DEAR PM vol.16
from chris lloyd
to pm@pm.gc.ca
date Wed, Aug 3, 2016 at 10:54 PM
subject Le député fédéral Hunter Tootoo admet une relation «inappropriée»; Head of missing women inquiry accused of perplexingly soft sentencing in past decisions
Dear Justin,
I am still alive. I survived vacation 2016. Back in Montreal now. More to come. -chris
from chris lloyd
to pm@pm.gc.ca
date Thu, Aug 4, 2016 at 10:50 AM
subject PCC: Maxime Bernier veut privatiser les aéroports; Montreal university student angry after police drop sexual assault investigation, suggest she made it up
Dear Justin,
I am still alive. I survived unpacking and our first day back in hot Montréal. Some news: I was offered an on- call position with the National Gallery! Don’t know when I’ll get called in but meantime I needed to send a bunch of forms authorising security clearances. I just sent them my certificate of good conduct that I had ordered from the SPVM back in 2014 that I needed for the conservative party. Hopefully it will be recent enough; they cost like a hundred bucks. Gotta go; the kids are grumpy and we,re off to the pool.
-chris
from chris lloyd
to pm@pm.gc.ca
date Fri, Aug 5, 2016 at 10:51 PM
subject Réforme électorale: le Parti vert reçoit un appui de l’étranger; Sara Baillie wanted a better life for her daughter Taliyah, but ‘second job’ left her in dubious company
Dear Justin,
I am still alive. I am surviving vacation slash unemployment, and hot Montreal weather, and hanging out with my kids. Today we went to the pool in Outremont so Rose could hang out with Femke. I need to get a new police check as the one I sent to the gallery is outdated. Will do on Monday. Watched Hiroshima mon amour tonight via Mubi. I’ve had the membership for a few months now but this was the first film we have watched with it. New resolution: make sure all my paid subscriptions are valid.
-chris
from chris lloyd
to pm@pm.gc.ca
date Sun, Aug 7, 2016 at 10:38 AM
subject La chef du Parti vert veut céder son poste mais demeurer députée; On big things and small, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton seem more alike each day
Dear Justin,
I am still alive. I am surviving: the weekend, the weather, the kids. Yesterday another day at JFK pool in Outremont, another brief playdate with Femke. We had Michael and Emi over for supper last night and a playdate for Sol and Lowell; Rose was over-tired and grumpy. The kids went to bed easily, it is becoming easier, and Sol almost always stays all night in his bed. Rose has been told that if she comes into our room in the middle of the night she can only stay on the floor, and can only climb into bed with us in the morning. This has worked almost right away, as the floor, even with pillow and duvet, is too hard to be comfortable. Oh, and we’ve heard back from Emily at Third Space and they have agreed to tackle the Dear PM project for their New Chapter grant application in October. We have our work cut out for us through September. We started re-hanging all the artwork in the apartment and though I like the results so far, the process is starting to feed the general anxiety I feel towards objects and clutter and hoarding; a powerlessness in the face of things. As a result of this I am taking a break from Facebook. I know I’ve said this in the past but this time it might be permanent. Last night after Michael and Emi left Clo and I started watching American Graffiti via Shomi – finally hooked it up, free with my Rogers plan, and we’re planning to quit Netflix soon – but that movie bored us both to dozing. I much prefer tackling the 3 new New Yorkers that were waiting for us upon our return from vacation.
-chris
from chris lloyd
to pm@pm.gc.ca
date Mon, Aug 8, 2016 at 3:53 PM
subject La chef du Parti vert veut céder son poste mais demeurer députée; Like Mike Duffy, but better: A National Post reporter applies for the Senate
Dear Justin,
I am still alive. I am surviving Monday, and a return to routines. Sol is back in daycare, while this week Romy is looking after Rose and Femke together. Today I biked to SPVM headquarters to get my certificate of good conduct but since there are three types of background checks available I decided against getting it and will verify with the gallery. They may want a “vulnerable sector check”. I guess artworks are considered to be at a “higher risk of abuse or violence than the general population by a person in authority or trust”. While downtown I closed the file on the Mazda (paying $47 in registration fees for the month of July), and met Clo at the McCord and we went for lunch and then Simons where I bought some T-shirts and underwear. Now I’m about to tackle my file management system in the studio, a daunting task which adds to my general sense of anxiety about money, self-worth, whether I should just quit the artworld, am I a good father? Would a good father smash his son’s toy airplane with a hammer because he is annoyed at his son’s whining? And then throw water in his face? I sometimes wonder if I am a sociopath.
