There were a lot of selfies.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made a stop during his visit to Muskoka at the Bracebridge Fire Hall on Wednesday, May 9, 2019, to thank first responders for their work during the flood.
“It’s an honour to meet the Prime Minister of your country, and it’s probably a once in a lifetime opportunity,” said Huntsville Councillor Dan Armour who is also Commander with Muskoka Paramedic Services.
Armour said the PM made his way around the room, shook hands with everyone and thanked them for their efforts. “He was well-educated on what had happened here in Muskoka with the flooding. He spoke about that and thanked everybody… the first responders, the fire department and everybody for pitching together and looking after it,” said Armour.
Trudeau arrived at approximately 6 pm and stayed for about an hour. Security was tight, said Armour.
Huntsville CAO Denise Corry, Trudeau and outgoing Huntsville Director of Development Services Derrick Hammond (soon to officially become CAO of Muskoka Lakes Township) take a selfie with the PM. (Submitted photo).
Security arrived the night before and returned first thing in the morning on the day Trudeau was set to visit.
Municipalities were invited to send up to three delegates and they were all registered ahead of time. During the visit, Trudeau’s security team was watching all the doorways. There were also a couple of officers with dogs, said Armour.
Asked if members of Trudeau’s security were wearing dark suits and glasses, Armour laughed and said, “no but they did talk into their wrist a lot. There were both female and male security personnel and “six or seven large Suburbans or Escalades, black ones,” he added.
Overall, it was a neat experience.”It was interesting meeting him. It’s not every day that you get some face time with the Prime Minister of your country,” said Armour. “We just talked about the flooding and how it impacted the emergency services and I basically just thanked him for the army coming in and being able to assist us in extricating patients who were stuck in flooded areas,” he said.
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Ditto..Mr.Selfie strikes again !
Yes, It should always be an honour to have the Prime Minister of the country visit one ‘s home town. And first responders and especially volunteers deserve recognition so all that is good.
It is polite not to confront our leaders when on official visits no matter how deserving they may be of being reminded of their shortcomings.
I suppose it would be churlish to observe that there was a Liberal riding event here at the same time that the PM attended so all the “polution” his flight and large motorcade caused could be chalked up to his thank the volunteers event (and not the riding event which was the real reason for him gracing the area with his presence.)
I hope Trudeau enjoyed his visit here and that it is his last.