Wednesday night my son and I attended the Founders Dinner. This is an annual event held at The School in celebration of its founding in 1829. Sort of like a birthday party.
I particularly enjoyed the Toast to Her Majesty the Queen, Canada and the College. Toasts to the Queen are rarer than they once were, so for me they present a respite from current rushed and casual practices. Usually one stands for the toast, although under certain circumstances sitting is acceptable [1]. I was however left in a bit of a quandary, unsure whether I should participate or not, as I was drinking water. The US Navy considers it is bad form to toast with water, as it may doom the person toasted to a watery grave [2]. But being neither American nor a sailor I figured She wouldn’t mind. Current protocol does embrace non-alcoholic beverages [3] although it remains true that one should drink from a suitable glass, never directly from the bottle [4].
Since my son’s graduation I have attended two of these dinners, primarily to hear the dinner speaker. The first time the speaker was Bill Graham, then Minister of Defence, and most recently interim leader of the Liberal Party of Canada and Her Majesty’s Royal Opposition.
Wednesday night’s speaker was Michael Ignatieff recent candidate for the leadership of the Liberal Party and currently Deputy Leader of the Party.
Before dinner my son and I were speaking with one of his former teachers, Wayne Tompkins. During the conversation Michael Ignatieff joined our circle. Of course we shook hands–all politicians do that–and we introduced ourselves. My son mentioned he had attended the candidate debate held in Toronto during the recent Liberal Leadership race. Ignatieff lamented a statement made during that debate that the Conservatives are now using in their current round of advertising. He asked my son what he was studying (Classics and History), which is similar to his own background. My son said that Mr. Tompkins had introduced him to the classics, through Homer and the Odyssey. We spoke with him for over 5 minutes when he was pulled away (by a handler I presume).
I left the encounter feeling quite optimistic that, regardless of political strip, one cannot help but be impressed with the caliber of people we have representing us in the leadership of this Country.
Leave a Reply