MAURICE DIONNE
By Cathy Carnahan
Maurice Dionne always loved politics.
He decided when he was only 12 years old that was the career for him. “That was the year Louis St. Laurent became prime minister,” he said in a September 1992 interview. “I listened to the radio every night with regards to the campaign and that’s when I decided I wanted to be a politician.”
After 18 years of teaching throughout New Brunswick, the Northwest Territories and Quebec, he followed through on his resolve. “As I got older I sensed, or I think I sensed, becoming a politician was being in the right place at the right time. It was always in the back of my mind. Then I became involved with the Liberal party here on the Miramichi and became president. When Percy Smith announced he was retiring, I decided I would try to replace him, and with the help of a lot of people, I did.”
Dionne was elected as then Northumberland Miramichi MP in 1974 and held the seat for 16 years.
In May, 1992, Dionne announced he would not reoffer in the next Federal election because he had Alzheimer’s, a disease which steals a person’s memory and ability to function independently.
Dionne and his wife Precille applied the Alcoholics’ Anonymous motto – one day at a time – to their lives. “That’s all we should do anyways, because we don’t know what tomorrow will bring, or if there will be a tomorrow,” Dionne said at the time.
He died at Mount St. Joseph Nursing Home on Monday, November 17th at the age of 67.
He was born in Johnville, N.B., near Bath, on August 26, 1936, the son of the late George and Mary (McLaughlin) Dionne. In addition to his wife, Precille, he is survived by five children and their families.
Dionne attended Our Lady of good Counsel Roman Catholic Church in Millerton.
He grew up on a farm in Johnville. Before he left home for teachers’ college the family moved to a farm on the outskirts of Woodstock. After completing teachers’ college in 1956, his first job as a teacher was in St. George. He taught in various other locations, including Yellowknife and BaieComeau.
In BaieComeau, he met Precille and the two fell in love. They were married in 1961 and began a family in 1963. After moving about in Eastern Canada, Maurice and Precille settled on the Miramichi, where Dionne took a job as principal of Millerton High School in 1966.
Politics has always been his second love. In 1974, he secured the Liberal Party nomination in what was then the riding of Northumberland Miramichi. He served in that capacity until 1984 and was elected again in 1988. He left politics in 1993.
As a politician, his proudest accomplishments included bringing jobs to the Miramichi as a result of the expansion of the pulp mill, dredging the Miramichi River, and securing the prison for Renous. He was also very fond of many different groups who make up the Miramichi riding and was a strong supporter of the Francophone and Micmac communities.
“I am not a city person,” he said during an interview. “I’m a country hick and I just don’t like cities. I was born and brought up on a farm, and the farmer never left me.”
On November 17th, he succumbed to Alzheimer’s after a 12-year battle.
Mass will be celebrated Saturday, November 22, at 11 a.m. from St. Bridget’s Roman Catholic Church in Renous with Msgr. Joseph Woods officiating. Burial will be in Our Lady of Good Counsel Roman Catholic Church in Millerton.
“Maurice also had a great sense of humour. He loved to tell jokes. He was very much liked and respected on the Hill by everyone – ministers, MPs, security staff, all employees.
“I guess that was because he was such a people person. He was very kind and used to say that he treated people as he would like to be treated.
“When people came to his office, even if he couldn’t help them, they always went away happy with Maurice because he made them feel good. He could have really gone far if it hadn’t been for that Alzheimer’s,” she said.
Former New Brunswick premier Frank McKenna agrees. “It was just a tragedy that he was afflicted at such a young age. But just like everything else, he accepted that courageously. He was special,” McKenna recalled in an interview Thursday. “I think he would be a role model for an MP. He was able to keep his balance. He was able to remain a team player; but zealously fight for the causes of his constituents. He had a very independent spirit and was prepared to sacrifice his personal ambitions for the cause of his people. I had an opportunity to work with Maurice…and he was marvelous.”
McKenna said the man with the “puckish grin” took little credit for his accomplishments which included the opening of the Atlantic Institution, the dredging of the Miramichi River, the creation of the Newcastle and Chatham ports, downtown revitalization and two major expansions at the Repap pulp and paper mill.
Miramichi MP Charles Hubbard – who worked with Dionne as “a teacher, principal and politician” – described him as a great friend and a great advocate for the area. “Maurice was always a strong supporter of the region. He was extremely well-liked by people in the constituency. His attitude not only towards Miramichi, but to Canada, has always been very positive, and he had great empathy with those in need.”
Hubbard said those who knew Dionne were also aware of his “deep, nasal voice that could be heard in a very large crowd.” Former students can attest to the power and clout of that strong voice of authority. When he spoke, there was a general consensus the best thing to do was obey. Students were mostly unaware of his humour.
However, Exelda Gaston – a special assistant to Dionne in Miramichi during his final three years in office – like his colleagues remembers that he loved to tell jokes and to make people laugh.
“He was very kind and caring. He was caring for his family and for everyone. He always treated everyone the same. And he was witty. He always had a joke. He was a friend and also my boss, but Maurice never made you feel like you were working for him. We worked as a team,” Gaston said.
John McKay, now a Miramichi councillor, was elected to the provincial legislature in the fall of 1974 and Dionne had been elected federally that spring. “Over the years, we worked together on many projects. Maurice was a very strong-willed person and very defensive of the Miramichi. He was very committed,” said McKay. “Of course, one of the very first issues he had to deal with was the phase-out of the ammunition depot at Renous and Maurice worked very hard to have the employment replaced with the Federal prison. Even though it was controversial, it has created employment and provided some economic stability to the region.
“Maurice worked very hard for port improvements, as well as many other projects. He was someone whose career was interrupted too soon.”
Became Principal
The reception planned for Saturday is at the former Millerton high school where Dionne became principal in 1966. He kept that position until he was elected to the House of Commons on July 8, 1974, as then Northumberland Miramichi MP.
He was appointed parliamentary secretary to the minister of national defence in October, 1975, a position he held until October 1977. He was elected chairman of the Atlantic Liberal Caucus in June, 1976, and was re-elected in October, 1977.
He was defeated in the general election of 1984 by Tory Bud Jardine, but re-elected to the House of Commons in 1988. From then until his retirement in 1993 he served as associate critic for transport, associate critic for Veterans’ Affairs, critic for supply and services and critic for the National Capital Commission. At a party to honour Maurice Dionne in Miramichi on November 21, 1992, Jardine was among the more than 500 people who attended. “I’m very pleased Bud came out to join us tonight. He and I are friends, and I hope that is how politics will be played in Canada,” Dionne said.
He leaves behind his wife and their five children.