Bruce Carson, of Ottawa Ontario, passed away on March 5, 2022 at the age of 76. After several months of declining health due to cancer, Bruce spent his final days at the Waterford Retirement Residence in Ottawa, surrounded by his family, and the compassionate health care staff that worked hard to ensure his comfort throughout.
Bruce was born in Ottawa on December 15, 1945 to the late Margaret Doogan and Robert Carson, and was half-brother to the late Jean Franklin, Jack, Bob, Weldon and Bill.
Bruce grew up in Old Ottawa East, steps from the Rideau Canal. He loved skating and playing hockey, and would often talk about watching his Montreal Canadians, battle it out against his father’s beloved Toronto Maple Leafs.
As a student during the summers, Bruce worked his way through law school in the kitchen of the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity in Alberta. Bruce graduated from the University of Ottawa with his bachelor of law degree (silver medal) in 1970, and went on to obtain his Masters in Law from the University of Toronto, in 1982.
Bruce committed his life to public service, working in law and politics for over 50 years. One of his proudest moments was the work done during the Clark government in 1979, that helped 60000 Indochinese asylum seekers come to Canada.
Bruce is survived by his first wife Mary and their children, Craig (Isabelle), Carolyn, Derek (Marie-France), and his second wife Janet, and their daughter Emily (Michael), along with his step children Eric (Jennifer) and Sara.
Beloved Grandpapa Bruce, will also be missed by his grandchildren, Alianne and Clara, Ella, Mattéo and Tristan, Alyssa and Lily, and Georgina and Violet.
In death, Bruce will join his second born son, baby Christopher, who passed away a week after his birth in 1976.
A lot of people meant a lot to Bruce, as did the readers of his newsletter ‘The Morning Brief’, which he diligently published, almost daily, for the last 10 years.
A private memorial service will be held. Interment at Beechwood Cemetery.
In memoriam, donations to the Canadian Cancer Society.
Digital Guestbook
Greg MacDougall
Jim Facette
RIP Bruce.
Cameron MacKay
Some days the only reason I got out of bed was to read Bruce’s newsletter. I will miss him and his daily dispatches.
Gord McIntosh
I learned a lot from Bruce and will miss him. He loved this country very much. And believed in parliamentary democracy.
Scott Lemke
I was fortunate to become a close friend of Bruce's between 2013 and 2018. I knew Bruce to be a compassionate and positive person, who was kind, loyal, and hard-working. He was a great friend to me and I'll miss him tremendously.
Monte Solberg
Bruce had a great mind, a warm heart, a ready wit, and the sense of perspective that comes with long, and sometimes hard, experience. He brought all of this to the service of prime ministers, ministers, MPs and senators. He served his country and was a good friend to many. May he rest peacefully. He will be missed.
Len Kuchar
Bruce was a worthy and unusually smart political opponent, particularly during the early Chretien years when we both worked in the Senate. I miss his thoughtful “Morning Brief” and enjoyed his insider’s account of life on the Hill in his book “14 Days: Making the Conservative Movement in Canada”.
He was a very interesting man.
Stephanie Machel
My condolences to Bruce’s family. As a former staffer on the Hill I valued Bruce’s wise counsel, sense of humour and ability to tell a great story. He was my ‘go to’ person when confronted with challenging circumstances and he always made time for me when I needed it. He will be missed.
Justin de Beaucamp
To a former PMO colleague, RIP.
Hugh Segal
I am deeply saddened by his passing. Bruce was a pillar of common sense,patriotism and decency throughout his many political roles and senior staff positions in Progressive Conservative and Conservative governments. His mix of vast knowledge,many layered perspective and solid common sense was rare and desperately needed. I read his morning reviews of the political world,present,past and future was the. Best distillation of solid analysis and informed comment in the country. We corresponded often. My most sincere condolences to his family. Those of us who were professional colleagues or readers and friends are losing a touchstone of integrity analytical balance. I can only imagine how deep the loss is to his close family.
Hugh Segal
Kingston
I met Bruce in 2016 as a subscriber to The Morning Brief. Since that time we would share emails often and lunch annually at Nates on Sparks, to complain and grumble about the state of affairs. As my business partner and I ventured off into the world o actively tracking spending by crunching government data sets - Bruce became one of our biggest supporters. His encouragement and mentorship will be truly missed... as will his friendship. g