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Wilkins in Washington

Ambassador Wilkins was in Washington, D.C., yesterday for a number of client-related meetings.  While in town, he had the opportunity to sit down and chat with US Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) about issues including the just-announced push by President Obama to pass the Democrats' controversial health care bill through a process known as reconciliation that allows Senate Democrats to pass their legislation by a simple majority vote and not the normal 60 votes necessary to prevent a filibuster in the Senate.

Wilkins also enjoyed lunch with his good friend and former colleague in the South Carolina House of Representatives, US Congressman Henry Brown (R-SC). Brown has also been a wonderful friend to Canada serving for years as a co-chair of the US Congressional Friends of Canada Caucus.  

Big Shoes to Fill

It was back to South Carolina where today, Wilkins is privileged to be spending the day at Lexington Medical Center where he is the special guest of the prestigious hospital Foundation and will serve as both its keynote luncheon and dinner speaker.   

Wilkins was most honored by the Foundation's invitation as past speakers have included such distinguished figures as Benazir Bhutto, George H.W. and Barbara Bush, Tommy Franks, John Major, Margaret Thatcher, Colin Powell and a host of other notable entertainment, political and sports figures. 

Wilkins is spending the day touring the impressive facility, speaking with doctors and other medical professionals, talking health care and politics, and tonight he'll wrap up with a banquet at the Embassy Suites hotel in Columbia where he'll have the opportunity to chat about his favorite subject – the importance of the US-Canada relationship.

But as any Canadian who knows the former Ambassador will remember, the first few months on the job in Ottawa were sometimes less than smooth as the Southerner with a penchant for boiled peanuts worked to connect with his new northern progressive friends. 

As Wilkins will explain today:

When Susan and I began making friends in Canada, we'd regale them with stories about our beloved South Carolina:  the sweeping history of Charleston and the Lowcountry, our majestic State House still bearing the scars of the Civil War. 

We'd tell them about shrimp and grits and boiled peanuts, and breathtaking sunsets down at Pawleys Island.

And then we'd tell them how much we love to shag!

Then we'd tell them we love to shag everywhere!  We do it for hours and even switch partners! 

(You can imagine our surprise when the wife of the Irish Ambassador pulled us aside to explain that the word "shag" had an entirely different meaning in other parts of the world…)

But Susan and I sure were invited to a lot of parties after that! 

Wilkins will also share with his audience the ribbing he took from the Canadian press corps back in 2005 after admitting he'd visited Canada only once prior to his appointment as US Ambassador to Canada. 

I should have made up something and told them I'd been to the Olympics in Montreal and Calgary and was a huge hockey fan. 

Instead, I opted to tell the truth – which was I'd been to Canada exactly once:   more than 30 years prior when I was serving in the US Army and I took my new bride of only a few months on a quick trip to Niagara Falls. 

As you can imagine the press ate my lunch on that one.  As a famous Canadian TV comic later quipped, "That didn't even count because he never left his hotel room!" 

(Team Wilkins wishes to thank the CBC's great Rick Mercer for the "hotel room" line that remains the gift that keeps on giving!)   

But on a most serious note, David Wilkins never misses an opportunity to thank and praise Canadian Forces fighting the war on terror in Afghanistan or to talk about Canada's strategic importance to North America's energy security and the value of our bilateral trade relationship.    

We Salute You!

The timing could not be more perfect for Wilkins' remarks in the wake of the just-concluded Winter Olympics, when the world watched in awe as Canada was truly the host with the most! 

With all eyes so recently focused on our northern neighbors, the Ambassador is looking forward to sharing his Canadian winter survival stories – but far more importantly, with Canada showing the world what a truly gracious host it is, Wilkins is honored to share his firsthand stories of that hospitality and friendship with an eager southern audience. 

And Saskatchewan, Too!

And while we couldn't help but cheer on Team USA Sunday for hockey gold, it was a joy to see the win go to Team Canada.  

The Wall Street Journal summed it up well in a March 1 headline:  "Whoa, Canada, That Was a Heckuva Game."

And speaking of that same March 1, WSJ story, we here at Team Wilkins are admittedly a bit biased, but we couldn't help but notice the props the prestigious newspaper gave to Saskatchewan's super-cool Olympic pavilion:   

…We opted for the cozier—and possibly louder—surroundings of the Saskatchewan House, a fabulous white party tent, put on by that province's tourism ministry, not far from the waterside arena. It may have had wobbly tables and a no-frills green carpet, but inside was everything a discerning hockey fan needed: BBQ bison burgers, Saskatoon berry tarts, pierogies and sour cream, and plastic cups of Molson Canadian.

Prepping for Parliament

Team Wilkins is fired-up to visit Ottawa next week. 

We'll be guests of our gracious friend Dawson Hovey and are privileged to be sitting with him at the BMCI table for Tuesday's Canadian Club luncheon where US Ambassador to Canada David Jacobson is delivering the keynote address.  

David Wilkins will be making a stop later that day on Parliament Hill where he'll chat with Tom Clark live on CTV's Power Play.  

We're also honored to be attending a discussion hosted by Laura Peck, vice president of McLoughlin Media, featuring Preston Manning. 

And of course, Wednesday evening is the big Ottawa event most everyone on and around Parliament Hill looks forward to (second only – we think – to the US ambassador's July 4^th bash) Politics and the Pen.  

We hope to see y'all there, ya hear!