, Ont. Among prime minister Pierre Trudeau’s ministers, Lumley was not only on the right economically, but he was also right about the importance of our domestic auto industry. Since the Lumley “border actions," Japanese automakers have invested more than $15-billion in Canada, and currently employ more than 40,000 Canadians in vehicle and parts manufacturing. No Canadian prime minister deserves more credit for continental free trade than Brian Mulroney, but he had some early help across the aisle. When Ronald Reagan proposed free trade during his 1980 presidential campaign, Lumley asked Pierre Trudeau if he could meet with Bill Brock, who was then-U.S. president Ronald Reagan’s trade representative. Trudeau agreed on the provision that the talks be kept secret. Brock was initially surprised by Lumley’s overture, knowing the Liberal Party’s stance on trade. In 1984, the Liberals, including Lumley, were shown the door by voters. Brian Mulroney, who campaigned against free trade, won in a landslide. Derek Burney, a public servant who had worked on the Lumley-initiated trade talks with the Americans, became a close confidante of prime minister Mulroney, and continued to work on how to re-imagine the Canada-U.S. trade file. Lumley didn’t expect to lose his own seat in 1984. As a minister, he travelled across the country, trying to bolster the fortunes of other candidates. His wife Patty warned him that he was in trouble. Upon returning home from a campaign stop at the Domtar plant in Cornwall, he told Patty that the voters were all waving. She replied, “Ed, they are waving goodbye.” In defeat, Lumley found new opportunities. He served as the chairman of Noranda Manufacturing Group, and then became vice chair of BMO Capital Markets, where he played a key role in CN’s privatization, and was the firm’s top revenue producer. He also served on numerous boards, including Air Canada, Bell, CN, and Magna. He gave back to the community, serving as a very active chancellor of the University of Windsor for a dozen years, and fundraised more than $100-million in support of capital projects and scholarships for the school. Beyond his early commitment to civil rights, Lumley has a number of traits that others—whether aspiring politicians, bankers, or anyone else—can learn from. First, he is genuinely kind, warm, and friendly, and fiercely proud of his family. In addition to his trademark hair, he always has a warm, toothy smile. He has an uncanny knack for remembering names. The ultimate backroom wheeler-dealer, he knew the name of every colleague's or client’s administrative assistant. Rather than breeze into a client’s office, he would take the time to ask the assistant about their family. To this day, he works the phone checking in on friends. Second, despite being a confident, larger-than-life character, who makes his presence known when he walks into a room, he is an incredibly thoughtful and respectful person. Throughout his career, he has taken the time to mentor hundreds, including the two of us. And he earned the trust of many of Canada’s leaders over the past half century. When a politician was defeated, he would always reach out, offer encouraging words, and quietly try to help them move on to the next phase of their career. Third, he never takes himself too seriously, and he has a very keen sense of self-deprecating humour. When he ran into technical difficulty with his computer, which was often, he would remark that it’s hard to believe that he was ever the minister of science and technology. Fourth, he’s an eternal optimist. He’s taken number of health challenges over the past few years in stride and often remarks, “There may not be too much gas in the tank, but there is still a lot of fire in the belly.” Finally, the consummate politician, he was never overly partisan. On his first day as a new MP in 1974, former prime minister John Diefenbaker walked across the aisle and said to Lumley, “Young man, you can have a remarkable career in politics… Just make sure you are never called a liar, never laughed at, and never show disrespect to your fellow Parliamentarians.” Lumley took those words to heart. As a minister, he always reached across the aisle and brought opposition critics with him on foreign trips. He embodied a "Team Canada" approach years before the term was coined. To this day, he has many friends across party lines. Today’s political world is too full of hype and cheap shots, where soundbites masquerade as policy. The business world isn’t much better, where too many executives manage for the current quarter not the long term, and forget they are there to act in the client’s interest. As we approach the 50th anniversary of his first election to the House of Commons, Canadians should reflect upon and be inspired by Ed Lumley’s truly remarkable career, impact, and example. Kevin Lynch is a former clerk of the Privy Council and vice-chair of BMO Financial Group. Paul Deegan is a former public affairs executive at BMO and CN, and has served in the Clinton White House's National Economic Council.