I want to extend my deep condolences to the Lewis, Landsberg family and community.

 I didn’t know him personally but I know from stories told and written about him that Stephen Lewis inspired many to not conform to injustice, and to use their power wherever they were to contribute to a just world. 

I believe that spark he had, that inspired so many, will continue through those he touched. 

May he rest in peace.

I would like to share a story about the impact Stephen had on my life. It has less to do with the one brief time I spoke to him and more to do with his influence as a powerful and inspiring speaker.

One of the few times I heard Stephen speak was at a national co-op conference here in NB. I was one of 600 or so people in the audience listening to him speak passionately about the AIDS situation in Africa twenty-five years ago. As he always did, Stephen left us all deeply moved that afternoon.

After Stephen spoke, most people left the conference hall, but deeply moved by what he had to say, a half dozen of us remained at the banquet table where we had been sitting to discuss what the co-operative movement in Canada might do to support people in Africa affected by the AIDS crisis.

Someone at the table reminded us that co-ops and credit unions were engaged in a significant number of projects in Africa and suggested we could offer free condoms in every credit union we have a partnership with.

For me, a former community development worker with AIDS NB, someone who had worked with people who lived with HIV/AIDS here at home at a time when virtually all of the people infected in Africa died of the disease, that wasn't enough, and the words came tumbling out of my mouth. Protection from the disease is important but what about the people who are dying from AIDS? I said.

Someone asked, what can we do for them? That was a question I had never thought about before, but I came up with one suggestion. With the social stigma that people who are infected with HIV/AIDS face, people in Africa are dying alone. What if we could offer support, perhaps using a co-op health care model, providing home care? It might even become a model for care of the people who are so sick? Then off we went to our rooms to get ready for the banquet that evening.

I never gave the conversation another thought until three years later I received a phone call from Ottawa. The person on the other end of the line asked me if I would be willing to travel to Soweto to do the project report for CIDA (now Global Affairs Canada), along with the Co-operative Development Foundation, a funder of the Soweto Homebased Caregiver Cooperative.

"The what?" I asked.

The person on the other end of the phone was surprised and said, "I'm sorry. Did no one tell you that we used your idea?"

Then I remembered the conversation that afternoon that was inspired by Stephen Lewis.

That Easter Monday I left for South Africa and had the honour of meeting a group of incredible women who not only cared for the poorest and sickest people in the world, but who had risen from poverty themselves to become proud, skilled caregivers who jointly and equally owned and operated their own home care agency. I was humbled by their strength, their commitment, and their compassion. They were also the first caregivers in all of Africa to earn a living wage from their work.

I feel blessed by being able to have the project contract renewed, obtain another funder, and write and speak about the experience and Stephen's influence dozens of times here at home.

And none of that would have happened if Stephen Lewis hadn't moved the people I sat with that day, not only to tears, but to action.

Hearing Stephen speak 20 years ago, embarked me on a grandmothers to grandmothers journey.  He has inspired what my life has been like.  A truly remarkable man, who has played a major humanitarian role in the world.  

You will be missed, but your legacy will live on.

My deepest condolences to the Lewis family on the passing of a true statesman, the Honourable Stephen Lewis.

His steadfast integrity, moral clarity, and tireless advocacy for our shared humanity leave an enduring legacy. He will be remembered for his incisive analysis of provincial, national, and global affairs—most notably his leadership in confronting the HIV/AIDS pandemic and his critique of the effects of global economic policy on developing nations. His eloquence and unwavering calls for justice will resonate for generations.

May he rest in peace.

Stephen Lewis had close ties to my family through his comradeship with my father, Walter Pitman, in the 70’s NDP family. They ran against each other for the Ontario Leadership and, my father would say that, the right man won.

I crossed paths with Stephen once where he heaped major compliments on my father, though clearly, they were both champions of social justice and human rights.

As stated by Stephen’s family…’the world has lost a voice of unmatched eloquence and integrity’.

Condolences to his family. He will be missed, especially in this challenging world we live in today.

To Stephen's family and friends, 

Many years ago I had the honor to work with Stephen, during the early dark years of the HIV epidemic. I recall his humanity, his conviction, his optimism and his determination. Stephen leaves a remarkable legacy in the lives he saved and the careers he inspired.

