Loyal soldier battles personal tragedy

IT'S a tale of two lawyers.

One, Dave Chomiak, is a veteran of the political wars who is retreating from the epicentre of the NDP govern­ment as he nears the end of his career.

The other, Andrew Swan, is a relative youngster who is now worthy of the title of "meteoric" for his rise through the ranks of the NDP caucus.

Both men were present yesterday for the swearing in of Premier Greg Selinger's first cabinet. Chomiak, formerly the attorney general and justice minister, is now minis­ter of innovation, energy and mines. Swan, formerly the minister of competitiveness, training and trade, is the new attorney general.

One might be tempted to conclude there was cut-throat politics behind a decision that saw a veteran demoted and a relative rookie promoted. But there is much more to this story than meets the eye.

In Chomiak's case, there was wide speculation that he would simply fade out of politics. A passionate politician, Chomiak has always worn the stress and strain of his job for all to see. Hav­ing served in both health and justice, the two hottest seats in cabinet, Chom­iak had a lot of stress to wear.

Even though he has a dishevelled, disorganized look about him, Chomiak is a fiery presence in the legislature.

Behind the scenes, insiders say he is earnest and some­times frantic, renowned for taking long car rides and meditation breaks to calm his nerves.

But it was not the day-to-day struggle of a life in politics that took him to the brink of retirement. Last year, his wife Rita took her own life. It was a tragedy that Chomiak said changed his outlook on life in general and politics in particular.

"You know, in government I like to think I can be the guy who saves people," Chomiak said yesterday after the cabinet ceremony. "And I couldn't save her. I don't know how you recover from something like that."

In the months following the tragedy, Chomiak said he felt the stress more than ever. By his own admission, he began to wonder if he still had the drive to do the job. He began to think about getting out of politics altogether.

"I knew I didn't have the same resilience. I thought, 'If I step down, it will be fine with me.' Politics is never about the person, it's about the team."

When Gary Doer announced earlier this fall he was leav­ing politics to become Canada's ambassador to the United States, and a new leadership campaign was launched, Chomiak said he began to feel more and more that the time might be right to step aside.

If Selinger was the foil for Doer -- reportedly the only man in cabinet who could say "no" to a premier renowned for getting his way -- Chomiak filled the role of Doer's closest confidant. The two fought side-by-side for more than 20 years. Chomiak said Doer's departure made him "more emotional than I thought I would have been."

In the race to succeed Doer, Chomiak initially supported Swan's leadership bid. As two of the only three lawyers in caucus, the men grew into close cabinet colleagues. Chomiak said he thought the world of Swan, and at one point told him, "you're going to be the next attorney general of Manitoba."

Following Selinger's leadership win, sources say Cho­miak waffled about staying on, and in fact told the new premier at one point that he wanted to step aside, despite Selinger's offer to remain in justice. A few days later, Cho­miak asked to stay, but in a lesser role.

He will only say now that the decision to say, in any role, was a tough one. "Ever since my wife passed away, I was questioning how and what I wanted to do," he said.

"I honestly didn't know what I wanted to do. But everyone told me to stay on... but take on a smaller job. So, I eventu­ally agreed."

Chomiak's decision instantly changed Swan's fortunes.

With only five years of political experience, and having made a mess of his leadership campaign, he could have been left to wallow in a junior portfolio.

However, even though he failed to finish that race, Swan had significant support among the caucus and opinion lead­ers in the party. Leaving him out of cabinet, or in a job other than attorney general, might have been seen as vindictive and opened up a wound that would have wept for years.

With Swan's career on solid ground, the big question remaining is whether Chomiak, just 56, will stay and fight the 2011 election. "I've always been an activist and that is never going to change," Chomiak said, a broad smile trans­forming his notoriously sad face. "But we'll just have to see what the next two years brings."

dan.lett@freepress.mb.ca