Little Alison

Premier Jean Charest might as well have added the "little" to the "Alison" during their joint press conference the other day. He actually referred to the Premier of Alberta as "Alison". Not Ms. Redford or Premier Redford. It was "Alison".

It jumped out jarringly when I read it. Can you imagine him referring to the Premier of Ontario as "Dalton"? Never. Or the PM as "Stephen"? Not on your life. But it was business-as-usual for a woman to be called by her first name -- even though she is a premier. One can only hope she noticed. Probably not.

I certainly notice when someone I don't know calls me by my first name -- like the guy who called yesterday trying to sell me financial advice. It was, "Hi Nancy!" "Hi, who's this?" (thinking I must know the person). But no, it was Joe-Blow-from who-knows-where. Hung up. Or the 12-year-old receptionist who hails, "Hi Nancy," when I arrive for an appointment. Call me old-fashioned, but I don't like it.

But this off-hand remark about Premier Redford comes from a man whose wife is so liberated a member of the "sisterhood" she keeps her maiden name. She's Micheline Something-or-other". Charest touts the fact that he believes he is in a very equal marriage with a enlightened and modern arrangement. Actually, he puts me more in mind of the 19th-century habitant who just got off a caleche from The Beauce.