Kellie Leitch, Please Revisit The Example Jim Flaherty Set | HuffPost

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I remember your heartfelt speech in the House in the days after we lost Jim Flaherty. I watched. I mourned. I really felt for you as a physician who had tried so hard to save your friend. I cried. I miss him too. Please think about him as you head into the end of this race.

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Ms Leitch,

I'd say Dear Ms Leitch to be polite but I'm not there at the moment.

I remember your heartfelt speech in the House in the days after we lost Jim Flaherty. I watched. I mourned. I really felt for you as a physician who had tried so hard to save your friend. I cried. I miss him too.

I think about him so often lately. It surprises and upsets me that a woman who loved him so would take such an extreme approach to securing the leadership of the party he had so much influence upon and whose policies bolstered the place the Conservative party had for a decade. The CPC had had what it needed in Jim. You lost him and I am sorry for that. But you can honour his memory in the approach you take to the future of the conservative movement.

I wrote him a letter once. About the challenges of owning a small business. About the risk that we take and the sacrifice we make to employ people and improve our community. He answered. With dignity and respect. I am forever grateful for his words of encouragement and the time taken to craft a response. Being the Minister of Finance is not the easiest job in the country, but he did it with grace, with humour and with humility. It might be time you revisited this.

I have visited your campaign Facebook page and it disheartens me greatly. You seem to thrive on the anger of people who think they are not getting what they think they deserve. Even when those comments go well beyond what's considered respectful and decent, you leave them for all to see. You give that anger a voice. A loud one. A platform. And it's contagious. As a doctor, I'm sure you understand how illness spreads. Anger doesn't build businesses or solve problems or improve relationships. And if I'm the only one to have pointed this out to you, chances are, you're not listening to enough types of advice in your campaign run.

Jim was passionate but un-swayable in his principles. At least not in my view. You could disagree with him but still vote for him. That's a true test of leadership.

But voting for you, I fear, would be voting for anger, not principles. Please think about him as you head into the end of this race. It's a race as in a contest, not a race as in pitting people of different origins against each other. Geez, I hope they taught you the difference in med school. But I can't be sure so I thought I'd write you a letter too.

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