Harper’s facial hair and new gig writing books
By Mitchel Raphael - Monday, October 17, 2011 - 4 Comments
Photography by Mitchel Raphael
Harper’s final chapter
For several years Stephen Harper has been working on a book about hockey. The PM can finally use one of the Conservatives’ favourite catchphrases: “Getting the job done.” Word is the book is written. A publication date has yet to be announced.
A cake for Clement
During question period, NDP ethics critic Charlie Angus has been counting the days that Treasury Board President Tony Clement has refused to answer questions about what Angus calls the G8 “slush fund.” The MP says that on the 150th day, in the first week of November, he will present the cabinet minister with a cake and, he jokes, “maybe it will have a file in it.” Senior Tory cabinet ministers have expressed embarrassment to Capital Diary that Clement has not risen to explain himself (or apologize, if necessary). Foreign Minister John Baird gets up to answer questions on his behalf, although Clement is sitting right next to him. Perhaps there’s a double standard regarding which ministers can answer questions in the House: Defence Minister Peter MacKay recently rose to answer queries about his use of aircrafts. Liberal MP Judy Sgro says that under Jean Chrétien, ministers had to answer their own questions. There was only one exception: if the opposition called for a minister to resign, Chrétien took the question.
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Who paid $10,000 for Elizabeth May’s cane?
By Mitchel Raphael - Monday, October 3, 2011 at 9:50 AM - 5 Comments
Photographs by Mitchel Raphael
The case of the two Louises
Green Leader Elizabeth May’s cane is now worth $10,000. The price tag was set at the Ritz-Carlton in Toronto at the annual gala put on by Egale, Canada’s gay advocacy group. During the fundraising portion of the night, comedian Elvira Kurt spontaneously shouted, “Let’s auction Elizabeth May’s cane,” which seemed to come as a surprise to May. She appeared hesitant, and slightly worried about how she would get around, but then she said she would do it—for $10,000. Within minutes, Toronto-Dominion Bank president Ed Clark announced he would purchase the cane. In the end, he let May keep it. Now, next to her car, it is the most valuable thing May owns.
That same night the 2011 Egale Canada Leadership Award went to former Supreme Court justice Louise Arbour. Egale noted that part of the reason she was selected was that she was one of the first United Nations high commissioners for human rights to speak openly about LGBT rights. Arbour was unable to attend and asked recently retired Supreme Court justice Louise Charron to accept the award on her behalf. Arbour joked that Charron should just pretend to be her. In her speech, Charron observed that this was not so far-fetched because throughout their careers she and Arbour have been mistaken for each other. She noted both are Franco-Canadians with the same first name and they both entered the justice system around the same time when women on the bench were still rare.
At the event, politicians mixed with business people, activists and burlesque dancers. The reception before the dinner featured a brass dancing pole. The gala was co-chaired by Tory Sen. Nancy Ruth. Other Conservatives in attendance were Sen. Salma Ataullahjan, Sen. Linda Frum and Toronto MP Bernard Trottier, the man who beat former Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff in Etobicoke-Lakeshore. Interim leader Bob Rae was the only federal Liberal in attendance. When he was onstage with Elizabeth May and interim NDP leader Nycole Turmel, he put his arm around May and joked, “This is the first merger. Every threesome starts with a twosome.”
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Mrs. Harper’s run-in with some hoary marmots
By Mitchel Raphael - Monday, August 15, 2011 at 8:59 AM - 5 Comments
Mitchel Raphael
Wild kingdom
Laureen Harper has gone on an annual summer hike for a few years now. It started off as a solo venture, plus the mandatory RCMP detachment, but soon blossomed into a group event that includes women such as Minister of Public Works Rona Ambrose. This year the group went to the Yukon, for a trek through Tombstone Territorial Park. Mrs. Harper noted, “It never got dark so we could hike until 11:00 at night.” Last year the group had to scare off bears. No bears this year, but Mrs. Harper says there was other company. “We did run into lots of hoary marmots [large ground squirrels]. The valley bottom was very boggy so we had to walk up on the mountain ridges, and the marmots would hike along with us for a while.”
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The Harpers’ feline fixation
By Aaron Wherry - Friday, July 15, 2011 at 9:17 AM - 15 Comments
They foster them, cuddle them on TV, even dress them up. What’s behind the Harpers’ cat fancy?
