The Stanley, with Peter Mansbridge

Waiting for Peter to appear on stage Sunday night I couldn't help overhear a conversation between the ladies to my right.  One said to the other:  "I told my mother I was going to see Peter Mansbridge tonight.  She looked at me and said, ‘I wouldn't cross the street to see him!'"  Crotchety matters notwithstanding, a large number of people had crossed the street to see Peter Mansbridge and stood patiently in the cold rain for the Stanley Theatre's doors to open too.  Now we were all seated, waiting expectantly. A short intro by Hal Wake and another by Trudy Hofley from Scotia (Bank) Private Client Group, the sponsor of the event—and voilà!  The man himself.  My first thought of course was:  he looks and sounds exactly as he does on television.

He spoke straight through for over an hour and began with some very funny stories.  Familiar with his on-air persona, I had no idea he is also a brilliant raconteur with an excellent sense of timing.  He had the audience in stitches recounting his interview at the White House with newly elected Barack Obama, the first time anyone from the CBC had interviewed an incumbent U.S. president.  He said he was amazed the morning of the interview at how calm he was feeling because he usually felt a sensation of "butterflies" before any big interview, and this was definitely a big interview.  "A little nervous tension is good for you."  He got up and showered, ordered breakfast and got dressed.  He felt absolutely calm as can be.  Walking through the lobby of the hotel on his way to meet the president he caught a glimpse of himself in a mirror.  His pants didn't match his suit jacket, they were the wrong colour.  He had to race back to his room, find the right pants and then double-time it to the White House.  Fortunately it was only a couple of blocks away.

He spoke of his travels to many different countries and of his experiences in three countries in particular, Sri Lanka at the time of the devastating tsunami, Apeldoorn, Netherlands for the sixtieth anniversary of the liberation of Holland by the Canadian Army, and Afghanistan where Canadians are risking their lives every day and sometimes losing them.  The common thread was what Canada means in the eyes of other countries.  It stands for a willingness to lend a helping hand but most importantly it represents freedom, a freedom we seem to too often take for granted here, which concerns him.  Declining rates of voter turn-out in this country concerns him.  He has seen people lined up for blocks in other countries waiting for the privilege of voting.  He spoke of the media's culpability in the generally low esteem in which politicians are held and that there is work to do there.  In his view politics is a thankless job and in his experience the vast majority of people in elected office are decent, hard working and honestly believe that what they are doing is right.

It was already getting late and not everybody who wanted to take part in the question period was able to.  Peter had to get to the airport to catch the "red eye" back to Toronto.  He said he was doing this because the CBC and "The National" are launching a new look Monday and he thought he ought to be there to help out.  The very appreciative audience gave him a standing ovation which I thought was, well, all right.

It was intimate.  It was entertaining.  I'm looking forward to seeing what that new look looks like.  I hope they've axed the intro music to "The National" too for something else.  That jingle's really getting old.

I want to thank a very dear friend for the opportunity of contributing to this year's writersfest blog.  It's been an exhilarating, whirlwind week and I am awestruck by the amount of hard work that obviously went into making the festival such a success.  I'm proud to have been a part of it.