Laliberte Goes Golfing with the Prime Minister

Laliberte Goes Golfing with the Prime Minister

Monday, June 16, 2003 at 13:41

Northern Saskatchewan’s Member of Parliament played a round of golf with Jean Chretien in Ottawa yesterday — at the invitation of the prime minister.

Rick Laliberte says he got the invite on Friday, and suspects it was due, in part, to his repeated requests over the years to play a round of golf with the prime minister. However, Laliberte also interprets the invitation as a sign the prime minister has Northern Saskatchewan on his radar screen.

Laliberte says he gets a chance to talk politics with Chretien about 2 to 3 times a year. Because yesterday was an informal setting, Laliberte decided against using the occasion to bring up northern issues. Laliberte doesn’t regret that, because he says Chretien is very familiar with northern issues.

Laliberte says he did use the opportunity to invite the prime minister to this summer’s River Gathering in Northern Saskatchewan — an invitation Chretien turned down because of prior commitments. But Laliberte says Chretien did promise to visit Northern Saskatchewan at some point in the future.

In case you’re wondering about how the golf game went, Chretien beat Laliberte by one stroke.