Shediac Ridge — Almost one week after his whimsical weekend wedding in St. Andrews, New Brunswick Premier Brian Gallant is refusing to answer questions on the future of New Brunswick children.
Ever since the moment he was legally married, Premier Gallant has been dodging repeated questions from his relatives about when he and his partner, Karine Lavoie, will have children.
At a scrum with relatives in Shediac Ridge on Wednesday, Gallant repeatedly rebuffed questioning from inquisitive kin. “Come on guys,” he chuckled uncomfortably, glancing sideways at his uneasy bride. “The honeymoon isn’t even over yet. There’s plenty of time for that. We aren’t in any rush.”
“So, you aren’t having kids, then?” concluded one distant cousin. “Doesn’t she like kids? Does she not see herself as a mother? What’s the story there, Brian?”
“I’m right here,” said Lavoie, giving her new husband a wide-eyed what-the-hell stare.
“Oh that’s OK honey, I was talking to Brian,” responded the cousin. To Gallant, she said, “So, you haven’t talked about it then. You’d think that’s something you’d talk about before you got married. But whatever.”
Gallant’s Acadian father is the youngest of 7 children and his mother is one of 17 children born to Dutch immigrants. With so many aunts, uncles and cousins in New Brunswick, the premier has a large extended family interested in the personal life of their notable relative.
“My husband and I have been married longer, and we have been talking about kids,” said a different cousin on the mother’s side. “Karine better think twice if she thinks she’s going first, it’s my turn next!
“Not that it’s a competition of course.”