-chris
from chris lloyd
to pm@pm.gc.ca
date Wed, Aug 10, 2016 at 11:40 PM
subject Casques bleus: un ex-commandant critique la stratégie «coûteuse» du gouvernement; Lone suspect dead after anti-terror operation in Ontario town
Dear Justin,
I am still alive. I survived another trip to the SPVM to get fingerprinted, as the certified form is what the Gallery in Ottawa would like. Decided to visit the MAC as there are a whack of good shows up: a great survey of the many changes in Edmund Alleyn’s work; nice robotic musical installations by Jean-Pierre Gauthier; and amazing sculptures by Liz Magor. Her piece with the newspaper bricks, Production, has always been a big influence on me, so much so that I’d love to imitate it by making bricks of the Dear PM letters. Since I’m not getting any $ from CALQ for the goalie sculpture I’ve got to research less costly materials and her use of polymerized gypsum is a possibility, though one that would rule out any outdoor showing.
Came home in early afternoon and let Romy off early, she had taken the girls to the pool in Jarry Park. Before Etienne picked Femke up she and Rose decided they would set up a lemonade stand. It was quite cute, as they started out by trying to sell two cups, and didn’t have a price (or concept of selling, really), but they made $1.50 and from then on I was making pitchers of diluted lime water with maple syrup and frozen peaches as they moved their operation from the alley to out front, and since there is a lot of foot traffic and the weather was so hot they made close to $10, which will buy them ice creams tomorrow.
-chris
from chris lloyd
to pm@pm.gc.ca
date Thu, Aug 11, 2016 at 10:23 PM
subject Système de paie Phénix: le fédéral remboursera les employés touchés; Pro-ISIL video sparked investigation that ended with death of extremist Aaron Driver in London, Ont.
Dear Justin,
I am still alive. I survived another scorcher, getting the kids breakfast, dressed and, for Sol, off to daycare. Poor guy has been sad the past couple days, as he is in a new group and misses his friends: Charles, Julien, Corali, Zoe, they’re all mixed up until the summer ends and the fall session begins. Today was so hot that Romy and the girls hung around the house all day, as even walking to Jarry pool was seen as being too much exertion. I bought some water balloons from the Dollarama which appears to have kept them occupied most of the day. I biked downtown and met with Julia at SBC to go over some details regarding the next install which may begin next week, then I took some me time to lay in a park and read and listen to podcasts. Haven,t been getting much done by way of exhibitions, the third space grant, figuring out what to do about the bronze, cleaning my papers, workshop or basement, nothing really. Just wondering casually and constantly about the inevitability of death. Now off for a quick shower and reading before bed. Not checking Facebook saves a ton of time.
-chris
from chris lloyd
to pm@pm.gc.ca
date Sun, Aug 14, 2016 at 10:39 PM
subject Réfugiés irakiens : un programme qui connaît des ratés; Canada’s counter-radicalization efforts have ‘little national coherence,’ Public safety minister says
Dear Justin,
I am still alive. I survived another weekend. Today we hosted Rose’s friend Dan over for a playdate: those two have crazy intense energy together. They ran around and through the house, in the yard, in the alley, and at the park. I took Sol for groceries at the market. Earlier in the morning we had Kristiina and David over for coffee; they had met Clo at Oboro on Saturday to discuss an upcoming project. SRoberts had stayed overnight as she had come over for a late supper on Saturday, getting caught in the downpour. Earlier that evening Clo had taken the kids on a bike ride in the rain – which they LOVED – and during which Sol fell asleep. I mucked around the house on Saturday and in most of my spare time this weekend I’ve been reading The inconvenient Indian by Thomas King, which has been putting me in a bad mood against all the injustices Indigenous Peoples have been facing since the “discovery” of the Americas. I’ve been surviving the Olympics, finally becoming somewhat curious after accidentally watching Simone Biles win gold live from a Dep on Thursday while the kids ate ice creams. Met up with Clark on Friday to have drinks as he was heading to Rio on Saturday (for videography work unrelated to the Olympics) but he was with Jessica and I felt a bit like a third wheel, but we did have some good laughs, mostly about the Olympics. Clark forwarded to me the email from the new Head of the technical department at DHC asking for techs to apply for available de-install and install positions, and I think I might just apply. Do you think that is too weird? Still no Facebook, it feels good.