DEB RANSOM/PMO
Among the duties and responsibilities of a prime minister, inaugurating new animal shelters does not likely rank particularly high. But there was Stephen Harper last week, alongside his wife, Laureen, and Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird, cuddling with a black cat for the cameras to mark the opening of a new facility for the Ottawa Humane Society.
From his earliest days as leader of the Opposition, when journalists were eager for any noteworthy detail of his personal life, Harper’s fondness for cats has been well documented. But with the Prime Minister now assured at least another four years in power, and thus a more prominent place in Canadian history, the image of him as a cat lover is taking on a certain iconic status. And his feline fixation is being pushed more proudly than ever.
The day after the Speech from the Throne in June, the Prime Minister polled his Facebook fans on the name of his family’s new grey tabby—asking voters to choose between Smokie, Vingt-quatre, Stanley, Earl Grey, Griffin and Gandalf. The poll drew more than 11,000 responses, the plurality of them going for “Stanley.” A week after the results were announced, video was posted to the Prime Minister’s official YouTube account of Stanley frolicking around 24 Sussex. Both the poll and the video were apparently Laureen Harper’s ideas.
This public cuddling and cooing might have something to do with presenting a warmer image of the Prime Minister, but the Harpers seem legitimately committed to the cause of feline welfare. The Prime Minister’s official website has long included information on how to foster or adopt pets. Stanley joins incumbent cats Cartier and Gypsy at 24 Sussex and, according to the Ottawa Humane Society, the Harpers have hosted some 87 foster cats during their time in the capital. Mrs. Harper is the honorary chair of the humane society’s annual fundraising gala. And on one occasion, the Harpers took in 11 kittens after a fire at an animal shelter in Cornwall, Ont.
The couple’s affection for cats is apparently quite immersive. During the last campaign, when Harper and his wife invited cameras to watch them watch the royal wedding from a hotel room in Montreal, they recalled their comparatively humble nuptials. “Six people and two cats,” recalled Laureen. “I had a little bow tie made for my one cat and a little lace collar made for the other cat.” In an early profile of the Prime Minister’s wife, written shortly after her husband became leader of the Canadian Alliance in 2002, it was noted that the couple threw birthday parties for their cats.
Aside from William Lyon Mackenzie King, who drew great companionship from a series of Irish terriers, Canadian prime ministers are not particularly noted for their pets. In the United States, the presidential pet has reached exalted status (witness the attention heaped on Bo, the Obama family’s Portuguese water dog), but dogs have mostly ruled the White House in recent administrations. Winston Churchill, the revered British leader, kept a series of cats as beloved pets and they have long been employed by prime ministers to deal with rodents around the official residence at 10 Downing Street. Earlier this year, David Cameron appointed a four-year-old tabby named Larry to the position of “chief mouser” after a rat was spotted scurrying by the front steps. (After two months without success, Larry was reported to have made his first kill in April.)
The psychology of pet preference was the subject of a study conducted in 2009 by University of Texas psychology professor Sam Gosling, author of Snoop: What Your Stuff Says About You. Using an online personality test based on five general traits (openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness and neuroticism), Gosling and his team found that dog people were more extroverted, more agreeable and more conscientious, while cat people were more neurotic and more open: the latter a measure of how curious, imaginative, creative and aware an individual is.
But if there is indeed deeper meaning to be drawn from Harper’s cats, the Prime Minister has already himself offered a couple of flattering suggestions. He has, for instance, argued that politicians who prefer dogs want to be loved, while those who prefer cats want to serve. For that matter, he has compared his entire political career to the mythology of a cat. “Cats have nine lives,” he told reporters on the eve of the Conservative party’s election victory in 2006, “and evidently I have many lives.”
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On one gracious loser and May as an 'independent'
By Mitchel Raphael - Monday, May 16, 2011 at 9:30 AM - 6 Comments
- It’s a whole new ball game: Elizabeth May
A brand-new question period?
