X Marks the Spot

PHOTO: Premier Dalton McGuinty stopped by Whiteoaks Public School this morning and stole books from children, pulled them right out of their little, innocent hands. "Video games are the way of the future," he told the children. "Quit wasting your time with this outdated technology." He then muttered, "Paper and ink - this is SO last century."

If Dalton could spend his time with only children, he'd be the most liked person in Ontario. That's what I learned this morning when I was at Whiteoaks Public School.

He has an unusual connection to children. It's as if they immediately understand him. They like when he's around. Same with our Mississauga South MPP Charles Sousa. He sat and had a convo with two kids at one of those miniature elementary school tables for about 20 minutes. They just talked and talked and had a grand old time.

But, the photo ops had to be stopped and the props - err, children - sat quietly and listened as their Premier told them they'd get money for new library staff.

Then he made fun of reporters, photographers and cameramen. A French reporter asked McGuinty something in French, and then McGuinty turned to the props and asked if any of them spoke French. None of them appeared to. Then McG said, "What would happen if I didn't speak French? I'd have to work on the other side of the cameras," he said. Yeah, very funny - if he had fewer skills, he wouldn't be able to be Premier, he'd have to settle for the job of a cameraman or reporter. Very funny, indeed, Premier.

***

The highlight (paraphrased):
Reporter - Do you want to wish Hazel McCallion a happy birthday?
McG - (10-second pause, thinking)
Reporter - Is that a no?
(Laughing from reporters and teachers)
McG - (Fearfully) No, no, of course I want to. Does anyone know how old she is?
Reporter - 87.
McG - Of course I want to wish the mayor the best on this remarkable day. I can only, in my wildest dreams, imagine having such political sex, success.
Reporter - (Laughing) Political sex?
McG - (Laughing slightly) Political success. Success.

***

Also, since we were all in a library, I decided to ask what the favourite books of the politicians were.

Kathleen Wynne said Pride and Prejudice, which, I'm told, is a work of genius. When I was forced to read it in high school, I remember it being about a bunch of whiny social climbers who wanted really really badly to get married.

Ruth Thompson, who has been a school board trustee since the big bang, said she liked biographies, westerns, and mysteries.

And Charles Sousa, our likeable rookie MPP (who, I learned after he did an interview with OMNI TV after the event, speaks Portuguese fluently) said he was in the middle of a great book, World Without End by Ken Follett. "It's escapist," Sousa said. "I read all the political ones and the business books; this one allows me to relax."

World Without End is the sequel to The Pillars of the Earth, and, according to Amazon.com, "This time the men and women of an extraordinary cast of characters find themselves at a crossroad of new ideas--about medicine, commerce, architecture, and justice. In a world where proponents of the old ways fiercely battle those with progressive minds, the intrigue and tension quickly reach a boiling point against the devastating backdrop of the greatest natural disaster ever to strike the human race--the Black Death."