Dresden round 11 pairings are up

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  • #31
    Trudeau's language skills

    Actually, Trudeau's English was perfectly fluent, as was his French. I heard him speak in Kingston, at a function at Queen's University, when he was nearly 80 years old; he spoke with clarity and purpose, and, for anyone who didn't know of him, could easily have come across as someone whose first language was English. His mother, Grace Elliott, was originally of English and Irish heritage, I believe, and Pierre and his siblings spoke both languages at home from an early age.:) He also apparently knew enough Spanish to be able to address certain foreign leaders whom he dealt with in that language.

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    • #32
      Re: Trudeau's language skills

      Gary Ruben, when he seemed to be criticizing M. Trudeau's command of English, was in fact criticizing him as a politician. Trudeau said one thing; he did another. Therefore what he said wasn't said well. Even when he's not being a troll, Gary Ruben can be subtle.

      In my recollection, Trudeau spoke perfect English. He spoke with a mild inflection, mannerism, I wouldn't call it an accent. His most famous words in English: "Just watch me" and "Fuddle duddle."

      Trudeau was not a chess player. Roger Lemelin, in a La Presse Editorial, related how when both were a lot younger, they were on a journalistic junket in the Soviet Union. Lemelin played chess; Trudeau did not. Lemelin was smuggled delicacies such as oranges by his Russian chess buddies. Trudeau loved oranges but had none. He begged Lemelin for an orange. Lemelin relented, but only if Trudeau allowed Lemelin to teach him how to play chess. But that did not make Trudeau a player.

      Among Trudeau's cabinet, I believe that Mitchell Sharp was the chess player. It didn't do the CFC any good.

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