Much media ink has been spilled over the young MPs elected in the NDP orange wave. But age wasn’t a problem for Alexander the Great, the king of Macedon and pharaoh of Egypt, who ruled the Greeks and had conquered Persia by age 25. The NDP say they now have both seasoned people and youthful enthusiasm. Since they have always been an opposition party (though now with a huge increase in resources), NDPers have fine-tuned every trick in the book to force delays and fight procedural wars on issues dear to them. Toronto NDP MP Olivia Chow says her party, over the last four years, helped delay the free trade deal with Colombia and a transportation bill. However, NDP deputy leader Libby Davies says watch for the Conservatives to work hard to erode their ability to challenge bills within the current system. NDPers also say to watch for a different kind of question period. After the G20 in Toronto, the Liberals hammered the government over items such as the infamous “fake lake,” while the NDP went after the Conservatives on the trampling of civil rights. Re-elected NDP MP Don Davies, who was his party’s public safety critic last session, says he expects there will be more focus on substantive issues in QP rather than simply a bunch of scandal questions, a strategy the Liberals had turned into an art form. Former Liberal MPs told Capital Diary in the past they were literally harassed by their own party to help when mud throwing was needed.
May called Harper but Harper…
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Women’s Day chocolate politics and tartan fever
By Mitchel Raphael - Tuesday, March 22, 2011 at 1:26 PM - 14 Comments
Photograph by Mitchel Raphael
Why Laureen Harper’s big on Capt. Kirk
At the 31st annual Genie Awards, held in Ottawa’s National Arts Centre, cabinet ministers Rona Ambrose, Lisa Raitt and Tony Clement arrived just as workers were vacuuming up popcorn from the pre-awards reception. They were late because of votes in the House. The event was hosted by William Shatner, who, joked Tony Clement, “finally came out of his shell.” Laureen Harper told Capital Diary she is a Shatner and Star Trek fan and has seen all the episodes of the original TV series. And her husband, Stephen Harper, and their daughter Rachel Harper, watched all the episodes together two summers ago. “You can learn about leadership from Capt. Kirk,” noted Mrs. Harper. “He had to make some tough decisions.”
Photograph by Mitchel Raphael
After the Genies were over, politicians mixed with filmmakers such as Denis Villeneuve and The Trotsky star Jay Baruchel, who after the show popped by a 24-hour McDonald’s in the rain for a late night snack. Also in the eclectic mix were two past Playboy playmates, Shannon Tweed, a former Miss Ottawa who lives with rock and reality show star Gene Simmons, and Shera Bechard, Miss November 2010, who was promoting her new film Sweet Karma, a drama about human trafficking.
Photograph by Mitchel Raphael
I don’t want your chocolate
For the past three years, Shelly Glover, parliamentary secretary to the minister of finance, has handed out chocolates on International Women’s Day. The first year she put them on the desks of all the female MPs in the House. When she did it the second time in 2010, many opposition MPs returned them with rude notes, she said. So this year she placed small boxes of chocolates on the House desks of only her fellow Conservative female MPs and discreetly handed some to the women in other parties she considers friends.
Photograph by Mitchel Raphael
Our very own tartan
Heritage Minister James Moore has now declared the maple leaf tartan an official symbol of Canada. When reporters jokingly asked whether this was part of the Conservatives’ outreach to “ethnic communities,” Moore turned to National Post columnist John Ivison, who was in the scrum, and teased that the reporter, who is from Scotland, would know if such a strategy would work. Ivison joked that it would take “free booze” to win the Scottish-Canadian votes. Nevertheless, Ivison was spotted the next day on the Hill sporting a tie in the tartan. Moore says that the adoption of the tartan as a national symbol, along with the beaver and maple tree, will allow Canadians who do not already have a family tartan to now have one for events such as Robbie Burns Day. One minister probably won’t be sporting the maple leaf tartan: Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development Diane Finley recently created her own tartan. When Moore was asked if he was getting anything made for himself in the plaid, the large MP joked it was “in development” and that it would require “a lot” of fabric. The maple leaf tartan was created by David Weiser in 1964 as part of a lead-up to Canada’s 100th anniversary of Confederation in 1967. Moore wanted it to become a national symbol before Canada’s 150th anniversary in 2017. Last December, it was Liberal Sen. Elizabeth Hubley who put forward a bill to have the tartan become an official symbol.
Dear Helena . . .
As part of his preparations for the upcoming budget, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty sent a letter to MPs asking for suggestions and things they might want to see in it. Former Conservative and now Independent MP Helena Guergis says her letter had “Dear Colleague” crossed out at the top and replaced with “Helena.” Guergis says her main suggestion was that the government should provide volunteer firefighters with a bigger tax credit for their services in order to increase the appeal for people to take up such positions.
