Manitoba MLA never left a loving word unsaid, colleagues say in tribute to Danielle Adams

A northern Manitoba politician killed in a highway crash late last year never hesitated to tell the people she loved how she felt about them, one of her colleagues said on Tuesday, as MLAs paid tribute to Danielle Adams.

Her fellow MLAs paid tribute in the legislative chamber to the life of the Thompson representative, who diedin a crash while travelling to Winnipeg last December.

"That openness with her feelings was one of the best things about Danielle,"NDP colleague Malaya Marcelino said in a tearful speech.

"She let the folks that she loved and cared about know exactly how she felt about them, and how and why she appreciated them. There was nothing left unsaid."

The legislature opened its spring sittingby devoting the first day to honouring current and former elected representatives who died recently, including three hours of tributes to Adams.

Tuesday marked the first timeall MLAscould gather together in person since pandemic measures ordered some members to participatevirtually.

Marcelino recalled that a few months after they were both elected for the first time in 2019,Adams told her that she was her "MLA bestie." Marcelino said she laughed at the time,thinking those words had never been strung together in a sentence before.

"Thatone funny turn of phrasemeant a lot to me then,"theMLA for Winnipeg's Notre Dame constituency said Tuesday."And since she's passed on, it's meant even more to me now."

Passionate advocate

Adams servedas the NDP's critic onchild care, housing, disability and poverty issues.

She fought passionately for those causes, Marcelino said, recalling that Adams oncevolunteeredto act as a suretyso a child-care centre could get a loan from a bank.

Adams would impress community groups with how well she understood their issues, Marcelino said.

"I remember one of the adult educators said this is the first time that they'd actually ever learned something or heard something they could actually use from a visiting politician."

Manitoba Premier Heather Stefansonsaid her tenure asfamilies minister was the period when she had the most interaction withAdams. They didn't always see eye to eye, Stefansonsaid, but she admired the NDP MLA'sdevotion to the issues and the people she represented.

"During her life, Danielle made a profound difference in the lives of ManitobansinThompson and throughout northern Manitoba. She leaves behind a lasting legacy we can all admire."

'I knew she was special,' mom says

NDP Leader Wab Kinew said Adams could have been Thompson's MLA for 30 years if she wanted to, and there wasn't an area of the job she didn't excel at.

If the party was holding a caucus retreat somewhere, she'd book an extra day of accommodations before and after to hold meetings with child-care centres andanti-poverty and local housing groups, he said.

He revealed that Adams had a learning disability thatmade herjob challenging. She spent hours practising the questions she'd quiz the government on, reworking drafts and examiningevery performance with her mother, Jody Levy. She saidAdams haddysgraphia, which impacted her writing ability.

"Do youknow why she set a goal to improve at speaking in this chamber?" Kinewsaid Tuesday.

"It wasn't because she was worried about embarrassing herself or about her ego or about her pride. She worked so hard at speaking in this chamber because she wanted to make damn sure that the people she represented had their stories come through clearly."

Her mother said the outpouring of condolences Tuesday affirmed what she already knew about her daughter, who worked hard and loved her family.

"I'm a momI knew she was special," Levy said. "This is a big confirmation today of how special she was to other people and how, even in the short time she was in the ledge, she's made a big impact."

While Levy said she's heartbroken over the loss of her daughter, she said their near-daily conversations always ended with the two of them expressing their admiration forone another.

"I know I didn't leave something unsaid," Levy said.

She added thefamily wants to ensure tragedies likeAdams's death don't happen again. She said it took too long for emergency supportto arrive, and the remote stretch of Highway 6where Adams'sSUV collided with a semi-trailer truckis toodangerous.

Later in the day, Kinewtold reporters he'sspoken about the issue with the premier and some Progressive Conservative MLAs.

Marcelino said Adams's death is a "indictment itself on the neglect that northern, rural and remote areas have faced for a long time" over health care, emergency supports and infrastructure.

"And if our caucus has been quiet up to date on these issues, it's been out of grief and not because we don't plan on doing anything about it we will not be able to turn our eyes away from it, now or ever again."

MLAs pay tribute to Danielle Adams

3 years ago

Duration 2:01

MLAs paid tribute in the legislative chamber Tuesday to the life of Thompson representative Danielle Adams, who was killed in a highway crash while travelling to Winnipeg last December.