Busboy: From Kitchen to Cabinet.

• Author: Levy, Gary
• Position: Parliamentary Book Shelf - Book Review

Busboy: From Kitchen to Cabinet by Don Boudria, Optimum Publishing International Inc., Montreal, Maxville, Ottawa, 2005.

For more than twenty years Don Boudria was an observer and participant in most of the political and parliamentary events of the day. By his own admission this book will likely be a disappointment to those seeking inside gossip. It also does not tell us very much about how public policy is made in Ottawa. What we do learn is about Don Boudria's life and it is an extraordinary story.

No single path is taken by the 308 men and women chosen to represent their fellow Canadians in the House of Commons. But the usual route begins in a well to do or at least a middle class family with stops at university, perhaps law school or a career in business or one of the professions. Not so for Mr. Boudria.

He came from a family of very modest means whose situation was made even more difficult when his father was killed in a car accident when Don was five years old. He dropped out of high school, joined a rock band, and eventually got a job as a busboy in the Parliamentary Restaurant.

This book traces his life from that time to his career as municipal councilor in a rural area outside of Ottawa, to a seat in the Ontario Legislature, to the House of Commons and eventually a seat in the Cabinet of Jean Chretien's Government.

A great deal of this book is devoted to his family, extended family and to the larger franco-Ontario community which he served in so many capacities and which was so supportive of him. Unlike many political memoirs he mentions and acknowledges virtually every staffer who ever worked for him in Ottawa or in the constituency office. Indeed when he defeated the Conservative incumbent to win a seat at Queen's Park one of his first acts was to rehire the incumbent's constituency assistant. His attention to those who helped him over the years explains why he enjoyed such support and rolled up so many convincing electoral victories even if people did not agree with his position on every issue.

The years at Queen's Park are treated briefly but he does mention a few important lessons that he learned, particularly about the need to represent local interests. In 1984 Don Boudria left Queen's Park to run federally and was one of only 40 Liberals elected in the Mulroney landslide. Along with Sheila Copps and John Nunziata he formed the so-called Rat Pack, a group of young Liberal members who took the lead in attacking the...