Chretien on Rae: one of the best

OTTAWA – Jean Chretien says Bob Rae’s departure is a big loss for the House of Commons.

“He was a very, very good Parliamentarian, he was one of the best in the House,” Chretien said in an interview with Global News.

“He will be missed by a lot of people, and he served Canada extremely well.”

The former Liberal prime minister said he was “a bit surprised” by Rae’s resignation Wednesday, but it’s normal in public life.

“A lot of people come and go. It’s natural, and the parties all the time, find new people to play the role,” said Chretien.

“Of course it will be a big gap to fill, but it will be filled. A lot of people were telling me I should not go when I quit, but you can always be replaced.”

“You replace somebody, so somebody will come and replace you.”

Rae stepped down as Toronto Centre MP a day after the House adjourned for the summer, saying he wanted to dedicate himself to working on behalf of First Nations in northern Ontario.

The Toronto Centre MP also bemoaned the “nastiness” he says has befallen the House of Commons.

Chretien said he’ll take Rae’s word for it.

“I don’t watch question period on a regular basis so I’m not in a position to comment objectively, and Mr. Rae had a lot of experience and he’s been there for a long time, so I have to take his word for that.”

But Chretien said that in his 40-year political career, he was often closer to opposition members than his own party.

“On your side, they are your competitors. On the other side, they’re fighting the party, but they are not on a daily basis trying to replace you in jobs. You have to wait until the next election,” said Chretien.

“It was a lot more civilized than it seems to be today, but what can I say? It was tough too. Sometimes when you look back, we think it was very easy. It was not easy. It was tough. It’s a very difficult and tough business to be in politics. I was there for 40 years and I’m telling you, I don’t miss it that much.”

Chretien said his advice for Liberals in the wake of Rae’s resignation is to just keep doing what their doing, and supporting new leader Justin Trudeau.

“He’s a young and very effective political leader, and I think that he is doing very well and the party is doing well since he’s there.”

Chretien didn’t want to comment on some of the troubles taking place in Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s office of late.

“It’s not a very nice position for the prime minister to be in,” he said.

Former chief of staff Nigel Wright stepped down last month after it was revealed he gave a $90,000 cheque to Sen. Mike Duffy. The deal is now under RCMP investigation.

“It’s not for me to interfere into that, but I never had any problems with my chief of staff the 10 years I was prime minister or the three years I was leader of the opposition,” said Chretien.

When asked if it’s believable that Harper didn’t know about the deal, Chretien replied:

“I don’t know, you know. The cheque is known. It’s admitted. To believe it, everybody says the cheque was given and a cheque was received. Don’t need more proof than that, so the RCMP is looking into that.”

“It’s not a question of believing, it’s facts on the table.”