Bush Sr., Mulroney to reunite at soiree
Gillian Cosgrove
National Post
nationalpost.com
Saturday, August 30, 2003
The fabled cliffs of Murray Bay above the St. Lawrence are the idyllic setting for an exclusive end-of-summer party this weekend for A-list powerbrokers including a former president of the United States and a former prime minister of Canada, celebrating three milestones.
Paul Desmarais, the patriarch of Montreal's Power Corp. dynasty, is hosting the soiree to celebrate the 50th anniversary of his marriage to Jackie, to raise a toast to his wife on her 75th birthday, and to mark the completion of their stunning summer chateau near Murray Bay, where they own a hunting lodge.
Mr. Desmarais, an architecture and design buff, has meticulously micromanaged the construction details of their new retreat, just as he did their winter hideaway in Palm Beach, Fla.
Invited houseguests include Barbara and George Bush Sr. and Mila and Brian Mulroney. (The couples always spend this long weekend together.) The Desmarais sons, Paul Jr. and Andy, co-CEOs of Power Corp., are on hand with their wives, Hélène and France. (The PMO would not say whether France's parents, Aline and Jean Chrétien, will attend.)
Murray Bay, now known as La Malbaie thanks more to the language police than the treacherous tides, was once the vacation playground of high society from New York, Boston and Montreal. Each summer, they decamped to baronial digs on the Boulevard des Falaises with servants in tow.
William Howard Taft, the U.S. president, said Murray Bay gave him the high of Champagne without the hangover. I can guarantee that the best bottles of Champagne are being popped there this weekend. As for the hangovers, that prediction is beyond my ken.
ME, MYSELF, AND I
Here is a direct quote from "Notes for Remarks by Prime Minster (sic!) Jean Chrétien on signing the Ukkusiksalik Park Agreement in Iqaluit" last Saturday.
"One time, while taking a flight from Pangnirtung to Brockton Island, we flew over an amazing fjord. I said, 'Aline, I will make a park here for you.' When I got back to my office, I consulted the Minister of Indian Affairs, who was myself, the Minister of Northern Affairs, who was myself, and the Minister for Parks, who was myself, and they all agreed on the matter. I took out my pen and made that park." Talk about the arrogance of power. But you have to concede the Little Guy from Shawinigan has a sense of humour that softens it, somewhat. Perhaps Mr. Chrétien, who says he needs a new challenge after he leaves office, can get a gig writing lines for Global TV's Mike Bullard.
NEWMAN CHANGES HEADGEAR
Peter C. Newman, titan of Canadian letters and acclaimed jazz critic, switched musical mediums (and hats) in Red Deer, Alta., last week when he masqueraded as Willie Nelson, the king of country and western. Mr. Newman tossed his trademark sailor's cap for a red bandanna, braids and a guitar to emcee the wedding of his brother-in-law, Duane Steele, one of Canada's top country and western stars, and Shauna Taylor.
MEN WILL BE BOYS
That white stretch limo (complete with mirrored ceiling, bar and a videoplayer) jumping lanes eastbound on the 401 last Friday, with loud voices emanating from behind its smoked windows, was not taking party girls, or boys, to Montreal for a lost weekend. Rather, it bore the distinguished likes of Michael Marzolini, Liberal pollster; Patrick Gossage, Trudeau aide and spinmeister; Tony Ianno, loyalist Martinite MP; and Gordon Ashworth, strategist in federal and provincial campaigns, to Cobourg.
These were some of the revelers at a high August tradition: the Annual Gentlemen's Summer Soiree of Liberal backroom boys, hosted by Senator David Smith and Stephen LeDrew, the bow-tied but never tongue-tied party president, at the Senator's modest (well, relatively modest) cottage on the shores of Lake Ontario. The Victorian vintage cottage is festooned with an eclectic collection of etchings of British statesmen, including William Gladstone and the Senator's ancestor, Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman, whose Liberals won a landslide in 1906.
What was said was strictly off the record. We can record that Senator Smith and David Collenette, the Transport Minister, wore short pants; that there was a consensus that Liberal Dalton McGuinty, notwithstanding his distressing resemblance to Norman Bates of Psycho, will beat Ernie Eves in the Ontario election; and some guests deigned to wear bathing suits for the predawn skinny dip in the heated pool. No women were permitted but, because Liberals are notorious gossips, my spies dutifully reported back to me.
gcosgrove@rogers.com |
