Leslie, born and raised in Kirkland Lake, Ontario—“I’m not from
Upper Canada, I’m from Rupert’s Land,” she explains—has been a
Halifax resident for seven years, travelling to the province to study
law at Dalhousie and having every intention of only staying for the
three years of school. Though she found at the end of law school she
didn’t have a job, she still decided to stay in Halifax, having fallen
in love with the city. Before becoming the NDP Member of Parliament for
Halifax last fall, she worked as a community legal worker at Dalhousie
Legal Aid. Recently she was voted Best Rookie MP by a poll of her
parliamentary peers in MacLeans magazine.
The Coast: How are you enjoying being in Ottawa?
Megan Leslie: If you’re asking me about the city, I have no
idea. I really just work here. I know how to get from my apartment to
the House of Commons and a few restaurants around the Hill. But I’m
very much enjoying the work. I’m very much enjoying speaking out about
issues and speaking out about Halifax. It’s a very strange schedule,
usually Monday to Friday (in) Ottawa, and Friday afternoon I head back
to Halifax to spend the weekends. It’s intense, but if I don’t go home,
how can I represent? What good am I?
TC: In the years that you’ve lived here, what have you
enjoyed most in the summer?
ML: Well, I’m really looking forward to this summer, because
I’ll be in Halifax. I can’t friggin’ wait. One of the highlights of the
summer is the Multicultural Festival. I love going to it. I spend two
or three days there, sitting and watching all the acts that come on.
And you can look out over the harbour and watch the changing skies. And
not that I’m all festival-based all the time, but I really do enjoy the
Jazzfest. There are two main reasons I enjoy it, one, it’s right in the
centre of the city and during the day it’s free. So, anybody can go.
It’s not this elitist event, it’s not “oh, I didn’t get my ticket,”
it’s free every single day. It really democratizes art in our
community. And the second reason is that, yes, it brings in acts from
outside the city that we wouldn’t normally get to see in Halifax, but
also, it allows local artists get to perform with these national or
international acts. You see somebody come from another province and
their backup band is all folks from Halifax. You recognize them. I
don’t get to participate in that sharing of skills or sharing of ideas,
but I get excited watching them.
If we’re looking at not festival-wise, I love how Halifax is this
city, we have our own symphony, we have the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia,
we have great musical shows that come in. Great local theatre and local
bands. It’s very urban, and I love that about it, but I love that in a
heartbeat you can bike to Chocolate Lake, or you’re in Crystal Crescent
or in Lawrencetown. It’s so nice to have water and places to kayak,
everything’s so accessible. That’s exactly why I didn’t leave.
I grew up in a small town, and it’s very remote. I did my
undergraduate degree in Toronto, and it’s very urban. In Toronto you’re
trapped. It takes you four hours to get out of the city. Halifax is the
perfect balance of the things that I like, nature and yet having access
to the urban stuff.
TC: With the Multicultural Fest at the end of June, will you
be done your time in Ottawa by then?
ML: The house rises on the 23rd of June but I will be home on
the weekend. I already know what I’ll have (at the Multicultural Fest).
From the Portuguese barbeque I’m going to have one of their sardines.
From the Korean place I’m going to have bi bim bop. And from one of the
Indian places I’m going to have one of those wonderfully spiced
pancakes, I don’t know what they’re called.
This article appears in Jun 18-24, 2009.