Dalton McGuinty came to the Hamilton Spectator and I joined with others from the editorial board to listen to what the Premier had to say as the province approaches an election this coming October. Visits like these let me act like I’m some sort of portrait artist. This was the third visit he’s made to the Spec in the last 4 or 5 years. You can watch some highlights of the meeting in this nice little video featurette (you can see me earnestly drawing the above sketch at about the 1 minute 8 second mark as columnist Andrew Dreschel throws out a question.) The Premier seems prepared to dump bucket loads of cash on Hamilton, which isn’t all that surprising with an election looming. He threw out an intriguing challenge for Hamiltonians: What do you want?
Some interesting notes about today’s visit…
- The Premier did not wear a red tie. It was purplish with a polkadotty type of design. It was loosened, and he was without a jacket, and of course his sleeves were rolled up.
- Upon asking the Premier his choice of beverage my boss, Kevin Cavanaugh, followed through with a request for water by handing Mr. McGuinty a bottle and saying, “here’s some truth serum”.
- The Premier mentioned Randle Reef 3 times during the meeting. Randle Reef is better known as a huge blob of toxic goo in Hamilton harbour. It’s one of those perpetual issues of this city that we live with but mostly don’t know what to do about. It’s interesting how it seems to be on top of mind for Ontario’s head honcho.
- As I shook McGuinty’s hand after the meeting wrapped up he said “hey, make me look good.”
While I’m name dropping I should do some nation dropping as well. Part of the fun of going to France is bragging about going to France. That’s where I’m off to for the weekend. I’ll be back in the papers next Wednesday. UPDATE: Here I am in Liseaux, France with friend Christian Hyde and his son Nowe.