Last Saturday I attended the annual Press Gallery Dinner for the first time. I had not expected this to be a great event, since there was a unofficial boycott by the Conservative Party (in the end, two cabinet ministers and about five MPs showed up) but the evening exceeded my expectations. Stéphane Dion's speech, which was characteristically poorly delivered, was actually pretty self-deprecating and funny. His writers deserve some credit. It was only mildly well-received -- that was clear from reading the body language of some of the Liberals sitting near me, including Justin Trudeau and Senator Jim Munson. The best act of the evening was the Quebec group Les Zapartistes, who did a hilarious impression of Stephen Harper speaking in French.
Despite the Conservative's stance on this dinner, I think it is a fun event and an important tradition and I was glad I attended.
# posted by Adam Daifallah : 9:00 AM
