Merci, Lucienne

Robillard is of course most familiar to her Westmount constituents through her regular column here in the Examiner, which ran throughout much of her mandate. Admittedly, the column did generate many more complaints than praise from readers, the vast majority of whom objected to the fact that our MP was given a bi-weekly spot and usually filled it with thinly veiled government press releases that had nothing to do with Westmount but everything to do with Liberal horn-blowing and self-congratulatory reports on new social programs.

This, the sceptics agreed, was tantamount to a shameful waste of prime newspaper space that would have been much better used in addressing issues of local importance. I was often urged to get rid of the MP column altogether, for it only occasionally mentioned Westmount or contained any local references.

My defence was always clear: An MP who makes the effort to communicate with her constituents on a regular basis is a precious rarity — especially an MP holding down one or two major Cabinet portfolios. Many Canadians are lucky to get a Christmas greeting from their local MP in the mail, even if they are represented by an obscure backbencher with plenty of time on his hands. Westmounters were indeed fortunate to be represented by someone who made sure something was sent in to the local paper on a regular basis. This was something to be encouraged, I argued, not stifled. The Examiner would not cut off that line of communication between citizen and elected official.

Then, after the last election bumped the Liberals out of power, the Robillard column got interesting. She suddenly became pointedly critical of the Harper government, just as a good Opposition MP should be — a complete turnaround from the never-rock-the-boat Lucienne we all knew. This lasted for a while, then she stopped writing altogether. No explanation, no words of farewell — just an abrupt end to the columns.

That was when it was clear she had decided to step down.

The announcement that local resident Garneau would replace her on the ballot in the next election came as great news to most Westmounters, through a few grumbled that he should have been properly nominated to the post by local party members.

Another common complaint levelled against Robillard was that she rarely appeared in the riding. This is nonsense; she may not have ever lived here, but she certainly made a point of spending as much time in Westmount as her schedule would allow. From the annual Remembrance Day ceremony at the local Cenotaph to mingling with her constituents at Family Day, she made it back here quite often — even while handling the additional responsibilities of a major portfolio.

Image was everything

It's impossible to sum up her long tenure as our federal representative in just a few sentences. Perhaps the most obvious thing to mention is her stoic devotion to maintaining an untarnished image. Robillard consistently displayed the most valuable skill for any politician — the uncanny ability to avoid trouble. Throughout her career, her personal reputation remained above reproach. Even at the height of the notorious sponsorship scandal, when so many of her fellow Liberals were being dragged through the mud, she managed to float high above it all. She was so good at this that in 2005, when Belinda Stronach caused a huge stir by crossing the Commons floor to join the Liberals during the darkest days of the scandal, Robillard's name was not even mentioned in most national news reports as the minister who relinquished her Human Resources portfolio to accommodate the star newcomer.

It was a remarkable coup of self-promotion — or in this case, self-suppression.

As a result of her knack for keeping her head down at the first sign of trouble and standing tall and proud during times of triumph, she never embarrassed her constituents. Instead, she has kept the Westmount-Ville Marie riding's name just as untarnished as her own, and has served us with distinction and class.