Whatever you think about
California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, you have to be impressed with his political machine. The Governator ended his Toronto tour on Wednesday with everything moving according to a tightly written script. In fact, in between appearances about climate change and stem cell research, it's tough to to determine where the politics start and the show biz flash ends. The truth is, neither does.
The former actor started his day at Queen's Park, where he signed a climate change agreement with
Premier Dalton McGuinty. (See the document
here.) But there can be little doubt who the big attraction was, a fact that wasn't lost on the Liberal leader. "People who saw our picture in this morning's paper all asked the same troubling question: who's the tall skinny guy with Schwarzenegger?" he quipped. Ah-nold was ready with his own response. "When I was here the last time, I said 'I'll be back.' So I'm back," he riposted to big laughs.
Later the comedy writers were out again, when the duo toured the world famous
MaRS facility, a lab to tout the benefits of stem cell research. "Governor, you may not recognize this but this is your second trip to MaRS," McGuinty began. "The first was in that movie '
Total Recall.'" Ontario and the Golden State have agreed to help advance the research.
Then it was on to
Toronto's Economic Club, where he received an award for environmental advocacy. And the stand-up routine continued. "I've gotten a lot of trophies and medals, but this one is without any doubt the most recent," he told the amused crowd. Schwarzenegger admits being a movie star doesn't hurt his moment in the political spotlight. "Celebrity status always has big advantages if you want to go and promote something that is positive," he agrees.
The Governor left for Ottawa in the afternoon, where he met with Prime Minister Stephen Harper for - what else? - a photo op. After that, it was a private meeting where cameras weren't allowed. And you can only wonder if Schwarzenegger felt ill at ease being so far away from the very instrument of his success.
He'll head to B.C. on Thursday, one of seven places where governments have signed off on his climate change plan. And then it's back to California, after a successful visit to that other show biz capital - the one we call Hollywood North.