from chris lloyd <dearpm@gmail.com>
to pm@pm.gc.ca,
date Thu, Feb 1, 2007 at 9:37 AM
subject Black’s lawyers dispute wife’s inclusion; Les conservateurs se débattent pour expliquer les écrits de Harper sur Kyoto
Dear Stephen,
I must have just missed you yesterday. I arrived at the hotel in Ottawa just before 4pm so I thought I’d check out the Parliament. Despite the 2 security checkpoints I was still there before a quarter to 5, but by then the House was nearly empty. Listened to some “debate” for a half hour or so before wandering around to find something to eat.
Did you know that gels or liquids under a 100ml size bottle are OK with you while flying but that airport security will put them all in a clear plastic bag first? That means that my 1 little container of lip balm had to go into a clear plastic baggie. Do you know why? So they could “see it”. I was dumbfounded when the girl at security told me that. Incredulous.
Anyway, my meetings are about to begin and I’m trying to suck down this hotel coffee with *ack* powdered whitener. Have to remember to buy some cream tonight. My room is right swanky, has a little kitchenette and living room, 2 TVs and a King Size bed, washer-dryer and I even ironed a shirt this morning. Spent all evening reading and re-reading. I’m a bit nervous about today. I feel vastly under-qualified.
-chris
from chris lloyd <dearpm@gmail.com>
to pm@pm.gc.ca,
date Fri, Feb 2, 2007 at 9:36 AM
subject Two dead, 11 injured in massive pileup, Le régime des fiducies était inapproprié pour les entreprises, selon Dodge
Dear Stephen,
So, with all the pressure in the House from the opposition parties on Kyoto, and the expected announcement today in Paris that humans have caused global warming, do you have any plans to tighten up your climate change strategy ( i.e. develop a strategy) or are you going to weather the storm and hope some other issue takes over? Like the billions in profits made by oil companies?
John Ibbitson writes in the Globe today (it’s nice to get the Globe delivered to my hotel room!) that global warming won’t always be THE issue. In the sound-bite, ADD-driven media world it may slip, but our natural environment really is THE issue, especially for future generations ( i.e. your ids, your grandkids, etc.). So think about that a little more deeply.
On other notes, our first day of meetings went well, felt a bit drained by the end and went for a long walk to the Rideau Centre, bought some wine and groceries and walked back, enjoying the air—being cooped up all day in an office building is itself a bit draining—and did some more reading and watching of television (also a treat, The Daily Show and the Colbert Report!).
Now it’s off for another day of meetings, reading, debate, grading.
-chris
from chris lloyd <dearpm@gmail.com>
to pm@pm.gc.ca,
date Sun, Feb 4, 2007 at 1:07 AM
subject Global warming debate all but over, Stéphane Dion annonce les principaux points de son programme
Dear Stephen,
Today was the first real loooong day of deliberations. Long because I spent a long time last evening catching up on reading and I’ve been catching up on more reading for the past six hours. I won’t (can’t) go into details as it is confidential but my it is a complex, dense, but thoroughly enriching process. I absolutely love the debate and discussion. Individual jury members seem to absorb and reflect much more on each others comments, using logic and information and different opinions to help form consensus. Almost nothing like the empty rhetoric and partisan jostling I heard in your House earlier in the week. But that is a different animal indeed.
And yet another different animal:
Earthquake alert in BC:
PACKING A KIT
The Provincial Emergency Program recommends having a kit in an accessible place with basic items needed for 72 hours. The kit should include:
-at least two litres of water per person per day, canned and dried food
-a manual can opener
-flashlight and batteries
-candles and matches
-a battery powered or windup radio
-a first aid kit
-medications and infant formula if needed
-extra keys for the house, and cash.
…and my own, pessimistic, The Big One Hits Question is: what would you need the cash for?
Gotta go, have 3 more proposals to read before I call it a night.
-chris
from chris lloyd <dearpm@gmail.com>
to pm@pm.gc.ca,
date Wed, Feb 14, 2007 at 7:42 PM
subject Too much rust plagues SAR choppers; L’état des routes se détériore et le mauvais temps cause plusieurs accidents
Dear Stephen,
Sorry it has been so long since I last wrote. The jury was taking a lot of my time, I had lots of extra reading to do, then when it was finished I was with Claudine at her parents’ house, then her sisters’, and in between a surprise birthday party for her friend Anne at her boyfriends moms’ place, then some gallery / museum hopping in Montréal. Phew! And since I’ve been back in SJ there has been a gallery board meeting, a high school co-op student has started working, the closing party for the skateboard exhibition has been planned and I have video workshops to do with middle school kids tomorrow. I’m nervous about them: I have received very little concrete information and feel a bit like I’ll be winging it.
I enjoyed very much the work with CC. I could see myself working there. It just clicked. The calibre of work and professionalism there has made it all the harder to come back and try (in vain?) to resurrect this ARC from the ground. It’s wearing me out, already. I think I’m just tired of working for free.
Speaking of working for free, a Samuel de Champlain high school student named Olivia has volunteered to work with us until June. The hardest thing for me is to organize myself to find things for her to do. She needs a computer so we are going to borrow the extra one from Judith’s office and move it into the gallery office. This of course means the gallery office will finally be cleaned out, which is great it just means more work.
And now that we have settled on a date for the wedding things are escalating. I met with Lisa Currer this morning to go over letterpress invitation designs. I have to make a little lino-cut graphic and finish the text and photo arrangement on our wedding website. I’m working on both at the moment. The bar is quiet, as there is a snow and freezing rain storm happening. Sort of putting a damper on Valentine’s Day.
-chris
from chris lloyd <dearpm@gmail.com>
to pm@pm.gc.ca,
date Tue, Feb 20, 2007 at 12:49 PM
subject Crown, defence paint different pictures, Gates et Harper annoncent des millions $ pour un vaccin contre le SIDA
Dear Stephen,
Sorry again about my lack of writing. I guess this project is turning into a “once per week” rather than a daily letter.
So what’s new, you might ask? Well, Claudine leaves for Africa in 2 days. She’s excited and ready. I have a video workshop on the same day she leaves; it was cancelled last week due to a snowstorm. I’ve moved Judy’s spare computer into the recently-cleaned out gallery office. Yes! After more than a year and a half the office is actually just that: an office. The vault has become a storage closet and there are piles of wood, old electronic equipment and garbage bags all ready to head to the dump. I’d like to be able to recycle the TVs, microwave and old electronic typewriter in a more ecologically-friendly manner but don’t quite know how. I’ll leave it up to the dump, and hope they will do what is right.
See, if there were clear regulations and guidelines, most people would comply.
Anyway, I don’t really want to get into politics with you. I’m dismayed that because of the way the game is played even if a federal election is called soon you might just win again! Which maybe wouldn’t be such a bad thing, if you were serious about climate change and take a leadership role on the issue, and removed your head from the Alberta Tar Sands. But lets not go there.
Olivia, our high school co-op student, has been working out fine and with her help the office, files and archives will really take shape this week. Jo and Wesley arrive on Friday and will probably begin installing on the weekend. So I guess we have a few days to patch some holes and paint the walls. I’ll get Olivia on that as well. I also want her to take over the promotion of the Movie Nights. Aarg, too much to do!
And of course then there is the wedding planning, the honeymoon in France planning, the teach English in Japan or Taiwan planning. No shortage of fun and exciting activities!
-chris
DEAR PM 