Frankly, I am getting tired of this schmaltzy feminist dialogue from the prime minister. Enough is enough. He needs a new playbook.
This business reminds me of the time his father gave a feminist speech to a dinner in Toronto at the Royal York Hotel. I had a table with the key media people and I invited former Conservative Party President Dalton Camp (who had media credentials) to join us. Camp was a superb raconteur and helped keep the table laughing. The only downer of the evening was listening to Pierre simpering and extolling the roles played by women in society.
The party was giving out medals that night commemorating the dinner. Dalton’s line on the medal was that we all deserved one for having to listen to Pierre’s speech. We Toronto Liberals were not in the know that Pierre was on his way to Vancouver to marry Justin’s mother.
If we had known that it was Pierre’s bachelor dinner, we could have livened up the proceedings. It was a year later that we presented Pierre with a pint-sized Toronto Maple Leaf hockey uniform for Christmas-baby Justin.
What got me on this nostalgia kick was the prime minister’s claim to the news media that he did not “have a rule book that’s been handed down by Wilfrid Laurier.” It was a damn silly statement to what was probably a damn silly question.
As much as I agree with the joke that conservatives come to Ottawa to drink and liberals come to get laid, there are both kinds in both parties. I usually knew who was a straight arrow and who was not on the front benches. I was lucky at the time that I was frequently in Ottawa as three of my oldest brother’s daughters were working there. They were fun and they helped keep their favourite uncle out of trouble.
But, of course there can be no rule book to keep politicians out of the beds of the nation. Pierre Trudeau was once worried about one of his cabinet members frequenting gay bars. Senator Keith Davey explained Pierre’s concern to me. The problem was that Keith was just as likely to not know what to do as would Pierre. All I could advise them was that as long as the minister stuck to making friends in places where you are required to be an adult, the news media would say nothing.
Justin Trudeau needs to recognize that the relationships between individuals have come a long way in Canada’s 150 years. Both men and women away from home might like to have a drink and they might even like to engage in a friendly sexual romp. If the parties involved are adults and it is consensual, it is their business.
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Copyright 2018 © Peter Lowry
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