Saturday 15 September 2007 WASHINGTON, Fed’s Ex-Chief Attacks Bush on Fiscal Role Alan Greenspan, who was chairman of the Federal Reserve for nearly two decades, in a long-awaited memoir, is harshly critical of President Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney and the Republican-controlled Congress, as abandoning their party’s principles on spending and deficits.
Saturday 15 September 2007 Jim loved his Westmount — Trent
By Don Wedge Former Westmount Mayor Peter Trent had one of the longest partnerships with the late city councillor James Wright. They first met through the Westmount Municipal Association more than a quarter-century ago.
“We were on the executive that met often in his house. I met Nancy at the same time. We then helped organize a tax protest rally in 1982,” Trent recalled.
The City of Westmount has lost a remarkable resident and one of its most ardent supporters with the untimely passing of James Wright, who was killed in a tragic accident on Saturday, September 1. His passing has left a significant hole in the fabric of our community.
If you would like to share your thoughts on Jim Wright, we invite you to use our special Web forum. Perhaps you'd like to share a special anecdote or other heartwarming message
Westmount community loses James Wright
Article online since September 6th 2007, 15:40
Jim Wright at his beloved country home in Entrelacs, where he died in an explosion last Saturday.
Westmount community loses James Wright
The flag at Westmount City Hall will fly at half-mast for the funeral of lawyer and former city councillor James Wright, who was killed in an explosion at his country home last Saturday.
The 64-year-old Kensington Avenue resident, whose community involvement included the presidency of the Westmount Municipal Association prior to his election to city council, served two terms as councillor for Ward 6 from 1991 to 1999.
According to Sûreté du Québec reports, Wright was killed by a powerful explosion at the family's lakeside cottage in the Laurentian community of Entrelacs. The cause of the explosion has yet to be determined by investigators, but initial reports indicated that there were propane tanks at the cottage.
Also killed was 33-year-old Algerian biochemist Meriem Maza, described by friends as almost an adopted daughter to the Wrights who had lived with the family while studying at McGill University on a Sauvé scholarship — a program of which Wright was director.
Wright's wife, Nancy, was not in the house at the time, but was seriously injured in the blast. She is currently in Sacré Coeur Hospital and is expected to recover.
News of the tragedy spread quickly through Westmount over the weekend, prompting a flurry of tributes from friends and colleagues.
Mayor Karin Marks, who sat next to Wright on city council, said it is rare to find such community-minded people as James and Nancy Wright.
"Jim was very well known in the community and was respected and liked by all," Marks wrote in an official statement from City Hall (see page 3). "His passing has left a significant hole in the fabric of our community. He was a prominent community activist and worked throughout his life for causes and organizations, especially those that encouraged and supported young people."
Don Wedge, a long-time director of the Westmount Municipal Association and a keen council observers for many years, remembers Wright as a dedicated volunteer who was always there for his community. "He was ready to help with any aspect of Westmount — or McGill, his other community — with his dry, witty approach to problems," Wedge writes in this week's Civic Alert column (see page 7). "I personally appreciated his help when launching the e-mail version of Civic Alert."
Long-time Examiner journalist Andy Dodge described Wright as an icon in the Westmount community. "His spirit, his wisdom, his enthusiasm and his sensitivity were all standards we looked up to," Dodge stated this week. "He should be lauded as much for his service to his country as his service to the community. We wish Nancy a speedy recovery and all our sympathies."
Funeral arrangements have yet to be announced, but will be made available on the City of Westmount website www.westmount.org) as soon as they are available.
Monday, September 03, 2007
A terrible tragedy, one almost beyond words, has occurred this Labour Day weekend.
Jim Wright, the much-loved director of the Sauvé Scholars program, died in a tragic accident at his country home in the Laurentians. Meriem (Mimi) Maza, a past Sauvé scholar from Algeria who was visiting the Wrights for the weekend, also died. Jim's wonderful wife Nancy has survived, thank God, but is seriously injured.
Apparently a propane gas tank exploded; Jim died immediately, Mimi hours later. The house is completely destroyed.
This is an unbelievable shock. How could people with so much life left in them be taken from us in such a cruel and terrible manner?
we particularly admired his dedication to the Sauvé Scholars and can only guess at the enormous void that is left in the hearts of those outstanding young people from around the world whom he and Nancy guided, befriended and welcomed into their home and lives.
McGill community mourns board member, former student
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James Wright, a McGill University governor emeritus, and his wife were having friend Meriem Maza (right) over for the weekend.
McGill community mourns board member, former student
EXPLOSION AT LAURENTIANS HOME Wright, 64, oversaw scholarship program
KAZI STASTNA THE GAZETTE
Many in the McGill University community were devastated to learn yesterday that the victim of a weekend explosion in the Laurentians was James Wright, a prominent governor emeritus of the university’s board and active participant in campus and community affairs.
Wright, 64, a former Westmount city councillor, served on the McGill board of governors and various university committees from 1997 to 2006 and was named governor emeritus in January.
He died Saturday afternoon in a powerful blast at his family’s vacation home in Entrelacs, 100 kilometres northwest of Montreal.
An Algerian student, Meriem Maza, 33, who became friends with the Wright family while studying at McGill on a scholarship from the Sauvé Scholars Foundation, which Wright directed, was also killed.