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MPs mix with Genie stars
By Mitchel Raphael - Thursday, March 17, 2011 at 9:05 AM - 6 Comments
The 31st annual Genie Awards were held at Ottawa’s National Arts Centre. Below, Industry Minister Tony Clement.
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Laureen Harper.
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Shannon Tweed and the boys!
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Conservatives celebrate 5 years in power
By Mitchel Raphael - Tuesday, February 15, 2011 at 9:05 AM - 12 Comments
Tories turned out at the Hard Rock Cafe for a party in honour of staying in power for five years. (L-R) Val Day, Treasury Board President Stockwell Day, Laureen Harper.
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Labour Minister Lisa Raitt.
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Why Laureen Harper might need a professional lobbyist
By Mitchel Raphael - Monday, February 14, 2011 at 10:29 AM - 3 Comments
Photograph by Mitchel Raphael
For the second year, Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami presented A Taste of the Arctic, this time in the Great Hall of the National Gallery of Canada. While there were long lineups for the muskox, halibut and shrimp stations, the one featuring seal meat was less popular. Evan Solomon, host of CBC’s Power & Politics, claimed the seal meat was delicious, if hard to taste because of the heavy sauce. ITK president Mary Simon arrived with her leg in a cast. (Ottawa is plagued with leg injuries: not only is Treasury Board President Stockwell Day in a cast, Veterans Affairs Minister Jean-Pierre Blackburn injured his leg in a snowmobile accident.)
The keynote speaker for Taste of the Arctic was former governor general Michaëlle Jean, now a UNESCO special envoy to Haiti. This was Jean’s first official event since stepping down as GG. Jean, who has bought a house in Ottawa, is happy she was able to stay there for work as it allows her daughter to continue at her school and keep her same friends. Also in attendance was Nick Javor of Tim Hortons, who noted that the company recently opened three kiosks (offering a limited menu) in Nunavut.
Photograph by Mitchel Raphael
The entertainment included Inuk singer Elisapie Isaac. During Isaac’s set, which closed the evening, Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq starting rocking out on the dance floor and got people moving. Laureen Harper was so impressed with the singer she quipped she was going to “lobby” Heritage Minister James Moore to have Isaac perform for Canada Day on Parliament Hill. Mrs. Harper joked she might have to hire a professional lobbyist because last year she tried to recommend a band she saw in a bar but nothing happened.
How can I be cool if…
Last week, Liberal MP Massimo Pacetti received his new BlackBerry Torch, the latest handheld device to offer both a keypad and touch-screen option. Pacetti was told by the Commons telecommunications department he was the first MP to get the Torch, which made him feel pretty hip—until he was also told senators had been getting Torches since the end of 2010.
Liberal conspiracy theory
There was much grumbling by Liberals on the Hill when news hit that Rocco Rossi, the former national director of the Liberal party who helped recruit Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff into federal politics, was going to run provincially for Tim Hudak’s Progressive Conservatives in Ontario. At the same time, federal Liberals say quietly that should the Ontario Liberals be defeated before the next federal election it would bode well for them because Ontario would be looking to balance provincial and federal power. Was Rossi’s move all part of some secret plan?
Photograph by Mitchel Raphael
In the last election, Liberal MP Justin Trudeau took the riding of Papineau from Bloc MP Vivian Barbot. With election fever in the air, Barbot, who still works on the Hill for her party, says she plans to go for round two against Trudeau, but only if there’s an election before she turns 70 on July 7.
Harper’s card to Helena
Officials in the PMO say that when they told Stephen Harper that Helena Guergis and Rahim Jaffer had a baby, the PM instructed his staff to send a card, which they did, sometime in December. (A recent item in Capital Diary had Jaffer reporting he did not get any congratulatory message from the PM.) Jaffer explains that when he and Helena collected items, including flowers from Green party Leader Elizabeth May from Guergis’s Hill office on Jan. 18 (the day Capital Diary went to press), there was no card from the PM, but that one arrived a few days later. It was much appreciated, he says. Apparently there are no hard feelings: his wife, he notes, has put out signals she would be willing to come back to the Conservative party if the PM invited her.
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Casts and seal fur at Taste of the Arctic
By Mitchel Raphael - Friday, February 11, 2011 at 11:36 AM - 5 Comments
For a second year, Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami (ITK) presented A Taste of the Arctic: A Celebration of Inuit Culture. This time the event was held in the Great Hall of the National Gallery of Canada. Below, Evan Solomon, host of CBC’s Power & Politics (left), signs ITK president Mary Simon’s cast.
