THE CANADIAN PRESS
REGINA - It seems being a premier does not spare you from the occasional flight from problems while travelling.
Four provincial leaders battled bad weather, delays and cancelled flights en route to this week's premiers' conference in Regina, and three of them lost their luggage.
Nova Scotia's Darrell Dexter says things started going awry when he landed in Toronto in a storm, and waited three hours to get off the plane.
"We sat on the tarmac for about three hours, waiting for a gate to be available," Dexter recalled with a chuckle.
"Once we got into the airport, many of the flights were being cancelled ... we were trying to find an alternate way to get here."
With another few hours to spare, Dexter headed for the airline lounge, where he had company in the form of Ontario's Dalton McGuinty, New Brunswick's Shawn Graham and Prince Edward Island's Robert Ghiz.
"It was great for me. It was an opportunity for me to get to know my fellow premiers in an informal setting."
Midnight came and went. An hour later, the premiers and many other stressed passengers were on a flight to the Saskatchewan capital. At about four o'clock in the morning, they landed safe and sound. But all the premiers except McGuinty were without their luggage.
During a news conference, Graham joked with reporters that he expects the premiers to make a statement about the U.S. "Buy American" policy on Friday - "just at the same time when my luggage arrives."
Dexter, who was still awaiting his luggage Thursday evening, did what he had to.
"I decided the only thing I could do was to contribute to the economy of Saskatchewan. So I went out and had to buy new clothes."
20:29ET 06-08-09
