Peter Bevan-Baker says he’s still trying to come to terms with the pain of losing his dear friend, Josh Underhay, earlier this year.
The Green party leader said this week he thought time would help a bit when it came to healing the wound but he was reminded recently just how present it still is.
“Every year in Bonshaw there is a Christmas concert in the community hall and, for as long as I can remember, Josh and I used to play a trumpet duet as part of that Christmas concert,’’ Bevan-Baker said. “So, I went to the concert (recently), consciously aware that I would not be doing it this year but it was just a heavy emotional event for me.
“That hole of Josh not being around was just as poignant and present as it was in the days after I found out that he had died.’’
Underhay and his young son, Oliver, died in a tragic canoeing accident in April in the Hillsborough River. Bevan-Baker said the youngster’s death makes the loss that much harder to deal with.
“The loss was more than (Josh). I can’t ever forget that when I speak to Josh’s family,’’ he said, referring to Oliver.
At the time of the accident, Josh was a teacher at Birchwood Intermediate School and a Green party candidate in the provincial election campaign. Josh was also well-known for being a passionate advocate for cycling in Charlottetown.
His life – and death – touched many people and led to The Guardian’s editorial board selecting Josh Underhay as the 2019 Newsmaker of the Year.
"The story of Josh and Oliver Underhay's fatal accident shocked the province and made headlines across the country," said Jocelyne Lloyd, interim managing editor of The Guardian.
"Their deaths are a personal tragedy for their family, but also dealt a blow to Islanders who knew Josh Underhay or held hope for the sustainable planet he stood for. We now know that hope lives on in everyone who has taken this terrible tragedy and turned it into a force for good in the world."
Past Newsmakers of the Year:
- 2018 – Mark Arendz
- 2017 – Hannah Bell
- 2016 – Screencutter
- 2015 – Mike Duffy
- 2014 – The ‘year’ 2014 (150th anniversary of the Charlottetown Conference)
- 2013 – Senator Mike Duffy
- 2012 – The Impaired Driver
- 2011 – Royal visit by Prince William and Kate
- 2010 – Heather Moyse (Olympic gold medal)
- 2009 – Baby Lillian
- 2008 – Lucy Maud Montgomery
- 2007 – Premier Robert Ghiz
- 2006 – Premier Pat Binns
- 2005 – Jared Connaughton and Mark MacDonald, tie
- 2004 – Brad Richards
- 2003 – Robert Ghiz
- 2002 – Lucille Poulin
- 2001 – Blair Ross, workers’ compensation protest
- 2000 – Lorie Kane
- 1999 – Lorie Kane
- 1998 – Summerside police officer David Griffin
- 1997 – Confederation Bridge
- 1996 – Charlottetown Mayor Ian (Tex) MacDonald
- 1995 – Bombing P.E.I. legislature*
- 1994 – Provincial government’s 7 ½ per cent public sector wage rollback*
- 1993 – Premier Catherine Callbeck*
*Editor’s note: In 1993, 1994 and 1995, The Guardian only selected a Newsmaker of the Year. In 1996, to comply with The Canadian Press selection method, The Guardian began selecting both a Newsmaker of the Year and a News Story of the Year.
Even though Underhay was a candidate in the provincial election campaign Bevan-Baker said their friendship began long before either one of them was in politics.
“Josh and I knew each other through music, through community activism (and) through other things. (His) death was one of the hardest things for me, personally, in the midst of the election, and when Josh died and all of the things that were going on simultaneously, I never felt on a personal level that I had time or space to grieve the loss of a friend, which is really what it is all about.
“I lost a close friend and somebody who I loved and respected very deeply. It’s still heavy and I miss him. I miss him in all kinds of ways. I miss his energy. I miss his enthusiasm for life. I miss the purity of his spirit; just a tragic loss in all kinds of ways.’’
However, Bevan-Baker does take a brief moment to turn his thoughts to politics and think ‘what could have been’.
“I often sit in our (Opposition) office and wonder how different it would be if that energy and enthusiasm and zest for life were present in the office of the official Opposition.’’
To that end, Bevan-Baker has a framed quote from Josh that hangs in the opposition office, which reads: “If I am elected, I will dedicate myself to serving Islanders. I will listen, I will follow the evidence, and balance the freedom of the individual with the need to work as a community and care for one another. I will work for a diverse and tolerant society that respects the dignity of the person and the rights of everyone.’’
Bevan-Baker said it’s something he looks at every day.
“So, his presence is here and, I suppose, that’s one way there is a little bit of solace here. The ideals he stood for and the priorities were his. We are, as best we can, within the political environment here, carrying them forward and trying to bring them to fruition.’’
“I lost a close friend and somebody who I loved and respected very deeply. It’s still heavy and I miss him. I miss him in all kinds of ways. I miss his energy. I miss his enthusiasm for life. I miss the purity of his spirit; just a tragic loss in all kinds of ways.’’
-Peter Bevan-Baker
The Guardian attempted to contact the Underhay family, but no one could be reached for comment.
However, in an interview the newspaper did with Mitch Underhay, Josh’s brother, and Karri Shea, his wife, in October, they talked about their determination that Josh’s legacy live on and that he and Oliver never be forgotten.
Karri and Mitch launched an initiative called Bike Friendly Charlottetown on Oct. 28 with a meet-and-greet at the Haviland Club, to ensure that his advocacy for cycling moves forward.
“Now that he is not able to continue that (advocacy role) . . . Mitch and I have been working to start to get organized with a few other community members,’’ Shea said.
“We want to see more bike lanes in Charlottetown and there is no nexus point for that very specific kind of advocacy,’’ Mitch added.
Mitch said Bike Friendly Charlottetown is an independent, non-partisan group with an objective towards getting more people cycling and create interconnected cycling lanes. This group, he said, is meant to be a voice for people who aren’t avid cyclists, people who don’t feel comfortable riding next to traffic. While his brother cycled everywhere in all kinds of weather, Mitch said others aren’t so bold.
Shea said she’s an example of who the group will advocate for, “one of the less avid cyclists who’s interested in cycling but I have a young child (Linden) and I don’t feel comfortable taking him into busy streets with traffic so that stops me from cycling completely. We believe, and Josh believed, that if you could connect these places, more people would start cycling.’’
Josh did speak out in favour of the once-proposed Fitzroy Street bike lane, which would have split the street in half with one lane for traffic and one for cyclists, but council ultimately dropped the idea.
The city, meanwhile, does have a map of what it calls quieter streets that cyclists can use, for example, to connect to Victoria Park and the downtown from the Confederation Trail. And, this fall council approved a project that will see a dedicated pathway for cyclists and pedestrians between the Queen Elizabeth Hospital and St. Peters Road.
So, progress continues to be made and Karri and Mitch vow to ensure it keeps being made.
RELATED
- Josh Underhay’s wife and brother launch advocacy group for cycling safety in Charlottetown
- P.E.I. coroner says investigation into Underhay deaths completed, no inquest necessary
- P.E.I. Green candidate Josh Underhay and his son dead after canoe accident
- Friends gather to grieve Green party candidate Josh Underhay and his son Oliver
- Wife of Josh Underhay touched that Charlottetown Bike Week will honour her husband and their young son
- Josh Underhay's wife challenges P.E.I. residents to ‘love wildly and with abandon’
- Charlottetown mayor says Josh Underhay was heavily involved in city’s active transportation plans
- Investigation into deaths of Josh and Oliver Underhay could take several weeks: P.E.I. coroner
- Friends gather to grieve the loss of Green party candidate Josh Underhay and his son, Oliver
