What I actually said was...
2006-02-21 -
Being a member of the governing Party changes things for a Member of Parliament. I'm tempted to say it changes “everything”, but that's not true. You're still expected to be an advocate for your constituents; you still need to find the balance between Ottawa, the riding, official duties and family time. Without a doubt, however, it does change the scrutiny you're under, and it means that you really need to watch what you say. I've discovered, however, that there are moments when words come back to haunt you, even when you've done nothing wrong.
As happens now and again, my latest sc**** involves a journalist. She works for the National Post, and wanted to do an interview and write an article about “the making of a Minister”. I'm one of the rookies in the Cabinet, so that made me fair game, and since I knew her already (she and I sat together at last year's National Press Gallery dinner), I agreed to the interview. What could go wrong?
The interview went well, I thought. The photographer took photos of my starkly empty office, nary a wall-hanging, book, or staffer in sight. We spoke about the advice I had received about hiring people and how to conduct myself, and then we went down to the cafeteria for lunch. I try to be a casual guy, and enjoy a good joke with whoever is close by. So I'm standing in the lineup, swapping stories with some of the Ag Canada staff, when it seemed appropriate to drop one of the oldies-but-goodies into the conversation.
“How many politicians does it take to grease a combine?”, I ask the guy waiting for an egg salad on pumpernickel sandwich. “Only a couple - but you have to feed them in nice and slow”.
As long as you know what a combine is, and that you need to 'grease it' for maintenance, the joke is fool proof. Farmers love it, although they tend to think it's simply a statement of fact, rather than a real joke.
The article appeared in the Saturday Post, and everything went as interviewed except (I'm suffering angina attacks just writing this) EXCEPT the journalist retold my joke and mistakenly used the word “farmers” instead of “politicians”!! Thank goodness I wasn't eating when I read it or I would have choked for sure. Imagine! It sounded like the new Agricultural Minister was mocking his farmers!
I phoned the journalist immediately, not to get mad at her (the article is printed - what can you do?), but just to give her a hard time about getting her quotes wrong. She didn't pick up her phone, so I left a message threatening to give out her phone number to every irate farmer who phoned me in the middle of the night.
I won't change my style, so I'll just have to hope any subsequent interviewers get the lines right. Or perhaps, just maybe, I simply need some new material.
2006-02-21 -
Being a member of the governing Party changes things for a Member of Parliament. I'm tempted to say it changes “everything”, but that's not true. You're still expected to be an advocate for your constituents; you still need to find the balance between Ottawa, the riding, official duties and family time. Without a doubt, however, it does change the scrutiny you're under, and it means that you really need to watch what you say. I've discovered, however, that there are moments when words come back to haunt you, even when you've done nothing wrong.
As happens now and again, my latest sc**** involves a journalist. She works for the National Post, and wanted to do an interview and write an article about “the making of a Minister”. I'm one of the rookies in the Cabinet, so that made me fair game, and since I knew her already (she and I sat together at last year's National Press Gallery dinner), I agreed to the interview. What could go wrong?
The interview went well, I thought. The photographer took photos of my starkly empty office, nary a wall-hanging, book, or staffer in sight. We spoke about the advice I had received about hiring people and how to conduct myself, and then we went down to the cafeteria for lunch. I try to be a casual guy, and enjoy a good joke with whoever is close by. So I'm standing in the lineup, swapping stories with some of the Ag Canada staff, when it seemed appropriate to drop one of the oldies-but-goodies into the conversation.
“How many politicians does it take to grease a combine?”, I ask the guy waiting for an egg salad on pumpernickel sandwich. “Only a couple - but you have to feed them in nice and slow”.
As long as you know what a combine is, and that you need to 'grease it' for maintenance, the joke is fool proof. Farmers love it, although they tend to think it's simply a statement of fact, rather than a real joke.
The article appeared in the Saturday Post, and everything went as interviewed except (I'm suffering angina attacks just writing this) EXCEPT the journalist retold my joke and mistakenly used the word “farmers” instead of “politicians”!! Thank goodness I wasn't eating when I read it or I would have choked for sure. Imagine! It sounded like the new Agricultural Minister was mocking his farmers!
I phoned the journalist immediately, not to get mad at her (the article is printed - what can you do?), but just to give her a hard time about getting her quotes wrong. She didn't pick up her phone, so I left a message threatening to give out her phone number to every irate farmer who phoned me in the middle of the night.
I won't change my style, so I'll just have to hope any subsequent interviewers get the lines right. Or perhaps, just maybe, I simply need some new material.
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