A man who made the Grits strong

[CHIMO]

OTTAWA -- There are political animals and then there are the rest of us. Political animals are a small percentage of the Canadian population. They do not belong to only one political party and they devote thousands of hours in defence of democracy, much in the same way others devote spare time to religious or service organizations.

Those who are not political animals may have a hard time understanding why someone would devote decades of his life to the cause of one party.

Joseph Sutherland Cruden, laid to rest in Toronto last weekend, was one such Canadian. The beautiful, heritage Kingsway-Lambton United Church was the site of his sendoff. It featured an incredibly moving speech by one of his daughters, Mary, a haunting solo of I'll Be Seeing You by his 14-year-old granddaughter, Annie, and a New Orleans jazz band which adjourned the party to the famous Grossman's tavern after the service.

When a party is split apart, it is hard to get volunteers fired up to go into battle. The difference between majority and minority government can lie in the hands of thousands of devoted volunteers like Joe Cruden.

http://torontosun.canoe.ca/News/Columnists/Copps_Sheila/2006/01/11/1388224.html

There must be a moral here. But I won't even suggest one.