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Former GG Michaëlle Jean (left) and Green Party Leader Elizabeth May.
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What a Girl Wants with Justin Trudeau, Laureen Harper and a drag queen
By Mitchel Raphael - Monday, November 29, 2010 at 4:52 PM - 5 Comments
The fourth annual What a Girl Wants charity dinner held in the Fairmont Château Laurier ballroom raised money for the Canadian Liver Foundation with the help of local firefighters peeling off their uniforms, a fashion show and a performance by Ottawa drag queen Dixie Landers who lip-synced Better Midler’s cover of Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy. Below, Landers with Vancouver Liberal MP Hedy Fry.
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Montreal Liberal MP Justin Trudeau.
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(Left to right) Labour Minister Lisa Raitt, National Post columnist Don Martin and Laureen Harper.
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Mitchel Raphael on a Hollywood hunk and Mrs. Harper
By Mitchel Raphael - Thursday, November 18, 2010 at 1:40 PM - 1 Comment
Look which journalist scored an interview with Mrs. Harper
Heritage Minister James Moore held his most recent movie night at the National Arts Centre, screening Barney’s Version, a film based on the Mordecai Richler novel. Moore’s goal for these nights is to introduce Canadian films to MPs and a “few” others. Well, more than 1,400 people attended this one, including producer Robert Lantos, Mordecai Richler’s wife Florence Richler and several of the film’s stars, including Canadian hunk Scott Speedman. Speedman’s silver-screen break was playing a vampire-werewolf hybrid in the first two Underworld films, alongside Kate Beckinsale. Laureen Harper made Jayne Watson’s night by asking the CEO of the NAC Foundation to show Speedman to the washroom. Watson happily obliged. Mrs. Harper’s date was Labour Minister Lisa Raitt—who was unaware of the honour until she was escorted onto the red carpet to join Mrs. Harper (who is traditionally accompanied by House leader John Baird when Stephen Harper can’t make it). It
seemed like Raitt’s lucky night all around when she scored the seat next to Speedman’s to watch the film—although she then had to move over to accommodate an NAC bigwig. When Mrs. Harper, who rarely does interviews, walked the red carpet, she did speak to a few reporters—including eTalk’s Sophie Grégoire-Trudeau, wife of Justin Trudeau. President of the Treasury Board Stockwell Day “snuck” some Twizzlers in for Mrs. Harper; on Moore’s movie nights, treats are verboten. There is, however, a VIP reception beforehand and, afterwards, a general reception with food inspired by the film—on this night, smoked salmon, bagels and battered chicken in honour of the film’s Jewish characters. A papier mâché bust of Richler graced the lobby. The artist, Susan Longmire, used pages from Barney’s Version to create the work. Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff and his wife, Zsuzsanna Zsohar, each gave the film two thumbs up. In fact, Iggy came back specially from Montreal for it. This was his first Moore movie night. There was talk the PM might also attend for the first time, but it was not to be. -
The trick to loving how you look
By Julia McKinnell - Friday, October 22, 2010 at 9:00 AM - 0 Comments
It starts with knowing your type. Are you a 3, like Laureen Harper?
CP; Getty Images; Photo Illustration: Taylor Shute; Mario Anzuoni/Reuters
When Valerie Monroe, beauty director for O magazine, revealed her top tip for an article asking “Do You Love the Way You Look?”, Carol Tuttle, a psychotherapist turned beauty adviser, took issue, calling the advice ridiculous. Munroe told O readers that, in order to love her own face, she lowers the bar. “I picture a face with little piggy eyes, a drooping, fleshy nose, a wet slash of a mouth, the whole thing sallow and sagging, really something awful. I prepare myself for this unpleasantness right before I look in the mirror.”
Tuttle took her Oprah outrage to YouTube. “I’m shocked. Oprah, come on! I’m going to think of the most horrible, awful-looking ugly face I can imagine and then look at myself and think, I’m not so bad? You basically should’ve written, ‘Honey, you’re just not attractive.’ You’re basically telling women, ‘You can’t be beautiful, so think of the ugliest face you can imagine, and then you’re not going to look so dang awful to yourself.’ This pisses me off, people.” As Tuttle told Maclean’s, “It’s disconcerting how many women have put themselves in the category of, ‘I’m not a beautiful woman. I have other talents.’ ”
For the last seven years, Tuttle has been teaching women how to “capture” their beauty with her course, “Dressing Your Truth.” “Most women do not know how truly beautiful they are,” she writes in her book of the same name. The problem for most women, she believes, is that they don’t know what “type” they are and are therefore “misunderstood.”
