Protector

Peter Tinsley passed away on Sunday. Peacefully. With his family by his side. Peter was a decent man who made a career fighting for fundamental values of fairness, equality and justice. That is until the Canadian government became fearful and impatient about its role in the dark parts of the world and sidelined him. Afghanistan. Somalia. Kosovo. He discovered, to his great disappointment, that values he believed were bedrock in the Canadian spirit, were indeed flexible and negotiable by its political leaders.

He worried about democracy. He worried that ideas and principles he had worked a lifetime fighting for were being eroded by expedient politicians and a distracted people.

So he ran for political office. In 2010, Peter became the federal Liberal nominee for Prince Edward-Hastings. It wasn’t an arena in which he felt comfortable. But he was driven to restore the institutions and traditions he believed were under threat by the Harper administration.

In 2011, he was soundly defeated by Conservative incumbent Daryl Kramp. The career jurist’s message had failed to break through to the consciousness of this community. It didn’t help that Michael Ignatieff had presented a dismal and seemingly half-hearted campaign to unseat the Harper government that year.

Peter returned to quasi-retirement in Ameliasburgh. Speaking occasionally. Advising generously. Immersing himself in his family.

Peter Tinsley was perhaps the greatest representative this community never had.

Peter was a military man. He served for 28 years in the Canadian Forces as a military police officer and later as an officer with the Judge Advocate General. During his service he trained as a lawyer. He was the senior prosecutor in the high-profile trial of the Canadian soldier convicted of manslaughter in the torture and death of 16-year-old Shidane Arone in 1993. He served as a director to Ontario’s Special Investigations Unit. He was an international prosecutor in Kosovo and later in Bosnia-Herzegovina.

In 2005, Peter was appointed to head the Military Police Complaints Commission of Canada. For four years and one month he investigated reports of torture of Afghan prisoners who had been captured by Canadian Forces and handed over to local military forces.

But by 2009, news stories of torture of Afghans detained by Canadian Forces was hobbling Harper’s minority government. Tinsley was abruptly dropped from the commission later that year. Soon after, the story disappeared from the headlines.

Tinsley became the Liberal nominee for Prince Edward Hastings the following year. In the campaign Peter spoke out forcefully about the erosion of democratic values under the Harper government.

“The secrecy and deceit of this government has become a principal concern for many people inside and out of this parliament,” said Tinsley. “I don’t think this is the right way in the Canadian context. They are required to earn and retain the confidence of parliament. They have failed in that regard.”

He ran one election too early. In 2015, the Liberals swept aside the Conservative government, electing Justin Trudeau as Prime Minster. But by then Peter was ensconced in his semi-retirement and consulting roles.

Last fall, I reached out to Peter. Seeking advice and direction, as I had done often. We had spoken several times over the past few years. My eldest daughter, Grace, is studying Public Administration and Policy Management at Carleton University. And Peter had been most encouraging and supportive. He was heartened that a new generation was passionate about the ideas to which he had dedicated his life. On this most recent occasion, he made several inquiries of his Ottawa colleagues on Grace’s behalf.

He declined my invitation for coffee. To catch up. That is when he confided that he was suffering from ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis), a disease that would gradually paralyze him. It seemed so utterly unfair. He was still so vibrant and sensitive in his writing. Clearminded and peaceful, but resigned to his path.

I will remember his kindness, intelligence and curiosity. I will remember his warmth and generosity. I will mourn him most when I see the edges of our liberal democratic fabric continue to fray.

rick@wellingtontimes.ca