-chris
from chris lloyd
to pm@pm.gc.ca
date Mon, Aug 15, 2016 at 11:41 PM
subject Un comité formé pour revoir les évaluations environnementales; ‘I think I might be your daughter’: U.S. woman stirs hopes she could be Montreal baby missing since 1978
Dear Justin,
I am still alive. I survived another Monday. I finished up and sent off a proposal to the WAG – I forgot to mention to you that I spoke with Andrew on the phone last Friday, and we massaged the proposal into the timeline of the next general election, October 2019. I also finished an application to DHC, which Claudine revised for the French, and just sent that to the new Head of the technical department. Met Iliana here for drinks and so that we could each sign our respective passport renewal forms; also met with Michael again tonight as I am guarantor for his kids’ passport applications. It’s been a passport party! Sol slept in this morning and I took him to daycare for 10am. I picked Rose up at CEPSUM and she had a great day, full of gymnastics, a trapeze, the pool, games, so much fun that she was out like a light right after stories at 9. She still comes into our room in the middle of the night but now she knows she must bring her blanket and pillow and stay on the floor. Tomorrow I’m working at Clark, helping Corine pack the last of Mathieu’s crates into storage, then I have more job and art applications to make. And then Captain Lundeen comes to town!
-chris
from chris lloyd
to pm@pm.gc.ca
date Tue, Aug 16, 2016 at 10:24 PM
subject Parti conservateur: un candidat antiavortement et anti-mariage gai dans la course; Search continues for 19-year-old soldier Andrew Fitzgerald who went missing in Owen Sound, Ont.
Dear Justin,
I am still alive. I survived a day of packing and unpacking and re-packing crates and then moving them upstairs and stacking them, Tetris-style, into storage. It was at Clark, and still on Mathieu Lefèvre’s works. Cycled home in the pouring rain to shower and change and get Sol and prepare supper. Kids watched some video after supper, it was still raining heavy all night, they went to bed OK and now I’m working on job letters and proposals. Trying to line up some work for September-October, and all the while get cracking on the Third Space grant. I’m still ignoring Facebook but did log in a couple times recently and liked a few things, but I was looking for job-related posts, honestly. Going to get Captain Stacy and Caroline from the airport tomorrow morning, off to bed now to read more about “Debt”. It’s crazy how money, debt, religion and colonialism are all so closely intertwined and underpin almost everything in our current society.
-chris
from chris lloyd
to pm@pm.gc.ca
date Thu, Aug 18, 2016 at 9:56 PM
subject Health Minister Jane Philpott says she will personally pay back ‘excessive’ limousine expenses
Dear Justin,
I am still alive. I survived an impromptu BBQ party last night chez nous in honour of Stacy and Caroline’s visit, and building a wall today at SBC. I’m stiff and sore and tired from building that wall in the heat of the fifth floor of the Belgo. Picked up Sol from daycare and dropped our bikes off at home, grabbed some snacks and we took the Blue line to Outremont pool, met Clo and Rose there and also Femke and Sarah, had quick swims and came home, Clo annoyed and impatient with the kids so she took off to meet Pip on the mountain for some sort of surprise event. Last night we had quite the crowd for the BBQ and I ended up extending the evening with Stacy and James, meeting his friends finishing up a dinner party but there was some awkwardness so we left for a nightcap at Reservoir, then Stacy and I caught a cab home. Today I received an email from the National Gallery in Ottawa asking if I can come in to start work and training next Tuesday, which is not really possible as I’ve committed to the install at SBC next week, but we’ll see if it is urgent or not. Just fired my CV and an updated letter of the MAC as well. Going in to SBC to add corner beads to the wall and a second coat of plaster before Stacy and I head to James’ cottage for the weekend. And I have to find a sitter for Rose on Monday. Clo found Romy for Tuesday-Wednesday, I think we have something planned for Thursday, and I was planning to take her next Friday. And then she’s off to First Year! My they grow up fast.