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Special Olympics Canada on the Hill
By Mitchel Raphael - Tuesday, October 19, 2010 at 8:00 AM - 0 Comments
Special Olympics Canada held a reception on the Hill. (Left to right) Olympian Mark Tewksbury, Government House Leader John Baird and Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff.
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Steven Fletcher, Minister of State for Democratic Reform.
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Mitchel Raphael on the Prime Minister's wife and the grizzly bear
By Mitchel Raphael - Thursday, August 26, 2010 at 2:40 PM - 0 Comments
Harper teams up with Don Cherry
Ontario Conservative MP Patrick Brown’s third annual Hockey Night in Barrie charity game was packed with fans and celebrities, including the Prime Minister. It was the first time Stephen Harper had attended the event. Harper coached the “blue” team with Hockey Night in Canada’s Don Cherry. Past coaches at the celebrity game have included Sports Minister Gary Lunn and former Conservative, now Independent MP Helena Guergis, who, coincidentally, was in a car crash the day of the tournament. (Guergis is now reported to be doing “fine.”) -
The first wives club plays safe
By Anne Kingston - Thursday, July 8, 2010 at 8:00 AM - 0 Comments
The leaders’ spouses avoided protesters—and any whiff of substance
Ozer Kayhan/AP
As mayhem erupted on Toronto streets on Sunday, the spouses of G20 leaders were above the fray quite literally—ferried more than 800 m up to the revolving restaurant atop the CN Tower. The occasion was a brunch with “Canadian women of distinction” hand-picked by G20 summit hostess Laureen Harper. Flutes of bubbly and strawberry juice circulated, and the most pressing decision was whether to order the rosemary-mushroom gnocchi or the French toast.
It was a fitting finale to an event that saw politicians’ partners kept at a hermetic remove unprecedented in the G8’s 25-year history. Gawking at spouses has become part of summit spectacle, a justification for big-buck spending, a way to promote the global family. While world leaders thrash out big issues, their partners tour local landmarks—a high-tech incinerator in Japan, an earthquake site in Italy, a Harry Potter party in London.
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The surreal life
By Aaron Wherry - Saturday, June 26, 2010 at 6:56 PM - 5 Comments
And while reports of sporadic violence continue to come in, the international media centre is filled with the image of the Prime Minister and Mrs. Harper at the Royal York for an interminable number of grip-and-grins with various visiting dignitaries. Smiles are being forced, small talk is being made, air kisses are being exchanged. Mrs. Harper is wearing a lovely floral-print dress, with matching purse. Mr. Harper is in a black suit, white shirt and red tie. Mrs. Harper has well mastered the right foot forward standing pose and seems to have perfected the photo op dance—she stands with her husband and the other first couple for a few shots, then steps back with the other spouse to allow the leaders a photo together.
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Where famous Canucks go to play
By macleans.ca - Friday, June 11, 2010 at 9:00 AM - 6 Comments
Travel-savvy celebs tell us what to see in their home provinces
Ontario
Russell Peters
Comedian
“The Kee to Bala is always really cool. It’s in Bala, Ont. They always have these really impressive acts up there. It’s in the middle of nowhere, which makes it even more impressive. James Brown even played there. I played it in 2003. I remember seeing that George Clinton was coming up there the week after me. I’m like, what the hell? First of all, it’s George Clinton. Second of all, what the hell do they know about soul and Funkadelic in northern Ontario? The cottage crowd generally likes your basic Steely Dan, your Doobie Brothers and your yacht rock, as they like to call it.” (This year’s summer lineup includes the Sam Roberts Band, Gord Downie and Hedley.)More things to do in Ontario
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Summer Getaways: Alberta
By Cameron Ainsworth-Vincze - Friday, June 11, 2010 at 9:00 AM - 3 Comments
Where to find your inner cowboy
Calgary Stampede (Photograph by Chris Bolin)
Canadian Death Race (July 30-Aug. 2)
Set on a 125-km course in the Rocky Mountains, this event is one of the world’s toughest adventure races. Competitors must conquer three mountain summits—a total of 5,200 m in elevation changes—and pass through pristine forests, mountain trails and snow-covered terrain. Training camps are offered June 11-13 and July 2-4. But don’t expect any big prizes at the finish line. Bragging rights for surviving is by far the biggest reward.Banff National Park celebrates its 125th anniversary
