Tuesday April 15th was a memorable day for me. I got the phone call right around 6pm telling me about a hockey game between the Conservative MPs and the Liberal MPs taking place here in my riding to raise money for the Bell Kids Help Phone.
I quickly grabbed my Conservative Party baseball cap and scooted on down for the 8pm start.
Walking into the Bell Sensplex, I had no clue which rink to go to but noting one gentleman wearing a small earpiece, I immediately asked him “So which rink is the big game being held in?” He chuckled and pointed to the main rink to the left. You have to love government security guards!
I made my way into the mostly empty stands and waited for the game to start. About 815pm or so, the players started showing up on the ice for warm up and it was clear that more than just MPs were going to be playing when a young Ben Harper skated out on the ice for the Conservative team.
It was right about then that the Prime Minister made his way behind the bench to coach the Tories.
I spent the evening with a group of Conservatives including my MP, the Honourable Gordon O’Connor and Ottawa South nominee Elie Salibi in cheering on the boys in blue.
Conservative fans clearly outnumbered the Liberal fans, but it was nice to see Martha Hall Findlay show up to cheer her team on. Highlight number one of the evening was watching her belt out one heck of a finger whistle when the Liberals scored. She probably whistles better than anyone I know!
Highlight number two came in the second period when Ben Harper skated up the left wing, crossed the puck off the right wing boards where Gord Brown played decoy leaving the puck for speedster Patrick Brown who slid it down low where Ben Harper deflected the puck into the net on a great give and go tip in.
Highlight number 3 happened between the 2nd and 3rd period when the Prime Minister came around to the stands and had photos taken with pretty much everyone who wanted one. It was a pleasure meeting him again.
After one more full period and a five minute scoreless overtime, the final score was 5-5.
Post game there was a small party upstairs in the restaurant/bar where most of the players and a few spectators enjoyed some socializing. I was lucky enough to have my picture taken with the Honourable Jim Prentice and MP Dean Del Mastro who played one heck of a game between the pipes.
A friend of mine wanted his picture taken with Stephane Dion who showed up after the game. After taking two photos of friends with M. Dion, Martha Hall Findlay jumped up and took my camera so I could get a shot with him. I must note, that I am proud to say I wore my Conservative Party baseball hat in the photo. I thanked her and congratulated her on her recent win in the by-elections.
All in all the evening was a treat because it said to me that despite the battling in Parliament and on the ice, all of those involved got together for a good cause and enjoyed some friendly mingling together afterwards. And although the game ended up deadlocked, the winner was the Bell Kids Help Phone.
