Former New Democrat M-P Paul Dewar, a teacher and union leader from Ottawa who became the party's foreign-affairs critic, has died.
The 56-year-old, who served as the M-P for Ottawa Centre from 2006 to 2015, passed away earlier today after contending with brain cancer for a year.
Dewar is survived by his wife Julia Sneyd and their two sons, Nathaniel and Jordan.
He was diagnosed last February with Grade 4 glioblastoma -- the same type of brain cancer that killed Tragically Hip singer Gord Downie.
He soon had surgery to remove a tumour on his brain but the cancer couldn't be cured, only held at bay for a while.
Dewar passed away on what would have been Downie's 55th birthday.