This is Canada’s oldest national park and the most visited tourist destination in Alberta. To celebrate the park’s 125th anniversary, visitors can take part in writing and photo contests, travelling exhibitions, or embark on hiking, horseback riding, camping and climbing excursions. For something a little less rustic, unwind at the Upper Hot Springs, or tee off at the Fairmont Banff Springs Golf Course, home to 27 holes in the heart of Canada’s Rocky Mountains.Strathmore Heritage Days Stampede (July 29-Aug. 2)
It may not exactly be the streets of Pamplona, Spain, but dozens of thrill-seekers will climb into the ring in Strathmore this summer for the eighth annual running of the bulls. If being chased by a herd of bulls sounds a bit too dangerous, sit in the grandstands and watch some 400 contestants compete in six rodeo events, including calf roping, steer wrestling, saddle bronc riding and ladies’ barrel racing. Canada’s third largest rodeo, held in this town 40 km east of Calgary, also features dog shows, a petting zoo, concerts, a farmers’ market and monster-truck rides.Calgary Stampede (July 9-18)
This 10-day celebration of Calgary’s rough-and-ready image kicks off with a downtown parade including 150 floats and hundreds of horses. The world-famous stampede also features bull riding, barrel racing and rodeo competitions with $50,000 winner-take-all prizes up for grabs. New this year is an extreme cowboy race at the Pengrowth Saddledome. Other must-see attractions include an Indian Village, featuring native dance competitions, and the Rope Square, where free pancake breakfasts are served every morning from the back of chuckwagonsTo see what Laureen Harper picks as her favourite spots, go to Where famous Canucks go to play
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Jean Chrétien gets hung
By Mitchel Raphael - Tuesday, June 1, 2010 at 9:00 AM - 24 Comments
Past and current MPs came out for the hanging of Jean Chrétien’s official portrait painted by artist Christan Nicholson. Below, Chrétien with the portrait.
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Former Liberal MP Martin Cauchon (left) with Liberal MP Denis Coderre.
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Aline Chrétien (left) and Laureen Harper.
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Laureen Harper and high school students have a victory party
By Mitchel Raphael - Friday, May 21, 2010 at 3:00 AM - 0 Comments
Second World War veterans joined students from St. Plus X High School to celebrate VE-Day at the Fairmont Château Laurier as part of The Historica-Dominion Institute’s “The Memory Project: Stories of the Second World War.” Below, Marc Chalifoux of The Historica-Dominion Institute and Laureen Harper.
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Mrs. Harper and a vet.
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Heritage Minister James Moore greets a vet.
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Paul Gross, Laureen Harper and a pack of Twizzlers
By Mitchel Raphael - Wednesday, May 12, 2010 at 8:00 AM - 10 Comments
Heritage Minister James Moore hosted Ottawa’s premiere of Gunless, starring Paul Gross, at the Museum of Civilization. Below (left to right): Laureen Harper, Heritage Minister James Moore and Paul Gross.
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Laureen Harper offers Justin Trudeau some Twizzlers.
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Hot Pursuit
By Jonathon Gatehouse - Thursday, March 25, 2010 at 11:00 AM - 1 Comment
Denny Morrison likes a good story. The one about how his team took the gold is the one he enjoys the most.
Photograph by Todd Korol/Reuters
You can forgive Denny Morrison for rubbing it in. Fresh from the podium, with the country’s 11th gold medal of the Games dangling from his neck—a wire-to-wire besting of the United States in the men’s speed skating team pursuit—he stopped to make a point. “We’re not just doing this for ourselves. We’re doing this for all of Canada.”
He and teammates Lucas Makowsky and Mathieu Giroux were among the few to believe they had a shot at hitting the top of the podium on the final day of the Olympic long-track competition. But in the preliminaries, the trio laid low defending champions Italy, in an Olympic record time of three minutes, 42.38 seconds. In the second round, they went even faster, beating Norway in 3:42.22. And when it was all on the line, they left a formidable American squad—including five-time medallist Chad Hedrick—eating their dust, crossing the line in 3:41.37, grabbing gold by a margin of 0.21 seconds. It was the first, and only, medal for Canada’s male long-track speed skaters at the 2010 Games. (The women won four despite failing to medal in the team pursuit.) And for Morrison, at least, it was sweet relief.
