The Chronicle Herald: Rooster greets MLAs at House
Monday, December 15th, 2008
HAVE THE CHICKENS come home to roost for Nova Scotia’s MLAs?
Actually, it’s a bronze rooster that now graces the clerk’s table at the legislature, a gift from the National Assembly of Quebec. The work by Roger-Andre Bougault of Saint-Jean-Port-Joli, a community renowned for its artists, is about 45 centimetres high. It was given to Nova Scotia in honour of the 250th anniversary of democracy in the province.
A proclamation that accompanied the sculpture said the rooster is a “universal symbol of pride, courage and vigilance” and embodies the values associated with democracy and citizen representation. It goes on to say the bird, since it is associated with morning and the dawn of a new day, may also be seen as an emblem of the east and by extension, of Nova Scotia.
Province House had a tropical feel Thursday afternoon.
The Speaker’s reception, hosted, of course, by Speaker Alfie MacLeod, had a Caribbean theme. MLAs from all three parties, legislature staffers and other guests mingled in the Red Room, noshing on tropical fruit, fish cakes and Jamaican patties. Some in the room wore Hawaiian shirts and leis (not Caribbean but festive nonetheless), and a few sipped on some sort of rum-based drinks. In the corner, the Afro-Cuban band Salsa Picante kept the theme going, playing songs such as Feliz Navidad as a few brave souls danced. (The Speaker was spotted cutting a rug.)
Ever wonder what goes on behind closed doors at cabinet? Well, wonder no more. We hear members of the executive council were asked to pose with a life-sized cut-out of one of government’s senior spin doctors last week.
Colleagues of Michelle MacKinnon, a managing director with Communications Nova Scotia who celebrated her 50th birthday on Friday, took the cut-out of her around government circles and got folks to pose with it for photos. Word is Premier Rodney MacDonald and possibly some others in his inner circle happily obliged.
Being a Good Samaritan isn’t always easy — just ask New Democrat Leonard Preyra.
The Halifax Citadel-Sable Island MLA received a package from Montreal a few weeks ago containing the wallet of a former Dalhousie University student. It seems the student had lost his wallet in Montreal, and someone sent the wallet, which contained the man’s university ID, other important documents and cash, to his last known address. Somehow the wallet ended up in Mr. Preyra’s mailbox. In the wallet, the MLA found a medical appointment card and contacted the doctor, who just happened to be a friend of Mr. Preyra’s, and she sent an email to the student to let him know it had been found.
“The student emailed me back and was surprised and delighted to know that there was an honest soul in Montreal — said it restored his faith in humanity,” the MLA said last week.
Mr. Preyra mailed off the wallet special delivery to the student, by then back in Montreal, only to have it returned because it didn’t have the student’s apartment number on it. Off it went in the mail again. At the end of this tale, the wallet had travelled about 6,000 kilometres and cost $52 in postage.
Provincial reporter Amy Smith freelances this column.