John Godfrey, politician and founder of King's journalism school, dead at 80

John Godfrey, who served as president of the University of King's College in Halifax for a decade and founded its journalism school before forging a career in federal politics, has died.

Godfrey had a long and varied career in academia, journalism and politics across Nova Scotia and Ontario. He died on Dec. 18, one a day shy of 81.

He was admired and respected by many who knew him, including Mary Clancy, a friend of five decades and former colleague on Parliament Hill.

"He was absolutely hysterical. He was brilliant, nutty, kind, sometimes crazy, opinionated, an incredible scholar … he was a joy to be with," said Clancy, who was Liberal MP for Halifax from 1988 to 1997.

Godfrey served as MP for the Toronto-area riding of Don Valley West from 1993 to 2008.

Order of Canada recipient

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau acknowledged Godfrey's death with a statement Thursday, listing many of Godfrey's accomplishments, including his naming to the Order of Canada in 2018.

John Godfrey, was invested as a Member of the Order of Canada by Governor General Julie Payette during a ceremony at Rideau Hall in Ottawa in 2019. (Chris Wattie/The Canadian Press)

"On behalf of the Government of Canada, I offer my deepest condolences to Mr. Godfrey's family and friends. His dedication to serving Canadians will continue to be an inspiration to me and many others," Trudeau said.

Godfrey grew up surrounded by politics. His father, John Morrow Godfrey, was a top official in the Pierre Trudeau government, and later a Liberal senator.

Clancy said Godfrey loved politics for as long as she knew him. The two met working on a provincial election campaign in the early 1970s.

A passionate educator

But Godfrey didn't enter public office for two more decades. He started his career teaching history at Dalhousie University.

Clancy said academia was Godfrey's true passion, and he poured himself into creating unique learning experiences. She said one of his introductory history courses, for instance, included a 24-hour-long session on Wagner's Ring Cycle — a 19th century opera in four parts that has a total runtime of 15 hours.

"He engaged students in ways that were certainly innovative and remarkable," she said.

"He was a beloved teacher."

Then Liberal MP John Godfrey leaving Parliament Hill with his wife Patricia Bongard after announcing, for health reasons, he was withdrawing from the Liberal leadership race, in Ottawa, Wednesday, April 12, 2006. (Tom Hanson/The Canadian Press)

Started journalism school

In 1977, Godfrey became president of the University of King's College, which, as Stephen Kimber described it, was having an identity crisis and needed to find a new purpose — or flounder.

"He was somebody who … in many ways helped to bring [the university] back from the brink of closure," said Kimber, a Halifax journalist and instructor at King's since 1980.

King's stopped offering divinity training when the Atlantic School of Theology opened in the early 1970s, and Kimber said that left King's with few offerings.

Godfrey helped shape the school's new Foundation Year Program, a set of first-year courses on great books and ideas, and he established King's undergraduate journalism program.

"Those two programs saved King's from probably just disappearing," said Kimber.

Kimber said Godfrey also brought some much-needed attention to King's with his "larger than life" personality and creativity. In particular, he garnered a New York Times headline in 1979 after asking Columbia University in New York City for $460 million as recompense for King's role in Columbia's founding two centuries earlier.

Kimber said the request didn't go anywhere, but it did serve what he supposed was the actual purpose of attracting publicity, timed to coincide with a fundraising campaign for King's.

The political years

Godfrey left King's and Nova Scotia in 1987 to become editor at the Financial Post newspaper in Toronto, a role he held until 1991.

In 1993, he successfully ran for Parliament, forming part of Jean Chretien's Liberal government, and later spent time in the cabinet of former prime minister Paul Martin.

Godfrey made a brief campaign for the federal Liberal leadership in 2006, but pulled out of the race citing personal health concerns.

John Godfrey, left, was minister of state for infrastructure and communities in the Liberal government of former prime minister Paul Martin, centre. Pictured here with Tony Ianno, right, another Liberal cabinet minister, in Ottawa, Thursday, Aug. 26, 2004. (Fred Chartrand/The Canadian Press)

After retiring from politics in 2008, Godfrey returned to the field of education, serving as headmaster of the Toronto French School for six years.

Clancy said Godfrey's retirement was characterized by time with his wife, Trish Bongard, and son, Ian Godfrey.

She said Godfrey returned to Nova Scotia every summer to spend time at his vacation home in the community of Kingsburg on the South Shore. She spoke with him regularly until his death.

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