Olympic redemption doesn’t usually come so quickly. Those who crumble under the immense pressure of the sporting world’s brightest spotlight often have to wait four more years—and sometimes forever—tormented by their own failure, and the media’s insistence on reliving it. Another teammate, Jeremy Wotherspoon, for example, retires after Vancouver 2010 as one of speed skating’s all-time greats, the winner of more World Cup races than any man ever. But his stumble at the starting line in Salt Lake City, and subsequent inability to ever improve on the silver he won as a 21-year-old buck back at the 1998 Nagano Games, became the defining story of his career.
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Mitchel Raphael on who Harper hugged at the Olympics and Ambrose’s grateful date
By Mitchel Raphael - Thursday, February 18, 2010 at 9:00 AM - 7 Comments
A wet PM Stephen Harper waited for almost an hour in the cold rain—without an umbrella—to congratulate moguls skier Jennifer Heil, who won Canada’s first Olympic medal at the Vancouver 2010 games. The PM could have waited inside, but chose to remain outdoors. He was with his daughter, Rachel Harper, and in a tender moment explained to her that Heil had done the best she could and won silver. When Heil won a gold medal in Turin in 2006, she came to Ottawa and got to meet Harper in his office. On Saturday night, the PM hugged Heil and said, “I got to see where you work today.” Watching the skiing events for eight hours in the rain was Minister of Public Works Rona Ambrose, who brought her mother, Colleen Chapchuk, as her Olympic date.
Chapchuk bought them both matching official Olympic mitts, scarves, and toques. Heil is from Spruce Grove, Alta., which is in Ambrose’s riding. Ambrose is also taking her mother to other events. “She loves figure skating. This is her birthday and Christmas present.” Ambrose scored best-daughter-ever points when she brought her mom to Michaëlle Jean’s reception for heads of state; among the guests were U.S. Vice-President Joe Biden and Princess Anne. But the guest everyone wanted photos with was California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. When he arrived, there was an empty seat next to Ambrose’s mom and he plunked himself down beside her.
Photograph by Ron Joyce (Left) and Jason Ransom (Right)
And the medal for best staffer goes to…
Heritage Minister James Moore accompanied the Olympic torch in B.C. as it went through his riding of Port Moody-Westwood-Port Coquitlam. Accompanying the minister was his director of communications, Deirdra McCracken. But there was no room in the official torch vehicle (especially with the sponsorship Coca-Cola girls), so she had to run seven kilometres to keep up. “It was a good thing I chose to wear running shoes and not heels that day,” quipped McCracken. At the opening ceremonies, Moore, whose portfolio includes the Olympics, heard a man behind him shout, “Good job!” He turned around and saw that the fellow, who was holding a beer, was Jean Chrétien.
NEW ARRIVAL AT 24 Sussex
Laureen Harper finally got the igloo she’s been wanting at 24 Sussex with the help of David Serkoak, who teaches Inuit culture at the Nunavut Sivuniksavut training program in Ottawa. He was recommended to her by Inuit leader Mary Simon. Mrs. Harper and a few of her friends were the igloo-building assistants; it took the team about four hours to complete the project. The snow was icy and difficult to carve: “We were going to do something bigger but the snow wasn’t right,” said Mrs. Harper. They used a saw and a knife that Serkoak made himself to carve out the blocks. “David was amazing with his knife, and once he was finished he was entombed in his creation and he dug from the inside and we dug from the outside and we created a door at the bottom,” noted Mrs. Harper. The plan now is to furnish the igloo with seal and caribou skins along with a dog sleigh. While building the igloo, Serkoak told the team stories about surviving in the North. His family spent their winters in an igloo until 1961. Farley Mowat wrote about the area he is from, which is west of Hudson Bay, in his book People of the Deer. -
Vietnamese ambassador holds a special goodbye party
By Mitchel Raphael - Thursday, February 11, 2010 at 9:00 AM - 1 Comment
The Vietnamese ambassador held a goodbye party for Son Pham (below) . The boy had a huge growth the size of a football on his face, but with the help of the Children’s Bridge Foundation, which raised $500,000 to pay for his care, the orphan was brought to Canada from Vietnam and eventually had 26 medical procedures in Boston over 2 years.
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Laureen Harper and Son Pham.
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