July is a big month for Ottawa barkeepers as it marks the first time the entire NDP caucus will legally drink in Ontario.
The 2011 federal election, which swept progressive teenagers out of their Glee clubs and parents’ basements, and into the official opposition produced the youngest caucus on record. As a result, post-caucus meeting drinks would have to be consumed in another province.
Drinking in Hull was a culture shock for the NDP’s older MPs, who are used to drinking at the Brixton’s Pub in Ottawa. ”Hull is rife with first year college students enjoying the lower drinking age,” complained Nathan Cullen, the 41-year old MP for Skeena—Bulkley Valley. “If I have to hear about self-actualization or backpacking through Europe one more time, I’m defecting to the Liberals.”
But all of that will change in August, when the last party member reaches the big one-nine. To ingratiate itself with local business owners and make up for lost time, Thomas Mulcair will be taking his caucus on a week-long pub crawl. “We’re going to go to every bar or LCBO where one of our MPs has been carded and show them that we’re now legal, we’re here for them, and we care about the local economy,” proclaimed Nycole Turmel, the party’s whip.
This is also an exciting occasion for the NDP’s young québécois MPs. “Back home, the legal drinking age is 18 but in practice it’s more like 7,” said Pierre-Luc Dusseault, the MP for Sherbrooke. “When I was first elected and came to Ottawa, I was shocked to be carded at bars. This will be my first time drinking in Ontario.”
In honour of this momentous event, the Brixton plans to introduce a new drink combining Pabst Blue Ribbon and Fanta that will be served in a mason jar. “It’s fresh, it’s radical, it’s subsidized by people who can afford bar snacks,” said bar owner Andy Collins. “I’m going to call it the Orange Wave.”
