Nigel Wright Death: Stephen Harper Advisor Dies at 62

Nigel Wright, a long -standing Canadian businessman and former senior advisor to Prime Minister Stephen Harper, has died.

Onex, the investment capital company where Mr. Wright worked for almost 30 years, announced his death in a statement released on Tuesday. The cause of death has not been specified. Mr. Wright was 62 years old.

The president and chief executive officer of this company, Bobby Le Blanc, said in this declaration that Mr. Wright was an accomplished gentleman and that he will miss everyone. We saddened the loss of our dear colleague and friend, Nigelsaid Mr. Le Blanc.

Wright was a chief of staff to Stephen Harper from 2011 to 2013. In a publication on social networks on Tuesday afternoon, Harper said that he and his wife Laureen were in shock and deeply upset by the sudden death of Mr. Wright.

Unique and deeply accomplished person, Nigel combined intellectual insight to an incredible work capacity.

He added that Mr. Wright was also a man of faith who cared about his fellow citizens and who generously supported various philanthropic causes throughout his life.

Andrew MacDougall, former communications director of Mr. Harper, said in an email that Wright was Everything we expect from an official: intelligent, dedicated and stakhanovist in his work ethics.

But he was someone good. Nice, generous and altruistic in the extreme, he argued. He cared deeply about Canada and public policies, and his loss will be deeply felt by all those who had the pleasure of knowing him.

The conservative chief Pierre Hairyre presented his condolences to the relatives of Mr. Wright on behalf of the party.

Nigel was an honest and honorable man who devoted himself to Canada and the public service and who made a lasting contribution to our countrywrote Mr. Hairyvre in a publication on X.

Prime Minister Mark Carney declared on social networks that he learned of the death of Mr. Wright with deep sadnessqualifying it as Very respected business manager and builder who has devoted his whole life to the service of the population and the community leadership.

Throughout his career, Nigel has helped build a better and more prosperous future for Canadians. I had the privilege of knowing Nigel, I have often benefited from his advice and he inspired me for a long time by his dedication to our country, his kindness towards his friends and his faith in our common future.

On social networks, Jason Kenney, former Prime Minister of Alberta and Conservative MP, said he was shocked and saddened by the sudden and premature death of Mr. Wright.

Nigel was one of the nicest, most honest and generous people I have ever knownA DIT M. Kenneyy. He was a person of irreproachable integrity and honor, a brilliant man who excelled in business and who had public service at heart. He was a real Canadian patriot. But above all, he was a man of deep faith. He will deeply miss his many friends around the world.

Former colleagues also presented their condolences on social networks on Tuesday afternoon.

Dimitri sudden, who was also director of communications for Mr. Harper, said on X that lively mind and unwavering dedication [de M. Wright] marked all of us who had the privilege of working alongside our side.

He greatly contributed to Canadian conservatism, most of the time discreetly, always with modestyin the route of the pastie, attacan, ancien deser visit Muliers who ‘M’Arper.

In addition to his business and investment sense, Nigel devoted a long life to the public service, and I remember with great affection from all the periods when I worked with himIan Brodie stated, M. Harper’s chief chief from 2006 to

Involvement in an expenditure scandal in the Senate

Wright was active on the political scene since his university studies and was a longtime friend and supporter of Mr. Harper.

He started working at Onex in 1997, according to this company.

He joined Stephen Harper’s cabinet in 2011, but he left this prestigious position less than three years later, in May 2013, because of his involvement in the Senate spending scandal.

More specifically, Mr. Wright resigned after the revelation that he had secretly delivered a personal check of $ 90,000 to Mike Duffy, then conservative senator, in order to reimburse the Senate requests for reimbursement of questionable subsistence costs.

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At the time, Wright said he wanted to make sure that taxpayers were not held responsible for these expenses. I have always believed that my actions were in the public and legal interesthe supported in a statement in early 2014.

The Royal Canadian Gendarmerie investigated this case for months before declaring publicly that no evidence justified a criminal accusation against Mr. Wright.

Mr. Duffy, however, was charged with 31 counts, including that of acceptance of pot-brothers. He was finally declared not guilty, although the judge responsible for the case qualified the actions of the members of the cabinet of the Prime Minister of unacceptable andastounding.

The Ethics Commissioner concluded that Mr. Wright had violated the federal rules on conflicts of interest in 2017. The commissioner had no power to impose sanctions in this case.

In 2014, Mr. Wright returned to Onex and joined the London office of this company.