Layton’s smooth, genial, high-energy, intense. I’ve lost all respect for him though as he plays the game *with* Harper. He’s changed & I don’t like the change. Doesn’t seem to have the integrity & principles he once had. As the saying goes – power corrupts. Or the desire for it in his case. I like his wife, Olivia Chow. Very committed & principled.

Well, I’m getting ready to shut-down for the night. Been great chatting with you!

I met Gilles Duceppe not long ago. Folks outside Quebec (as well as in, naturally) seem to like him (outside that whole separation thing, of course). He is the least approachable; the least engaging man you’ll come across. Very anti-social. Don’t get me wrong, he is a man of integrity, but he plays games to. and plays them well. It’s what keeps him in Quebec more than the revival of sovereignty itself.

Even if you don’t get a chance to talk to them up close and personal; just being in the same room or sharing any common space with them gives one a whole new perspective.

Haven’t had the pleasure of meeting Jack Layton. I would hope to meet him too though.

I think it’s good for Canadians to get out and meet their MPs and if the leaders are in their towns or wherever they may be, to make a concerted effort to be there. One thing I’ve learned after meeting Gilles Duceppe and Iggy in person is that you really have to take what corporate media (and of course their foes, naturally) tells you about them with a grain of salt. Sometimes a rock of salt.

As I’ve discovered, even if you don’t get a chance to get up close and personal with them; just being in the same room or sharing other common space gives one a whole new perspective.

Yeah, the hug was special as I didn’t see him giving out those willy nilly. Anyway, really like the guy & wish everyone could see what I saw today. Such a contrast to “cold fish Harper”.

Lucky for you, you got to be outdoors. Our venue was inside a restaurant. I think I would have preferred a park though, there are a few parks that would have been doable in Justin Trudeau’s riding.

I got the same impression as to the views of Canada. I think his wavering was from the corporate media, the pundits and Steve’s attack ads. I think this bus tour meet and greet is doing some good for him; even better than the Canada 150 Thinkers conference.

The only thing for him to do is to basically ignore Steve & his antics for the rest of the summer. They’re basically traps anyway.

I only wish I brought a camera. The one on my cell doesn’t work. And I honestly didn’t think cameras were allowed, otherwise, I would have left my cell with my husband and taken his droid phone which for a cell, takes pretty good pics and uploadable on the spot to facebook and twitter. Oh well, next time!

Did you get a chance to speak to Iggy, even briefly? How did you find him in person?

As I mentioned to you, he was actually engaging, friendly and very approachable. Nothing like the way the corporate media, Harpercons or their cheerleaders paint him to be.

While speaking to the crowd he also introduced Carolyn Bennett as: “his greatest supporter for the single payer system that we have.”

Hope that helps answer your question. It was a great visit from them all & I had a load of fun as well. Will be blogging about it in a couple of days – with pics.

But you wear a hat and probably dress…eccentric to show how oh-so different you are from the rest of Canadians. LOLLLL