The Mysterious Avremi G...

SKF writing on Esti's Site

The CIC Parliamentary Dinner and Democracy in Action conferences have come and gone, with only the bills (oy are there a lot of bills!) to pay and the accolades to collect. The highlights of the events have been captured on film and next week I will post a link that will allow you a direct glimpse into Canada's largest non-partisan political event.

We achieved many firsts including a record number of parliamentarians participating in the various events (the Dinner alone had all Party leaders and 243/308 MPs from the House of Commons plus another 37 Senators) and over 125 meetings with MPs on the Hill during the course of the Hill lobbying component of the program.

For many, however, the greatest "buzz" centred around the mysterious musician Avremi G, who transformed the usually dull and de riguer national anthem into a musical happening. In an event that builds a mood on each component, there was universal acknowledgement on the part of the organizers that Avremi G was a key to the success - and added a note of class very early on in the program that established the desired tone for the rest of the evening. [Get it? tone, key, note...]

All of this to say, it was wonderful to have Avremi at the event - not least because finally, a Gourarie can confirm that I actually do something for a living and perhaps can even give a vague description of what it is that I do!

We are excited that the Gourarie Seniors are finally on line... thanks again to Avremi (do you detect a theme emerging here?). We look forward to posts from South Africa and direct emails to Ottawa...are you listening Shvigaro?

Anyway, a gutten Shabbosh to you all. Look forward to writing again next week.

SKF