I don't like babies. I don't like being around them, and I don't like when new parents ask if I want to hold one.
However, when they're out of sight, and, more importantly, too far away to be heard screaming and screeching, and when I can keep from my mind how my life would be utterly ruined by the arrival of a baby, I like babies. In theory, they're cute and inspiring, and there's something in the voice of a new parent that is touching.
So, it was with pleasure that I spoke with Mississauga-Brampton South MP Navdeep Bains this afternoon. The story, which I wrote for the paper and website, is below.
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Neither fog nor grounded planes could keep Mississauga-Brampton South MP Navdeep Bains from making his way from Ottawa to witness the birth of his first child Thursday morning.
While at a Wednesday night reception at Stornoway, the official residence of the leader of the Opposition, Bains, 30, received a call from his pregnant wife, Brahamjot.
She wasn't feeling well and was going to the hospital.
Bains wasted no time in getting to the airport and catching the 11 p.m. flight out of Ottawa. Sparsely populated, the plane was also carrying fellow Liberal and former Premier of Ontario Bob Rae.
"I decided to take a bit of a snooze, and, when I got up, the pilot said, 'We're arriving in Ottawa.' I thought it was a nightmare," said Bains, who was, like his fellow passengers, fully expecting to be landing at Pearson International Airport in Mississauga.
The plane, it turned out, had turned back because of excessive fog.
"By that time, I knew she was in labour," said Bains, who was left with two options, to wait for the 6 a.m. flight out of Ottawa the next morning or drive overnight to Credit Valley Hospital, where his wife was giving birth. Not knowing whether the fog would lift or not, he chose to drive.
Rae, however, didn't want Bains driving overnight through the fog on his own.
The next five hours were spent with the two Liberals, Rae a veteran politician and Bains a promising newbie, driving down Hwy. 401 and discussing politics and family life.
"He told me this is the beginning of many exciting things to come," said Bains.
Still dressed in his suit from the evening before, Bains arrived at the hospital at 6 a.m., just half an hour before his daughter was born.
"I got to the delivery room just in time to help," he said. "Of course, I did very little of the work."
Navdeep and Brahamjot named their new addition Nanki. She came in at 7 pounds, 3 ounces.
"I'm absolutely thrilled," said Bains. "Mom and her are very healthy."
Bains added that the nursery at his home has a Sesame Street theme, and they plan to emphasize Elmo in the room, seeing as he is the most Liberal red of any of the show's characters.
As if the Liberal brand wasn't going to be ingrained enough in Nanki, Liberal Justin Trudeau and his wife Sophie Gregoire also welcomed their first child, Xavier James Trudeau, to the world just six hours before Nanji arrived.
Thursday also happened to be the birth date of former Liberal prime minister, and Justin's father, Pierre Trudeau.