An Ontarian married to a Westerner, mother to 3 Tiny Humans, master to one spoiled pup, an urban dweller, fair weather cyclist and lover of family vacations.
In the midst of so much bad news, it is great to see some good news. Don was one of my favourites during my time in media relations and it is nice to see his trademark humour is still intact.
For a few months, his fight against cancer was a search in vain - but a glimmer of hope appeared when the Ottawa Cancer Centre enrolled him as the last patient in the first phase of an enhanced immunotherapy trial. He began treatment, and a miracle happened.
@DonMartinCTV joined @VassyKapelos on Power Play to share his story.
The best types of tea:
-The tea brought to you in bed on a Sunday morning
-The tea that comforts you after bad news, gives you the energy to carry on
-The leaning on the worktop after cleaning the kitchen tea (usually held in two hands)
-The “struggle to take a glove off as someone hands it to you” gardening break tea
-The tea you almost forget to drink when you’re in a rush but you remember it just in time
-The hotel room tea
-The tea with a cooked breakfast
-The recovering in hospital tea
-The tea on the freezing sidelines of a Sunday League football match
-The back at the desk after a long meeting tea
-The first tea of the day
-The first tea of the new year
-The tea you take to bed
-The tea while slapping a new coat of paint on the walls
-The tea in the shed
-The tea while staring out the window on a rainy Saturday afternoon
-The tea you celebrate with (and calm down with) when you’ve just received very good news
-The tea you didn’t expect to be offered
-The tea in a museum cafe
-The free tea
-The tea after an argument
-The tea that gives you an excuse to open the good biscuits
-The tea with a view
-The tea with buttered toast
-The “afternoon tea” with lots of little sandwiches and cakes
-The tea in a tent while camping
-The tea from a flask on an Autumn hike
-The tea while reading a book in an armchair on a rare day off with not a care in the world
-The tea after a hard day at work
-The tea after getting in from a run / bike ride
-The first tea back in your home after a holiday
-The picnic tea
-The ‘break up a long car journey’ tea
-The tea you make for someone and they say it’s a really lovely cup of tea, one of the best teas they’ve ever had
-The tea made by your Mum/Dad
#COP28 is on! UNEP FI Head @EricPusher reports from the ground with insights from the first two days of the biggest annual #climate conference. Updates include historic announcements on #loss and damage financing and more.
Join UNEP FI and members at COP: https://t.co/b9lmRG8A7H
Pro tips for every politician who finds themselves on a pancake grill for a photo op during the Stampede (and notes to the PMO advance team):
1) If you feel you MUST take a picture of yourself flipping a pancake, etiquette dictates that you ask to just flip a precooked one for the picture. Otherwise you're pulling a volunteer off their cooking rhythm and they have 1000+ people to feed in an hour, and they're already waiting in line.
2) If you've never cooked before, today is not the day to start. You need to know what the temperature of the griddle is, the consistency of the batter, and where the hot and cold spots are on the grill. There are quick tests you can do to figure this out but again, you're going to be pulling a volunteer off their rhythm if you barge in to do this. So if you want to flip, pick a griddle and stick with it for an hour. Make yourself useful.
3) A griddle that's too hot will burn the outside of your pancake before the inside is cooked (this is what happened to Trudeau in the video below). A griddle that's too cold doesn't cook the pancake. You need to get that sucker in the sweet spot and keep it there, and know that there will be hot and cold spots.
4) DONT PREMATURELY FLIP. If you do, you get batter splatter everywhere and screw up the grill because you have to scrape batter shrapnel off the grill before proceeding (see below). It's time to flip when the edges are brown, it's bubbling, and the top side is starting to form a thin cooked skin. BE PATIENT.
5) Don't over grease the griddle. Too much oil causes explosive or split pancakes (see below).
6) Don't be fancy. It's not Coyote Ugly breakfast edition. If you flip something up in the air and it ends up on the ground, you've just made someone in line wait an extra two mins. Or it will end up splattering everywhere (see below). Wasting pancakes is bad juju.
You're welcome.
Yesterday, UN Secretary-General António Guterres urged all financial institutions to present public, credible and detailed plans to transition their funding from fossil fuels to clean energy and encouraged those already doing so to keep going. Read more: https://t.co/e6BF67VrpA
UNEP FI is hiring a banking #communications lead to develop and implement communications strategies and compelling campaigns for the Principles for #ResponsibleBanking. Apply by 31 May to help us advance and mainstream sustainable finance across the world! https://t.co/U0qN2bvEyR
LIVE FROM DAVOS: Congratulations to the members of the UN-convened #NetZeroInsurance Alliance on the launch of the Alliance’s 1st Target-Setting Protocol https://t.co/uwWrGIklbV
There is a clear opportunity for the #insurance industry to play a leading role in preventing pollution and supporting the transition to a #SustainableEconomy. Find out more in this new global study from UNEP FI’s @PSI_Initiative and DB Insurance. https://t.co/Vj65r4nw06
Members of the Net Zero Insurance Alliance were joined by leaders from @ABBgroupnews, @Syngenta and @Holcim to discuss the role insurance can play in helping the real economy accelerate its net zero ambitions. Find out what they said:👉https://t.co/irXLQbq03F
@UNEP_FI 🌍#NetZero
@AGSouthern Pacifier clips for attaching small toys to your baby carrier so they don’t fall on the ground. If eating solids, look for reusable food pouches with a valve so they don’t spray everywhere when squeezed. Water bottle for you!
@sproudfoot Our home daycare provider was huge part of our early parenting years. She lovingly nurtured our kids and gave us much needed support and encouragement as working parents. We feel so lucky to have found her.
This is a story about how a fit, healthy young woman has a stroke at 34 years old, but it's also about a lot more than a stroke. This is about what happens when the person who carries everything can’t stand up.
This is my story.♥️ https://t.co/xpug6f2vX9