Provincial Immigration Minister Gerry Byrne was recently reunited with an old friend.
Byrne’s political career began when he was elected to the House of Commons in a by-election back in 1996 under former Prime Minister Jean Chrétien.
Byrne was re-united with the former PM during Chrétien’s recent visit to the province, and even got the so-called “Shawinigan handshake.”
Byrne says he and Chrétien got together for lunch and reminisced about their time in cabinet together.
Chrétien famously intervened, performing a chokehold on a demonstrator who got too close during a public event in Gatineau in February of 1996. The move became known as the “Shawinigan handshake” referencing Chrétien’s hometown of Shawinigan, Quebec.
My encounter took a different tone. I got the Shawinigan handshake! pic.twitter.com/ED89IsRUYz
— Gerry Byrne (@Gerry_Byrne) March 28, 2022