“Jim was a valued and hardworking member of the Conservative team, and a passionate advocate for those he represented”.
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Hillyer, 41, had reportedly not been feeling well as of Tuesday evening. “It was clear that he loved his life, he loved his wife, he loved his community, and he loved his job”.
Shortly after 10 a.m., the office of Rona Ambrose, Leader of the Official Opposition, issued a message of condolence for Hillyer, a Conservative member for Medicine Hat – Cardston – Warner.
“This Parliament is better for having had Jim serve it and we’re better to have known him”.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau thanked Ambrose for sharing some aspects of Hillyer that came as a surprise. Some Conservatives learned when they arrived early Wednesday morning at offices in the same building as Hillyer’s, which is right across the street from the Peace Tower.
“I was deeply saddened to learn of the sudden passing of our friend and colleague, Jim Hillyer”, Ms. Ambrose said in a release. “My heart goes out to his family”, he said.
NDP Leader Tom Mulcair reads a statement about the late Conservative MP Jim Hillyer in the House of Commons in Ottawa on March 23, 2016.
A bouquet of red roses sat on his desk in the chamber Wednesday as leaders rose to pay tribute.
“These are people that you see often, and you joke with, and you discuss with, and you admire for their work or their passion or their conviction, so a moment like this affects everybody in the House of Commons”.
A cancer survivor, he leaves behind a wife and four children.
“My dad and I were talking to him in the hospital what just seemed last week”, family friend Kim Allred said.
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According to Conservative sources, he had apparently been fighting an infection after breaking his leg. He was first elected to the House of Commons in 2011 as the MP for Lethbridge.
