It wasn't in resigning from Harper's cabinet today.
Nope.
Former Connie cabinet minister Michael Chong is married to Caroline Joan Davidson, a descendant of William Whiteway. He had the good sense to fall in love with - and marry - a woman from the most sensible part of the country.
For mainland readers, Whiteway is a former prime minister of Newfoundland and a staunch Confederate. He was defeated as a Confederate candidate in the 1869 general election, but was returned to the House of Assembly in 1873, representing Trinity.
In 1875, Whiteway sponsored a bill to fund a survey for a cross-island railway.
Whiteway formed an administration in 1878 and won a general election that year. He was re-elected in 1882 but Whiteway's premiership was dogged by concerns about his railway-building project. He left office in 1885 in the wake of the so-called Harbour Grace Affray.
Sir Robert Bond, later prime minister of Newfoundland, was first elected to the legislature in 1882 as a Whiteway supporter.
Whiteway was re-elected in 1889, and formed an administration with Bond as Colonial Secretary. While he was ousted in 1894, Whiteway returned to the prime ministership in 1895. His administrations were marked by controversy over railway financing and the 1892 fire that devastated St. John's.