By Greg Fry

Kamloops MP ‘shocked’ by sudden death of fellow MP

May 2, 2018 | 12:33 PM

KAMLOOPS — It’s a sad day in Ottawa as MPs from all parties are mourning the sudden death of Ontario Conservative MP Gord Brown.

Brown, who was 57, represented the riding of Leeds-Grenville-Thousand Islands since 2004 and was found dead in his Parliament Hill office this morning.

“So, it’s a beautiful spring day in Ottawa and of course we were all in our caucus meeting when we heard the terrible news,” says Kamloops-Thompson-Cariboo Conservative MP Cathy McLeod. “Gord Brown has been a colleague and a friend since 2004. Today we had tributes in the House and certainly loved on all sides of the House. He was a consummate gentlemen, ferocious in his beliefs but also respected by all.”

She says she knew Brown quite well, especially since 2015 when Brown was named Conservative Party whip.

“He was a colleague, he was a friend and he’ll be terribly missed.”

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Other than his relative young age, McLeod says Brown’s passing was also shocking because he was quite active as a lover of sports, especially hockey being one of the captains of the Conservative Party’s hockey team.

Aside from his love of sports and family, she says she’ll also remember him for his passion for U.S.-Canada relations.

“So, today as his different colleagues remembered him from other parties, it was a lot focused on the really good work he had done for Canada as a member of the U.S.-Canada Inter-parliamentary caucus. So, really just a solid, good man and an athlete and it’s just a shock of course.”

Brown is the third Conservative MP to die suddenly in recent years. Former finance minister Jim Flaherty died in April 2014 and Alberta MP Jim Hillyer died suddenly in 2016.