Gay Bloc MP Réal Ménard bids farewell to federal politics

I have a new piece up on the national page of Xtra.ca today, which was an interview I did with Réal Ménard this morning on his last day as an MP. The last time I had been in his office, the walls were covered in old election campaign posters for his party and the PQ, but now they were bare as his assistants were packing up.

We did the interview mostly in English, though occasionally he'd slip in some French words that I translated in the piece (as well as proper verb tenses). But he was in good cheer, and excited about his next venture in municipal politics. We had a very good talk about the way that politics has changed in Canada in the 16 years that he's been an MP - both in the larger context of Parliament itself, and the way in which the Bloc's very presence virtually ensures minority governments - as well as how politics has changed for openly gay politicians, as he was the second openly gay MP in our Parliamentary history.

During my time on the Hill, I never had too much chance to work with Ménard, largely because of the language barrier, but now I'm a little sorry that I didn't make more of an effort. He was, however, always great when we did get a chance to speak (especially for the video pieces I did back in May), and I want to thank him for making my job a little easier.