Maza, who spent the past year in Britain pursuing a master’s degree in science communication, arrived in Montreal Friday for a conference and was spending the weekend with the Wrights, with whom she had lived during her studies at McGill in 2003-04.
Wright’s wife, Nancy, is in Sacré Coeur Hospital and is expected to recover from her injuries. She is also well-known in Westmount and the city’s volunteer community. Her late father, Peter McEntyre, was a mayor of Westmount.
Police say the blast could be linked to a propane leak. Several intact propane tanks were found on the property.
“The lake residence was the heart of the family,” said Wright’s sister, Mary Wemp, 61.
Students from the Sauvé scholarship program Wright oversaw, which brings scholars from around the world to McGill for a year of study, were also frequent visitors.
One of them was Sarah Meyer, 26, a Sauvé scholar from Australia who spent a lot of time at the lake and Westmount homes of the Wrights during the past year, attending home-cooked dinners, pumpkin carvings and the many other events the couple organized for students. “The extent to which he opened his home and his family to us is unbelievable,” Meyer said.
Trained as a real estate lawyer, Wright left the firm of Martineau Walker (now Fasken Martineau) in 1999 to devote himself to community work.
He became involved in EPOC, a non-profit organization that helps unemployed young people acquire work skills and jobs, and in 2003 was appointed director of the Sauvé program.
From 1991 to 1999, he served two terms as city councillor in Westmount and continued to be involved in municipal affairs.
“He was always available to anybody who needed him,” said Westmount Mayor Karin Marks, who served alongside Wright as councillor. “They’re both really community people ... it’s not quite as common (now) for people to give the kind of time that Nancy and Jim have given over their entire lives.”
Born Nov. 5, 1942, in Vancouver, Wright graduated from McGill University in 1965 with a bachelor of arts degree and went on to earn a law degree from Université Laval. He married Nancy, a childhood friend of his sister’s, in 1975.
He is survived by his three children, David, 29, Kathleen, 27, and Melanie, 24; his brother George, 63, and sister Mary, 61.
Meriem Maza’s uncles Lazhar and Lamri Cheriet, who live in Montreal and Sherbrooke, respectively, said yesterday the permanent Canadian resident, who planned to settle in Quebec to pursue a career in science journalism, regarded Wright as her second dad.
The uncles were waiting yesterday for the coroner to release her body so they could accompany it back to her home town of Setif, Algeria. Maza is survived by her parents, sister Ines, brother Mourad, a niece and nephew, and six other uncles and aunts.
We are overwhelmingly sad that Jim has been taken from all the people who love him.Nancy, David, Kathleen, Melanie and extended family, our thoughts and prayers are with you and will continue to be in the weeks and months ahead. Jim was a very special person with a heart as big as the sky. I don't know what our Lake Family will do without him. He will be forever remembered by us. With love, Mary, Ian and Ben Leathem
Mary Leathem (Timberlea, NS)
September 8, 2007
Judy Chown Addie and sons (Todd, Trevor and Tyler) send loving thoughts and special memories of Lac des Iles to the Wright family
Judy Addie (Prince George, BC)
September 8, 2007
Jim was one of the most amazing people I have ever met. He is one of the people that I looked forward to seeing most at the Lake every summer. He had a presence about him, an energy, that was just so endearing that it made you want to be around him. I always looked forward to seeing Jim at church on Sunday morning at the Lake during the summer, and he always made the Regatta so enjoyable. He was a sincerly wonderful person who had one of the best hearts I have ever met. He brought so much joy into so many other peoples lives and I know personally I will miss him so much and I will try to take Jim's good example of how to treat others and apply it to my life.
Katie Leathem (Toronto, ON)
September 8, 2007
Rick and I send our deepest sympathy to Nancy, David, Kathleen and Melanie, and all his siblings and close extended family, in fact to everyone who has been touched by the incredibly big spirit of this wonderful man. In the midst of our sorrow, I am struck by the reach of his life, the beneficial impact this one man has had on so many of our lives, the force for good that he has been. He was a man of incredible humanity and love, leavened by a warm and wonderful sense of humor, For us, he and Nancy had walked with us through both the highs and the lows of our lives, especially recently, as though we were their only concern. They have been friends for 40 years, and felt like family, as many of their friends must feel because of their talent for such personal connections. I cannot express the depth of our sorrow at his loss. May the memory of his friendship, and the example of his life sustain us all as we try to live up to the example he set, with the rest of our own lives. Thank you, Lord, for his life, and especially the gift he has been to us.
Ann and Rick Kennedy (Annapolis, MD)
September 8, 2007
Randy and Nancy Wood (Boswell, BC)
September 8, 2007
Dearest Nancy,David, Kathleen and Melanie, It is with overwhelming sadness that we express our deep sorrow for the tragedy at the Lake and the death of dear Jim and your friend Mimi.Our thoughts and prayers have been with you since that day and we will continue to pray for your healing.You will miss Jim for the rest of your lives but at some time in the months ahead your memories will be a comfort. God bless you all. Love, Ian, Mary, Katie and Ben Leathem
Mary Leathem (Timberlea, NS)
September 8, 2007
The Wright Family, Please accept our deepest sympathy during this terrible time. We feel for you. The Belmers
Andy Nulman 
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