Thank you, Stephen, for everything you stood for and everything you did to create a better world for all of humanity.

Wafaa El-Sadr

ICAP at Columbia University

CESVI Foundation extends its heartfelt condolences to the Stephen Lewis Foundation team on the passing of Stephen Lewis.

His extraordinary legacy of compassion, leadership, and unwavering commitment to African children, women, and families has left a lasting impact on communities across the continent. His work will continue to inspire and guide us all.

Our thoughts are with you during this difficult time. May his soul rest in peace, and may his legacy live on.

Luvuyo Zahela on behalf of CESVI Foundation, RSA

Stephen's formidable intelligence was complimented by such warmth , grace and kindness.  His deliberate speech was music of his compassion. 

 At an event Kate and I were performing at with Stepehen and Avi in London,  Stephen was talking about how much he was learning from his children. His description of Avi and Naomi's 'slowly opening him' to contemporary organizing beyond government was both the mark of a man who invested his love in the premise of civil service , and also a mind that never ceased in agility and curiosity. 

 His description that no doubt he and Bill Davis shared similar goals by very different means exposes today's political climate in stark contrast. 

 I am so glad he lived to see his son galvanize love in such a profound and generous way- as his own father had - both answering times of great social crisis with absolute action.  

 Feeling so overwhelmed by gratitude and admiration for all Stephen has brought to our world and sending love to the family through this transition. 

PS Mom always remembers their high school mock U..N. when Carolyn played  Canada against Stephen's USSR.  She never loses reverence.

Like many people I was inspired by Stephen Lewis. By his ability to speak not only eloquently and passionately but knowledgeable and intelligently. His ability to help us connect issues and make sense of the horrors of this world without becoming hostile and horrible. To hold onto humanity and dignity like our lives depend on it, because our lives do depend on it.

After a career in partisan politics Stephen was able to transcend the partisanship and work for the common good in a way that was not moderate yet brought diverse people along issue by issue.

He was a lifelong learner, and evolved his positions on issues, no doubt eventually influenced by Avi, the son he raised.

To beat cancer for 8 years and live to witness Avi elected as the leader of Canada’s NDP, is as Avi has said, a testament to his father’s will to live and will power.

In this time of hyper-partisanship and polarization, of such abuses of power and incivility in politics as click bait, Stephen was critical of capitalism and oppression in a way that could still be heard by the capitalist oppressors. This is political skill we need, to be listened to when saying the things no one wants to hear. Capitalism can’t be fixed, it must be transformed.

Now it is Avi’s time to not shy away from the elephants in the room, not just AIDS and human rights but climate change, the unethical concentration of wealth, causing obscene economic inequality deepening poverty, terrifying militarism and AI tech, along with the many threats to undermine democracy.

It is not lost on many of us that even the timing of Stephen’s death, so soon after Avi’s win was kind of a political act. As the corporate media and opposition parties and even provincial NDP wings attempt to drive wedges and attach Avi. It shows the hypocrisy of those vilifiers who would memorialize and celebrate the life and work of Stephan Lewis the senior while condemning Avi, the son, when they were saying the same thing and advocating for the same vision and agenda. Thank you Stephen.

Now it is up to Avi to be the spokesperson for our movement. Finally a leader whose politics align not just for so many of us with our personal politics, but align with the politics demanded by our time. Not a moment too soon, we can articulate ideas and organize for solutions as big as the challenges we face. I trust we are not too late as the climate clock ticks toward tipping points sped on by emissions from billions wasted in wars and militarism, weaponized tech and billionaires with wealth larger than many governments, to buy political parties and threaten countries.

Avi and family deserve the respect and space to grieve and our support on this rollercoaster of such a public and personal political win followed immediately by such public yet personal loss.

As part of the Avi campaign celebration online April 12 I was so moved by Avi’s honest tears of both joy and grief. And so many hearts both open and big enough to hold it all.

My heart felt condolences to the Lewis, Landsberg, and Klein families as you traverse your grief in public and private. What a time we are living. With you all the way.

Marianne Cerilli

NDP MLA Radisson 1990-2003

Current Chair - Association Former Manitoba MLAs 

I was so sorry to hear about Stephen's passing. He was such a honest, authentic and genuine person.He was for the unprivileged of the world. He will be missed.