-chris
from chris lloyd
to pm@pm.gc.ca
date Thu, Aug 18, 2016 at 10:01 PM
subject Un avocat qui a versé 18 000 $ au PLC nommé au sein d’un comité fédéral
Dear Justin,
Hi, me again, sorry I forgot to add the French top news story headline in the subject heading in the most recent letter. Voila.
-chris
from chris lloyd
to pm@pm.gc.ca
date Tue, Aug 23, 2016 at 12:20 AM
subject Jane Philpott a facturé 520$ pour les salons «VIP» d’Air Canada; Ottawa should avoid referendum on electoral reform over danger of a vote based on ‘outright lies,’ expert says
Dear Justin,
I am still alive. I survived another Monday, as well as another tech weekend out at James’ cottage on Big Gull Lake, where I also survived: an intense conversation about indigenous issues with Althea; jumping a boat battery with another boat battery while both boats were floating on the water and while I was high on mushrooms; hanging out with grannie sue (also while on mushrooms); waterskiing (on mushrooms); and listening to the final Hip concert and watching James and Stacy fire off fireworks on rock island, all the while mildly under the influence of mushrooms and by the end of Saturday night, a lot of beer and a touch of M-you-know-what. It was a fun, relaxing weekend, getting more connected with friends, even though at times I drifted into that morbid place, wondering about drowning and worrying about not seeing my kids again. Lucky those thoughts didn’t persist, but the issue of Aboriginal land claims – that Site-C dam for instance – and then Gord’s call on you to do more for the “the people way up North, that we were trained our entire lives to ignore, trained our entire lives to hear not a word of what’s going on up there” – even though that was true, it’s not just about what’s happening Up North: it’s here, it’s everywhere, and thoughts of treaties, long-signed and then altered, changed, reneged-upon or made in bad faith, those thoughts were just bubbling under the surface of my enjoyment. How privileged can one be to enjoy a cottage weekend? Very, very privileged. We can’t just give land back, but we can stop taking it away, can’t we?
Anyway, today was back to work at SBC, Iliana came over to watch Rose as an expected playdate fell through, and after supper I had a meeting with Fred and Judith upstairs as there is a situation with our roof and / or wall that might be causing very occasional water leaks in the building next door, but we have doubts because the renovations currently underway there involved adding a staircase and removing a load-bearing wall, so who knows. All I know is the end of summer is fast approaching: Rose starts school next week and we haven’t done our “back-to-school” shopping yet, and I’m scheduled to start at the National Gallery on the 1st. Now I need to find a place to stay. Do you have any spare rooms at 24 Sussex?
