Interview with the Honourable Michael Chan

The Honourable Michael Chan
Miniter of Tourism and Culture
Province of Ontario

On this warm sunny Wednesday morning in July, the Festival Nomad and I traveled to downtown Toronto to get “THE INSIDE SCOOP”! It was with great anticipation and excitement today as we were being offered Scoop from none other than one of the main leaders in the industry, The Honourable Michael Chan, Minister of Tourism and Culture! Much preparation went into this occasion. The Minister is fortunate to have a remarkable advisor helping him with coordination and details. I must say that Mr. Mukunthan Paramalingham, Director of Communications, Office of the Honourable Michael Chan is incredible at his job! Muku (as he prefers to be called), is completely thorough, responsible, knowledgeable and kind! I had pre-sent Minister Chan a list of INSIDE SCOOP questions to ponder prior to our meeting. I might be a little “thorough” myself. Some of my pre-questions had been answered through our ever changing society and its rapid media availability. Fortunately, I had time to adjust my questions, which, in the long run, turned out to be much more genuine and I hope will help give you the best INSIDE SCOOP!

A day in the life of Minister Chan usually begins at 6:15 a.m. and he doesn’t return home until 9:30-10:30 p.m. Many times, he tells us his dinner hour starts at 5:30 p.m. and goes on for a long, long time as he is often required to attend up to 4 or 5 dinners per night. He laughed when he told us one of his nicknames is “The Honourable Ministry of Food Tasting”.
(To Be Continued)