Never Retreat, Never Explain, Never Apologize: My Life, My Politics

Julie Rekai Rickerd is a Toronto-based broadcaster and public-relations
consultant.

Whether one agreed with her or not, Deborah Grey’s political and
social values could never be ignored.

Born in Vancouver on July 1, 1952, she was the fourth daughter in a
family of five children. Grey attributes many of her survival skills,
her sense of adventure, and particularly her determination, to the
trials and tribulations she faced as a child and teen: an alcoholic
father and, eventually, being raised in a single-parent household.

By age 14, Grey had committed herself to a lifetime love of
Christianity and motorcycles. She was also very vocal about what she
felt was right, excellent preparation for the forthrightness she
practised during her 15 years as a member of Parliament.

In 1989, Grey went from teaching school in a remote area of northern
Alberta to sitting as the first Reform Party member to be elected to
Canada’s Parliament. Her political career spanned such controversial
issues as the Meech Lake Accord and Quebec’s second referendum on
sovereignty. Grey also survived the renaming of the Reform Party to the
Canadian Alliance and the merging of the Alliance with the Progressive
Conservatives to become the new Conservative Party. Through it all, she
marched to her own drummer and spoke out according to her personal views
and beliefs on all matters, regardless of the party line.

Grey brought an energy and a single-mindedness to the House of Commons
rarely seen or heard in that chamber. Her toughness was often couched in
humour (she had nicknames for friend and foe alike, referring to Prime
Minister Jean Chrétien as the “Shawinigan Strangler”), but tough
she remained.

Grey writes this autobiography the way she speaks—to the point and
with no holds barred. The book is a delicious read for its history,
politics, feminism, and just plain fun.