Hey, I’m in Ottawa too! Or does Manotick not count?
Our house in North York got quite a dump of snow. I particularly hate shoveling snow while it’s still snowing; then two minutes after you’re done, it looks like you didn’t do anything at all!
Can’t figure out how to reply all to the message I got about the Ottawa Dopefest, so I"ll say it here.
I unfortunately can’t make it to any events before the very end of this month.
Back safely in Toronto after a day of wild travel; that was quite a storm. Not the worst I’ve ever seen (the one where our stupid asshole mayor called out the army was worse, not that we’ll live that down in my lifetime.), but it was heavy. We waited 45 minutes on the tarmac to make it the last 500 metres to the gate, and in that time, I got to watch one of those baggage buggies get completely stuck in the snow. By the time we pulled forward, its wheels were drifted over.
I’m very sorry I never got a chance to hook up with any of the Alberta Dopers on this trip - next time, I hope.
Well at least now we know who brought the snow to Toronto.
Here in Ottawa the sun is out and sparkling on the new snow. And of course thoughts turn to a Winterlude CanaDopeFest.
Here is the plan for folks that are interested.
Date: the last Sunday of Winterlude: Feb 17th.
Location: Various Canal-centric sites in Ottawa
Skaters meet at Dows Lake Chalet at 2pm (I think the small chalet near Bronson end of Dow’s Lake is a smaller area and more likely spot for strangers to meet up) Remember its winterlude and parking is horrendous, so allow lots of time to get there.
We will skate downtown & meet with non-skaters at the ice sculptures at around 3pm. We will meet near the entrance to Confederation Park closest to the Canal.
We will retire to a drinking/eating establishment on Elgin St at around 4pm (Mayflower sound good?) Reservations will be made under name of Cecil.
Details of how we can find each other will have to be worked out. I will wear my grey mouse toque and am a woman. Any other identification suggestions welcome. PM to me appreciated to judge number of reservations but not strictly necessary.
I would really like to know what is happening at the De Beers mine myself. I assume that they would prefer to hire local people, but they also need people who can do the work safely and reliably; they’re a business, not a charity. I’m not going to criticize any business that fires workers who aren’t doing the job they were hired to do. I also assume that the De Beers mine is one of very few local industries where people who live there actually can work and make a living.
It seems that there are 3-1 odds that the next pope may be Marc Oullette from Quebec. I honestly have no idea what that would mean but it would be cool if the first pope from the western hemisphere was Canadian.
It would be cool but I’m not holding my breath… he’s extremely “old school”.
I’m sorry I can’t make it; I planned very badly for this year’s Family Day weekend. We’re stuck in Toronto the whole time.
Have a great time, all of you.
Without looking it up, can you name the children of Prime Minister Harper, their gender and approximate ages?
I don’t know if “stuck in Toronto” is quite what I’d say if I was unable to get out of town. I’m sure I could find myself something to keep me occupied.
Sometimes, I miss the place.
Nope. I like that we tend to elect people rather than families (I’m not too thrilled that Trudeau appears to have ridden on his father’s coat tails), and that to some degree we tend to keep politician’s private lives out of politics.
Nope for me too. I only recently learned his wife’s name (I’m pretty sure it’s Laureen).
I know he’s got one son, who’s likely in his early teens. I think he’s got a daughter as well.
I like that none of us really know.
I don’t think I can name a single child of any Prime Minister in the history of the world other than Justin Trudeau and Pitt the Younger.
EDIT: Oh, I just thought of Mark Thatcher. Wasn’t he mixed up in a coup attempt?
(I wasn’t sure about Horace Walpole, but it looks like he was in fact the son of Robert Walpole.)
Hmm. There’s a girl and a boy, and I remember them in their pyjamas playing hockey with Rick Mercer. But that was several years ago now…
I think. Or maybe I made that up.
Ben, 15
Rachel, 12
Yes. I had to look it up, although I did know that he had 2 kids, one of each, and the son’s name was Ben. I would have guessed their ages within a couple of years too, but didn’t know exactly and had no idea what the daughter’s name was.
Ben Mulroney anyone?