-chris
from chris lloyd
to pm@pm.gc.ca
date Wed, Aug 24, 2016 at 12:26 AM
subject Décès d’Elsie Wayne: Jean Charest se souvient d’une collègue «exceptionnelle»; Alleged mastermind of love scheme that defrauded disabled man of $850K arrested at Toronto airport
Dear Justin,
I am still alive. I survived another day at SBC: finished sanding, priming and painting the new wall with two coats of paint. Had a long talk with Kate from SJ for an articule she is writing for Canadian Art about Third Space Gallery, part of their New Brunswick series. We also discussed her involvement in the New Chapter grant as editor for the publication, and then it went into areas of First nations, treaties, and the lack of that history taught in schools. Came home, relieved Romy, Dan’s papa came to pick him up (he was the playdate for today), then Rose and I went to get Sol, then I made leftovers for supper but the kids were watching lots of video – I was listening and sometimes watching a Hip concert from earlier this year, the final concert piquing my curiosity a bit as to what exactly is there appeal. Gord has an odd and somewhat interesting voice and delivery; the lyrics can be quite good and slightly poetic; the song sounds and structures seem often repetitive and average rock, at best. So what’s the appeal exactly? My favourite albums were Day for Night and Trouble at the Henhouse, and I stopped listening after Phantom Power. The other night, at James’ cottage, when we were gathering to go down to the dock to watch the fireworks I had to stop and listen to Nautical Disaster, one of my favourite songs. In case you don’t know them off by heart, here they are:
I had this dream where I relished the fray And the screaming filled my head all day It was as though I’d been spit here Settled in, into the pocket
Of a lighthouse on some rocky socket
Off the coast of France, dear
One afternoon four thousand men died in the water here And five hundred more were thrashing madly
As parasites might in your blood
Now I was in a lifeboat designed for ten and ten only Anything that systematic would get you hated
It’s not a deal nor a test nor a love of something fated (death) The selection was quick, the crew was picked in order
And those left in the water
Got kicked off our pant leg
And we headed for home
Then the dream ends when the phone rings
“You doing all right?”
He said, “It’s out there most days and nights
But only a fool would complain”
Anyway, Susan, if you like
Our conversation is as faint a sound in my memory
As those fingernails scratching on my hull
And now poor Old Elsie Wayne is dead. The Queen is dead; long Live the Queen.
Stefan in Gatineau has arranged for me to stay at the residency space at Axnéo7 for the first couple volets of work at the National Gallery, and my mom has a friend Julia who is Ok with me crashing there from time-to- time. And Clo has found us a nanny for a couple days a week to help with kids pick-up and supper prep for nights she would work a bit later and I might be in Ottawa. Oh, and in case you haven’t heard, the weird attribution court case against Peter Doig is over: “A key witness for the Doig camp was a Canadian, a woman, who told the court that the painting was by Peter Doige — with an “e” — her brother, now deceased.
The judge agreed.”
from chris lloyd
to pm@pm.gc.ca
date Wed, Aug 24, 2016 at 10:47 PM
subject Taxer les boissons sucrées, une idée qui «mérite qu’on s’y intéresse»; It is quite possible to be disgusted by the little bits of waste without losing sight of the large
Dear Justin,
I am still alive. I survived another day at SBC, installing small 12×12″ paintings in an inverted pyramidal shape with security hardware with Olivier. I forgot to tell you that yesterday I got a ticket for cycling through a red light (running a yellow) which almost put me in a bad mood (thinking about the police state, the money-grab) but luckily I seem to be still in a happy place and so even my internal rants don’t last long. Anyway, I’m too exhausted to write much more. Since cycling home in the hot sun wearing a black T-shirt I’ve climbed thr roof next door to take photos of the flashing to send to Toiture Expert to see if they’ll repair it under the warranty; I’ve picked up the kids and made supper; went to the dep for beer and then helped get the kids to bed, then walked Sol around the block; washed a couple loads of laundry and hung one; and now need to send my CV and letter to another contact in HR at the MAC. Then maybe I’ll still be awake a little bit to read some of the new New Yorker. Tomorrow planning to get Back-to-School supplies with Rose.
-chris
from chris lloyd
to pm@pm.gc.ca
date Sun, Aug 28, 2016 at 11:43 PM
subject Trudeau en Chine: économie et droits de l’homme en toile de fond; Paul Martin, an architect of the G20, has advice for Justin Trudeau as he heads to China
Dear Justin,
I am still alive. I survived the weekend, which included a full day of installing at SBC today. Luckily it also included a full day at JFK pool yesterday following a family photo portrait session at The Bay. Clo had “won” a sitting and 11×14″ print but of course they get you on a package, but we only spent $86 for 6 images on a disk. It’s been so long since I’ve written you, so much has happened: school supplies and a movie (Kubo and the 2 strings) on Thursday, and then Dear PM exhibition applications (Truck and Axneo7) on Friday; also on Friday we met up with SWendt and Pastel and had a fun magical night wandering Parc Jarry watching cloud formations, bark, picking up garbage, running bases, acting out skits in a poncho, and giggling uncontrollably. Much later that night, after relieving Romy the babysitter and clumsy attempts at sex, I started watching Stranger Things, which I’m not sure I’lll continue with as I really need to end a bunch of my monthly subscriptions, including Netflx. Sol hasn’t asked to watch Paw Patrol all week – though he is into Le Grand Vacance, an animation about WW2, which is cool. Maybe I’ll keep it awhile longer.
