Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
hundreds of police and army personnel, marching bands, digni-
taries, and a real-life Mountie dressed in his bright red uniform,
wide-brimmed hat and shining brown leather boots with gleaming
stirrups. He explained to me what was going on and presented me
with a maple leaf lapel badge. He told me how the Governor-General,
David Lloyd Johnston, would be admitted to the House of Commons
by the Usher of the Black Rod, who would pound on the door until
the Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, bade him enter. The Governor-
General would then deliver the opening address, known as the 'Speech
from the Throne'.
Then Herb Davis appeared and took me and the camera crew into
the building. Herb, a big, gangling, larger-than-life bloke, has man-
aged newspapers, community-run dental clinics and fisheries, and
has directed documentaries, hosted Canada's longest running radio
program,
The Fisheries Broadcast
, and been a fish exporter. As inter-
national manager for a telecommunications company, he negotiates
with government agencies in Argentina, Thailand, Malaysia, Spain,
Brazil, Peru, China, Vietnam and Pacific Island nations. He obviously
took a shine to me and believed
in my cause, because nothing
was too much trouble. Travel-
ling at a brisk jog, he zoomed us
down the corridors and into an
area where the ministers and
other bigwigs were gathering.
He introduced me to many
of them then led us through
magnificent stone rooms,
chapels, wood-panelled cor-
ridors and a huge, imposing
circular library. Then security,
which had been growing more
intense as the hour of the
opening neared, pounced,
and we were chucked out.
It had been a marvellous
experience.
Before we left Ottawa, I
I
n Par
liam
ent H
ouse
with
the
rem
arka
ble H
erb
davis
.
