Monday 21st June - The Convention Continues

This was the day of the RIBI Breakfast, which meant an early start, with jackets and ties, at the Marriott Hotel. We got there at 0645hrs and David and Daphne were already there, as expected. There were also some guests there so we had to shuffle them out of the dining room temporarily so that we could check them in. Stewart, Peter and I, together with the girls, were official checkers in, but some of the other RIBI DGs joined in and it became an easy task. I had already made contact with our host for the post Convention two day trip to Kingston, who I had invited to the breakfast so it was good to meet Bruce and Dorothy and to be their host. It all went very well and Bill Boyd did his stuff as usual as our speaker and John Kenny even found time to come along and say hello.

Stewart and Eileen had signed up for the President's lunch and Sergeant-at-Arms duty, so we were on our own for most of the day. We prepared a packed lunch to speed things up today. We had already had a longish walk through the city as local people turned up for work in the usual hustle and bustle, so now it was off to the first plenary session, in warm sunshine. After formalities regarding credentials for voting had been dealt with and we had watched the unnecessary parade of Past Presidents, we heard about projects concerning the street children in the Philippines, polio eradication in Africa, and then more unnecessary parades of RI Directors followed by the work of the Central Asian Institute in Pakistan and Afghanistan. A quick dash back to the Palais des Congres, to eat our lunch in the House of Friendship with a cup of coffee, allowed some time to socialise with folks also having lunch. In the afternoon I went to the breakout session to hear about the finances of RI and The Foundation, whilst Edwina and Anne went to the Cathedral. It's amazing how some Rotarians can have serious gaps in their knowledge of how things work, which showed up in the questions that were asked. Back to the Hotel to get freshened up ready for the Chinatown event in the evening.

This was quite an evening with fine food from both East and West together with entertainment including Latin dancing, a Chinese Instrumentalist, Chinese dancing and belly dancers. Some of this was challenging for some of the RIBI Governors.

The event was hosted by the Rotary Club of Old Montreal, a cosmopolitan mix who had raised the cash for this event by sponsorship from members and businesses in Montreal. Their celebrity member, Justin Trudeau, son of the former Canadian Prime Minister, Pierre Trudeau was there. The girls all assure me he is a very good-looking fellow.

I even managed to get a banner from the club. During the evening the club even recognised a Major Donor. The club President was a little effusive with her comments about the proceedings, so we were late getting back. This was a busy day.