Hon. Peter MacKay

Hon. Peter MacKay, originally uploaded by johnwmacdonald.

It's not very often I bump into Peter MacKay, the Minister of National Defence in Ottawa. Yet, there he was in Stellarton, Nova Scotia eating breakfast in the Foord St. A&W restaurant preparing for his day.

I flew into Halifax earlier this week to fetch my parent's car to drive back to Ottawa. I decided to get up early last Thursday morning and have a bite to eat before I returned home. MacKay's on the campaign trail, of course, as are all the MPs who want to retain their jobs back on Parliament Hill. After breakfast I asked if I could take his photo, wished him luck, and bid him adieu.

There in the background (above Peter's right shoulder) is the steeple of Our Lady of Lourdes Church where my Great-Grand Uncle, Father William B. MacDonald, founded and built the church and the little enclave of streets surounding it. My aunts who live up the street, and into their 80s, still attend mass regularly and are among the last of their generation still living in their home where they were born and raised.