A chatty traveller bending the ear of his seatmate on a flight caught the attention of a man sitting across the aisle.
asserted
traveller → bend → aisle
The prolix passenger was Andy Scott, the federal solicitor-general, who maintained an apparently voluble conversation with his seatmate about matters of public interest.
asserted
who → maintain → interest
The nearby eavesdropper was former reporter Dick Proctor, an NDP member of Parliament, who furiously scribbled verbatim notes from a conversation he could scarcely believe.
uncertain
he → scribble → conversation
He would use the notes to challenge the minister during Question Period, accusing him of having prejudged the outcome of an inquiry into security at an Asian Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Vancouver in 1997.
asserted
He → use → 1997
Mr. Scott categorically denied having done so.
asserted
Scott → deny → ?
Furious Liberals decried the ethics of sharing the contents of an overheard conversation.
asserted
Liberals → decry → conversation
Mr. Scott, who at first denied being able to remember even the gender of his seatmate on the flight, questioned Mr. Proctor’s veracity.
asserted
who → deny → veracity
In the end, Mr. Proctor, who has died at 85, was vindicated when the resulting furor led to Mr. Scott’s resignation from cabinet eight weeks after the flight.
asserted
furor → die → flight
What happened on Air Canada Flight 8876 from Ottawa to Fredericton on Oct. 1, 1998, would be settled when the seatmate, Frederick Toole, a well-regarded New Brunswick lawyer, swore an affidavit for the RCMP’s Public Complaints Commission into APEC security.
asserted
seatmate → happen → security
As it turned out, Mr. Toole was a fellow Liberal and an acquaintance of about 15 years when they were seated together on the flight.
asserted
they → turn → flight
He had told the solicitor-general he had seen disturbing images during an APEC protest of an older RCMP officer, who turned out to be RCMP Staff-Sergeant Hugh Stewart, using pepper spray on peaceful protestors.
asserted
who → tell → protestors
“To this, Mr. Scott said, ‘Oh, Hughie,’ or ‘Oh, you mean Hughie,’ and commented to the effect that ‘Hughie’ might have to take ‘a,’ or ‘the,’ ‘hit’ or ‘fall’ for that,” Mr. Toole stated in his affidavit.
uncertain
Toole → say → affidavit
Mr. Proctor also overheard the two men discuss the RCMP’s investigation of the sale of Airbus airplanes to Air Canada in 1988.
asserted
men → overhear → 1988
He said he overheard Mr. Scott describe former Newfoundland premier Frank Moores as being “crooked as a snake.”
asserted
Scott → say → snake
Both Mr. Scott and prime minister Jean Chrétien accused Mr. Proctor of fabricating the story.
asserted
Scott → accuse → story
Outside the House, Mr. Proctor declared Mr. Scott to be a liar, goading him into launching a defamation suit so the matter could be settled under oath.
uncertain
matter → declare → oath
Meanwhile, various privacy and government experts weighed in, most saying it was unacceptable for a minister to be so indiscreet as to be overheard in the first place.
asserted
minister → weigh → place
When he resigned, Mr. Scott told a news conference that his inflight conversation “made me vulnerable to accusations that I had prejudged the outcome” of the inquiry.
asserted
I → resign → inquiry
He also insisted he could not remember his seatmate though “it may seem hard to believe.”
uncertain
it → insist → seatmate
Mr. Scott was reappointed to cabinet six years later in a different portfolio by prime minister Paul Martin.
asserted
Scott → reappointe → Martin
Mr. Proctor had a long career as a journalist, union organizer and strategist and aide to such NDP luminaries as federal leaders Ed Broadbent and Jack Layton, Saskatchewan premier Allan Blakeney and Ontario opposition leader Stephen Lewis.
asserted
Proctor → have → Broadbent
He liked to joke that he wrote speeches for Mr. Lewis, widely regarded as the greatest orator of his generation, before adding a knowing “nobody writes Stephen’s speeches.”
asserted
nobody → like → speeches
Mr. Proctor also worked as a publicist for the Canadian Union of Public Employees and as a researcher for the National Union of Public and General Employees.
asserted
Proctor → work → Employees
He was based for several years in Cuernavaca, Mexico, where he ran a Canadian Labour Congress project to assist independent trade unions throughout Latin and South America.
asserted
he → base → America
After the NDP took a drubbing in the 1993 federal election, he decided to contest a seat for the party in the next federal election.
asserted
he → take → election
He defeated seven other contenders to win the party’s nomination for Palliser, a new riding encompassing Moose Jaw and part of Regina.
asserted
He → defeat → Regina
“Dick Proctor is moving from the shadows to the limelight,” the Regina Leader-Post reported.
asserted
Post → move → limelight
He then defeated Alene Tanner of Reform and controversial lawyer Tony Merchant of the Liberals in the 1997 general election even while acknowledging “I’m not a household name.”
asserted
I → defeat → election
He won re-election three years later before losing the seat in 2004 by 132 votes to Dave Batters of the Conservatives.
asserted
He → win → Conservatives
While in the House, Mr. Proctor served as his party’s critic for labour and agriculture.
asserted
Proctor → serve → labour
Years later, he acknowledged a preference for the backroom.
asserted
he → acknowledge → backroom
“Public speaking is something I have never really been enamoured with,” he once said.
asserted
he → enamour → ?
“I have preferred to be the one loading the gun rather than pulling the trigger.”
John Richard Proctor was born in Toronto on Feb. 12, 1941, to the former Jacqueline Adele Jolly, known as Jackie, a cashier at the time of her marriage, and Clement Hudgin Proctor, an assistant superintendent with North York Hydro in the township’s Willowdale neighbourhood.
asserted
Proctor → prefer → neighbourhood
(The elder Mr. Proctor died suddenly at the age of 59 in 1969 when accidentally electrocuted while installing a fuse box at a factory in Whitby, Ont.)
asserted
Proctor → die → Whitby
When the boy was 10, the family moved to a dairy farm in Prince Edward County, where Dick handled farm chores, joined the local 4-H club and attended classes in a one-room schoolhouse.
asserted
Dick → move → schoolhouse
He was high-school quarterback and part of a record-setting 440-yard relay team.
asserted
He → set → team
In winter, he was a top goal-scoring forward for area hockey teams, including the Wellington Juvenile Dukes and the junior Picton Merchants.
asserted
he → score → Dukes
Mr. Proctor studied journalism at Carleton University in Ottawa, playing hockey for the varsity Ravens.
asserted
Proctor → study → Ravens
He also contributed to the student newspaper.
asserted
He → contribute → newspaper
During his tenure as news editor, he published an unsolicited opinion article written by the school’s interdenominational chaplain suggesting sex out of wedlock was not necessarily sinful.
asserted
sex → publish → wedlock
…and 24 more, not listed.
The Aporia
