Sam Wakim Obituary, Death – This week marked the passing of Sam Wakim, a native of New Brunswick who rose to prominence as a prominent lawyer and politician in Toronto. He was also a key counselor to Prime Minister Brian Mulroney. Wakim was 85. “Sam was my best buddy in life,” Mulroney recalled, remembering his classmate from the pair’s days at St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish, New Brunswick, in the 1950s. The university is located in Antigonish, Canada.
“He was the kind of buddy that every man should strive to have in his life.
“He was kind, intelligent, entertaining, witty, hardworking, and loyal. He was intelligent, he was amusing. Above all else, Sam was a very interesting human being. He truly embodied the concept of a Renaissance guy. In a personal diary entry that was included in Mulroney’s memoir, he stated that he and Sam spent their time in St. F.X. going to the movies, eating the Lebanese food that Sam’s mother and eight sisters frequently supplied, and “drinking beer while discussing our futures long into the night.”
Wakim tied the knot with Martin Robertson, a graduate of St. FX who was also from Saint John. They were blessed with six children. After that, he achieved success as an attorney in Toronto, where he established his own legal office and served as a member of Parliament. He also became a counsel for the Ontario Securities Commission. According to the previous prime minister, he also played an important part in each and every one of Mulroney’s election campaigns.
“He was irreplaceable in my success,” Mulroney recalled, recalling how the youth group that infused vigor and inventiveness into his campaign was put together by the young man. When asked about his successful campaign for the leadership of the federal Progressive Conservatives, he attributed his victory to the fact that “it brought in hundreds of delegates that in the end made the difference between winning and losing in 1983.”
Sam’s contributions to our success in 1983 were among the most significant of those made by any individual. According to Mulroney, Wakim was an outstanding lawyer who took a deep interest in politics and public policy. He went on to say that during his entire life, Wakim served as a “highly valued counselor” for him. He said, “He provided me with a completely unvarnished opinion,” which means that he didn’t sugarcoat anything. “When I was in the wrong, he told me so in no uncertain terms.
“I would say that beginning in 1980 and continuing on for the next four decades, we talked on the phone at least once a day.” This continued right up until the very end. Wakim suffered a stroke approximately one and a half years ago, and as a result, he is confined to a wheelchair and has paralysis on the right side of his body. Mulroney reported that he had traveled to Toronto three times in the most recent two and a half months since his friend’s health was deteriorating.
“We had long lunches together, just the two of us over at the National Club in Toronto,” Mulroney added. “Those were some of the best times of my life.” “It was just like in the good old days, happy times. “That was whenever Sam and I were together. “I count this as one of the great pleasures of my life to have been able to enjoy Sam’s unbroken companionship for 62 years,” I said. “It’s been like having a brother.”