Beyond The Commons

Aaron Wherry covers all the goings-on in and around Parliament Hill. Follow Aaron on Twitter: @aaronwherry

Categories: Beyond The Commons, Capital Read

He is… the least uninteresting man in government

by Aaron Wherry on Thursday, August 13, 2009 12:08pm - 14 Comments

Jim Prentice canoes the Nahanni, drinking scotch and reading R.M. Patterson’s tale of murder, gold and frontier adventure.

This July, I canoed Canada’s “Dangerous River”—the majestic Nahanni of the Northwest Territories. I brought with me my dog-eared copy of R.M. Patterson’s Canadian classic of the same name. The Nahanni is described by many as the world’s best canoe trip. It was inspiring each night to pour over Patterson’s writings, comparing his observations to our own as we explored the geography and mythology of the great river that he chronicled more than 80 years ago … Dangerous River has now been restored to its shelf in my house—the most dog-eared, rumpled, scotch- and water-stained book in my library. It is also now the most loved.”

Tags: Jim Prentice, Nahanni, Northwest Territories, R.M. Patterson, RM Patterson

More by Aaron Wherry

http://intensedebate.com/people/SeanStok SeanStok

I dunno. I'm envious of a trip like that, and it's a damn sight more interesting a vacation than most of us have.
Wayne

I watched this on CPAC and it was brilliant – in point of fact i am sending out some feelers right now as I simply have to be one of those that ' hang a carved paddle ' at the pit stop cabin! Absolutley frigging magic place – way to go Hharper on the massive expansion to the park – first I heard of it hate to say.

http://intensedebate.com/people/sea_n_mountains sea_n_mountains

yeah this is a great trip. we tried to pull it off this summer, but moving cross country and some other stuff fouled it up and i am already lamenting that i know it can't happen next year. I, for one, am jealous.

http://www.cnn.com Lance

Prentice is trying to up his manly points while secretly organizing his leadership campaign.
http://intensedebate.com/people/Crit_Reasoning Crit_Reasoning

Or maybe, just maybe, he goes on canoe trips because he likes canoeing.

http://intensedebate.com/people/Silly_Walks Silly_Walks

Rigamarole.
http://intensedebate.com/people/SeanStok SeanStok

Unfortunately, the Liberals own copyright for any images of, or references to, canoeing leaders.

http://intensedebate.com/people/SisyphusThis SisyphusThis

And he takes Don Martin with him because , you know, he really,really
likes Don Martin.

http://intensedebate.com/people/DeliciousLattes DeliciousLattes

I love travelogues, and scotch, and, of course, my friend Baxter here…
Dee

Good to see the Environment Minister is actually going out into a naturally pristine area of our country that needs government protection. Every politician who denigrates environmentalism should do likewise.
http://phantomobserver.com PhantomObserver

Now what do you suppose are the odds that Dangerous River shows up as part of Yann Martel's Harper Reading List?
http://intensedebate.com/people/OntarioTown OntarioTown

He's canoeing while drinking and reading – scotch, heavy reading – what an elitiste.
http://intensedebate.com/people/ruralroutes ruralroutes

I watched the show on CPAC and would love to see that part of the country. It looked like Jim P actually canoed the difficult parts of the river and enjoyed himself.
AJR79

I've already decide that he will be getting my vote in any upcoming leadership race.

Good ole red tory who like a spot of scotch, and canoe trip. Much more soothing to my PC roots then Harper.

I also heard he knows how to speak russian, in french.