I Know That Guy!

[bjarvis]

On Tuesday, the Supreme Court of Canada released a ruling which offers a new legal defense against libel. The details are linked here in this Globe & Mail article.

The part that caught my eye is that the first case in this ruling, Peter Grant v. Torstar Group, the publisher of the Toronto Star newspaper. Sure, I was an avid reader of the Toronto Star --me and several million other Canadians-- but that's not the point: I know Peter Grant!

OK, I know what most Americans are thinking right now. Peter's Canadian, I'm Canadian, there's only 32 million of us... of course we know each other. Screw you and the sleigh you rode in on.

Roll back the clock to 1983 or so. I was in Northern Ontario in grade 10 or so. Peter had recently remarried to Carol Lawrence, formerly of Toronto. Carol wanted to finish her high school diploma so she returned to school as an adult and we met in a grade 11 economics class (I routinely took courses a year ahead of my level). We studied at their home mansion outside of New Liskeard many times during the school exam seasons.

Further, Peter Jr was in my home room in high school for at least two years (he was two years behind me). In 1984, I got my first real job working on Lotus 1-2-3 spreadsheets at Grant Forest Products in Englehart, ON, the firm owned by Peter Sr.

That's it, my brush with fame. Well, that and nearly accidentally causing the death of a former prime minister of Canada but that's another story.

I do wonder what became of Carol though. I believe they divorced some years later but lost her trail in the late 1980s.

Comments

[dendren.livejournal.com]

duh... you're both from Canada, of course you know each other.

[bootedintexas.livejournal.com]

So do you use all the canadian expressions ey?

[kent4str.livejournal.com]

Don't get him started on "eh". Trust me.

[bootedintexas.livejournal.com]

so no comment on the Great Train Adventure post?

[cuyahogarvr.livejournal.com]

We've all got it posted on our calendars - which is a major achievement. Looking forward to seeing you. Hope the snow is gone by then.

[bootedintexas.livejournal.com]

yay. wohoo. grateful

[bearfinch.livejournal.com]

Which Prime Minister?

[bjarvis.livejournal.com]

John Turner. I tripped over my own lose shoelace on the Bay Street station subway platform in Toronto and nearly bumped him onto the tracks in front of an oncoming train. I was profusely apologetic and he was very understanding & forgiving.

[bearfinch.livejournal.com]

He's the second Prime Minister I actually remember from childhood, the first being Pierre Trudeau. Although I guess Clark was somewhere in there too.

[bjarvis.livejournal.com]

Eight years of Brian Mulroney didn't leave a lasting impression? :-)

[bearfinch.livejournal.com]

Well yes, but what I meant was that Turner and Trudeau were the earliest in my memory, not the only ones.

I met Mulroney, briefly, when he spoke at my High-school in 1991. That wasn't too long before he stepped down and was replaced by poor Kim Campbell.

[weekilter.livejournal.com]

And no mention of Kim Campbell? :)

[urbear]

Poor Joe Clark. He never did manage to get that charisma thing right. I remember an old Wayne & Shuster skit that had him on the phone:

"Hello, ma? {pause] It's me! [pause] Joe! [pause] CLARK!"

[apparentparadox]

Peter's Canadian, I'm Canadian, ... of course we know each other.

No, I was thinking "Peter's a man, Brian's, um, popular, of course Brian knows him".

[cuyahogarvr.livejournal.com]

ditto....

[trawnapanda.livejournal.com]

OK, I know what most Americans are thinking right now. Peter's Canadian, I'm Canadian, there's only 32 million of us... of course we know each other. Screw you and the sleigh you rode in on.

Um, I thought the problem (at least down in DeeSee where you are now - I'm sure they do things better in, say, Colorado) you have been whingeing about recently is that Americans don't know how to ride / drive a sleigh; let alone screw in one.