Tomorrow is Rose’s first day of grade 1! -chris
from chris lloyd
to pm@pm.gc.ca
date Mon, Aug 29, 2016 at 9:42 PM
subject La proportionnelle renforcerait l’unité nationale, selon Ed Broadbent; Canadians may be notoriously polite, but we might also be ‘over sensitive’: survey
Dear Justin,
I am still alive. I survived another Monday, which also happened to be Rose’s first day in grade 1. We all went as a family for 8:05 but I left to take Sol to play at 2 parks before daycare, but then I went back as Clo was still at the school. Turns out she had visited the classroom and was given tasks, so I joined in along with a few other parents, adding stickers and numbers to all the binders, duotangs, workbooks, erasers, etc. Left at 10 to cycle to work at SBC, picking up a few supplies on the way down. Worked all day, left only in early afternoon to get lag bolts to hang 40-lb speakers up on the wall, and left at 5 with the job not entirely done – it’s a bit complicated, installing the exhibition would be fine but there is a performance on Wednesday and they are using gear that is in the show, but in different ways, so the audio hookups and connections are different. Anyway, misjudging the time put me in a bad mood, I picked up the kids – Sol was one of three kids still left at les Turbulents – and I felt bad about leaving them so late and we went to the bulk store at the market just before it closed to get candy and Clo gave me a hard time about it, that and bedtime drifting towards 9pm again, so now I’m in a bad mood about how we don’t always connect on family matters. Off to work on my CV and a letter to apply for a position as a tech at a CEGEP.
-chris
from chris lloyd
to pm@pm.gc.ca
date Tue, Aug 30, 2016 at 9:59 PM
subject La Chine redorerait son image en se rapprochant du Canada, dit Trudeau; ‘Stay hydrated. It gets awful in here’: How hot is a hot subway car in Toronto?
Dear Justin,
I am still alive. I survived helping Pascal move his studio from down in St. Henri to up in Mile X, in the same complex as Super Studio. He and Sarah have taken a large space and keep needling me to join in, but I have no budget for a studio at the moment. Tonight we met our nanny, Susie, who came over to meet us, the kids, had supper and met us again at the park, where I had followed the kids who had followed the music playing at the church square before meeting Amelie and Julian and their friend Anne-Sophie. Now I need to finish proofing my CV and letter for the tech job at Montmorency but I think it all a bit of a waste of time, as there is almost no way I can pass a written French exam, and no time to study at the moment. I head to Ottawa tomorrow night and my body is sore and tired.
-chris
from chris lloyd
to pm@pm.gc.ca
date Wed, Aug 31, 2016 at 8:34 PM
subject La Chine redorerait son image en se rapprochant du Canada, dit Trudeau; Canada trade deal faces the lawyers: Germany builds its case against CETA with 70 bankers’ boxes
Dear Justin,
I am still alive. I survived a day of getting ready for my first day tomorrow at the National Gallery. This included, but was not limited to, helping Rose’s teacher re-label all the duotangs because she had a new student today and it threw the numbering off; sending my application off to Collège Montmorency; organizing and mailing off the kits to the five folks who sponsored my participation in MS:T spring Runoff back in April; changing the sheets, cleaning up and watering Iliana’s plants in between AirBnB guests; shopping for some groceries and picking up the kids and making supper and saying bon voyage to Sarah and Pascal, off to France tonight.
Did you hear about the Indigenous headdress fiasco at the elementary school in Outremont? Same school as the blackface fiasco from a couple years ago. Same friend whistleblowing.
And I’m about to hit the road. Wish me luck? -chris
DEAR PM 