Friends and colleagues roast retiring MLA

Page 6

ake one well-oiled political machine, add a dash of lemon juice and a few handfuls of spice, and turn gently on a spit for as long as one of his speeches--say, three hours. That was the recipe Keith Goulet's friends, family and colleagues used Sept. 7, as they gathered at the La Ronge Motor Hotel for the Cumberland MLA's retirement roast.

"The only thing I asked Keith about this roast tonight was whether he wanted to be rare, medium or well-done," said MC (and Goulet cabinet colleague) Joanne Crofford, as she kicked off the evening of feasting and speeches. Festooned with streamers and balloons in NDP orange, green and white, the hotel's banquet room was packed with bodies, all there to honor the province's first-ever Aboriginal cabinet minister. Old Cumberland constituency campaign posters dotted the walls, the "Re-elect" banner doctored to read "Re-tire Keith Goulet". A table draped with white linen sat loaded with items for a silent fundraising auction, ranging from antler carvings to the sign off Goulet's office door, its velcro tabs still attached to the back.

For Goulet, the evening may well have seemed like old home week, with guests including notables such as Premier Lorne Calvert, NORTEP (Northern Teacher Education Program) colleagues Michael Tymchak and Dave Friesen, and Dale McAuley, mayor of Goulet's hometown of Cumberland House. While these people were introduced formally as guests, many came to the fore as storytellers-mostly at Goulet's expense.

His own caucus office started the jokes rolling with a letter supposedly from Goulet and wife Linda's toy poodle, Wogs, who relayed his great pleasure at the news that Goulet would now be available for regular "walkies" and rounds of golf. Daughter Danis later noted that the yappy little critter was a great embarrassment to her father, as "a man of the North" who had grown up with sled dogs. One time, she recalled, the dog was continually interrupting an interview her father was doing with the Missinipi Broadcasting Corporation (MBC), and MBC decided to record some footage of the dog barking. This was later broadcast as "an interview with Minister Goulet's dog."

Ray McKay, Goulet's deputy minister of Northern Affairs from 1996 to 1998, harkened back to their first acquaintance in 1980, when Goulet was principal of the La Ronge Region Community College and McKay was with the department of education. At the time, Goulet was also teaching an evening Cree course, and McKay substituted twice for him. As the instructor, Goulet was paid $1,500 for the 10-class session, so McKay figured he'd earned $300. Well, said McKay, "I waited to get paid, never got paid. So I asked him, and he said, 'Oh yes,' and he gave me $20. So he owes me one!"

Most of the speakers, however, referred to Goulet as a generous man-especially with his time and ideas. Loud, passionate speeches were a Goulet trademark, said former MP Ray Funk, who picked up his talent for projection from Goulet. He learned so well that when speaking to a group of seniors, Funk was pleased to hear that the seniors would be voting for him. Why? "You're the only one who talks loud enough for us to understand," they said.

Michael Tymchak fondly recalled Goulet's 1972 Plymouth-saying race car driver Jacques Villeneuve "would have to take a backseat to Keith on the highways of the North"-his dedication to the Cree language, and his intellectual bent, especially his fondness for Soviet literature. Goulet's collection of Russian authors eventually ended up in the NORTEP library, but Tymchak said he didn't realize just how exceptional the collection was until one day he got a call from the Moscow Bibliotheque Institute.

"He's telling me in this thick Russian accent that they had a big fire, all the books burned up, and they'd like to buy the NORTEP library!" Tymchak said.

Premier Lorne Calvert, meanwhile, recalled Goulet as the first person to give a lengthy address to the Legislature in Cree, something he di frequently in his more than 15 years in provincial politics. During their years in opposition to Grant Devine's Tories, Calvert recalled, Goulet "would go on for 10, 15 minutes passionately in Cree, and then he would say, 'Bernston' (deputy premier Eric Bernston) or 'Devine,' and that warranted much attention on the other side." The Conservatives knew that all those speeches were being recorded, and would be broadcast to northerners who knew exactly what Goulet was saying, Calvert said, but "the only thing in Hansard (the book that records all legislative proceedings) would be, 'The member spoke in Cree.'"

Whether in Cree or in English, Goulet was never afraid to speak his mind, Calvert said. "If something needs to be said, Keith will say it, and he'll say it in a way that can be clearly understood and he'll say it to who it needs to be said."

"I always admired his courage and authenticity," said Michael Tymchak. Due to the work of Keith Goulet, "We live in a much better northern Saskatchewan."