We, the leadership and national board of the Christian Heritage Party of Canada, want to offer our condolences to the family and friends of Jim Hnatiuk. Our contact and relationship with Jim go back to the days when – as he often explained – he planned to start a Christian political party and found to his surprise that one already existed, the CHP.
Jim joined the CHP in 2002 and began organizing and preparing, in his organized military fashion, for the success of the party. He established not one but two electoral district associations in Nova Scotia. With his dedicated service, he was soon serving on the national board as the president of the Nova Scotia Provincial Council. With his zealous service in that role, he was asked by Ron Gray, CHP leader at the time, to serve as his deputy. He ran as a candidate in four elections and a by-election.
In 2008, when Ron Gray retired as party leader, Jim put his name forward to seek the leadership and in November of 2008, he was elected as Leader with a strong majority. He served the party faithfully as leader for 5.5 years, developing growth strategies and training materials, conducting cross-country tours, hosting local meetings, and guiding policy development.
In 2014, Jim stepped down as leader and spent several years improving his business—Hnatiuk’s Hunting and Fishing Supplies. Later, as all those close to him know, he devoted much of his time and energy to writing his book, From Torments to Miraclesand more recently to developing an entire course about spiritual warfare and dealing with the powers of darkness troubling so many around the world.
We are grateful for his friendship. Even after leaving his leader’s post, he continued to share advice when asked, and he and Ellen made us feel welcome in their home whenever we were in the area.
Jim’s military background blended with his warmly generous heart to make him a friend and an example who mixed methodical precision with compassionate kindness. We in the CHP will miss him dearly. We count ourselves privileged to have known him. He has helped us grow and broadened our vision. He has made a difference to us and to Canada.
We hope that the time, effort and care Jim invested in the spiritual warfare training presentation will be taken up by others and carried to the fruitful impact he envisaged. To Ellen and to Jim’s family, we wish God’s peace and comfort and the knowledge that Jim’s sacrifices for the cause and his friendship have been – and continue to be – a blessing to us at the CHP.
Rod Taylor is the leader of the Christian Heritage Party.