A Steamy Read
By Alison Crawford, CBC News
Regular readers of Political Bytes might remember how much I love checking in on the website What is Stephen Harper Reading?
Canadian Booker Prize-winning author Yann Martel launched the site more than two years ago to protest government funding cuts for artists.
Every two weeks, Martel sends the prime minister an inscribed book and a letter explaining why he has chosen the particular title.
This week's selection stands out from the usual diet of classics, non-fiction and poetry.
The saucy tome The Virgin Secretary's Impossible Boss is a Harlequin Romance.
Martel points out that Harlequin is a Canadian company that in 2007 sold 130 million books.
Martel's inscription reads:
To Stephen Harper,
Prime Minister of Canada,
Can 130 million people be wrong?
From a Canadian writer,
With best wishes,
Yann Martel
Interestingly enough, the Conservative Party may already be familiar with The Virgin Secretary's Impossible Boss, as it seems to favour the bodice-ripper genre.
During last year's election campaign, reporters including me who covered then-Liberal leader Stéphane Dion, were met one late evening at the Ottawa airport by young Conservative campaign workers.
They offered us gift bags containing balloons, mouthwash, children's math flash cards and a novel full of naughty passages entitled "Rivals for the Crown."
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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