Waltzing with the NDP
Getting a bunch of tipsy, talkative journalists to move from the reception to their dinner tables for the annual Parliamentary Press Gallery dinner is never an easy task.
Alison Crawford
On Saturday night, gallery staffers had an even tougher time. Their calls to "Please take your seats!" rang out for a good 30 minutes or so while reporters, MPs, political staffers and other interested parties could not stop yapping about the slow unravelling of the six-week-old Conservative minority government.
How likely is a coalition? Would the Liberals allow Stephane Dion to lead it? How would the NDP and Libs work with the Bloc? Where did Martha Hall-Findlay get those amazing shoes?
Others didn't share the contagious enthusiasm for speculation. Some it seemed, wanted to get through the annual black-tie blowout as quickly as possible. While everyone else swapped theories, Public Safety Minister Peter Van Loan sat alone at his table and started in on his salad.
Scanning the audience through some of the more, uh, comically-challenged entertainment, I observed dozens of illuminated faces peering down at their BlackBerrys. This time, though, they weren't playing brickbreaker.
At this party, it was all about exchanging news about anticipated concessions from the Conservatives, or how the Liberals and others could possibly stick together long enough to make a coalition work.
In between courses, everyone hopped up and traded their latest information. Well, not everyone. After the first course, NDP leader Jack Layton (the only federal leader in attendance) and Liberal MP Scott Brison grabbed each other and started waltzing between the tables.
An unusual sight, yes. But probably just a taste of what's ahead.
About the Authors
- Rosemary Barton started her television career reporting from Quebec City where she covered the ins and outs of Quebec politics. She moved to the CBC Parliamentary Bureau in 2007. She also stood on the side of road awaiting U.S. President Barack Obama's motorcade for hours in the cold. When she finally spotted him, all of Canada heard her shriek, "I saw him!"
- Alison Crawford worked in Fredericton, Calgary and Winnipeg before returning to her hometown to work in the CBC parliamentary bureau. Her beats include the RCMP, justice, public safety and the Liberals. Alison credits her investigative skills as well as a national etiquette column and coverage of a ferret Christmas party, with having prepared her for covering national politics.
- Andrew Davidson is a producer for the CBC politics page in Toronto. He joined CBCNews.ca's national desk in 2006 and was the lead news writer for the website's 2008 federal election coverage.
- Chris Hall is the National Affairs Editor for CBC News. He's been a member of the CBC Parliamentary Bureau since 1998. That adds up to 11 budgets, four elections, three prime ministers and too many confidence votes to count. Chris started his career in print before moving to the CBC in 1992. Since then, he's worked in Toronto, Halifax and St. John's, as well as Ottawa.
- Leslie MacKinnon Leslie's been working in news and current affairs since newsrooms used teletype, televison was shot on film and radio tape was edited with a razor blade. She saw through The Journal's long run on CBC-TV, and since then has worked in Halifax, Toronto and Ottawa in the CBC's various permutations. Right now, she's a TV news reporter in the political bureau, and likes certain parts of Ottawa - the canal, the Hill - a lot.
- Janyce McGregor has been a television producer in the CBC's Parliamentary Bureau since 2001. She started her career working for Studio 2 on TVOntario. In 2005 her then-doctoral student husband persuaded her to follow him to the U.K., where she worked for BBC World Service Radio in London. Janyce is originally a farm girl from southwestern Ontario. Her most important job title is "Norah's Mom."
- Chris Rands has been a member of the Parliamentary bureau since 2001. He started at Toronto's AM Radio giant CFRB before moving to CBC's National Radio News in 1996. Chris has worked in Toronto, Moncton, Sudbury, Regina, Washington and St John's. Every time Chris walks up to the Peace Tower, he wants to throw his hat in the air like Mary Tyler Moore.
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