ST. JOHN'S, N.L. — Over the past several weeks, many Newfoundlanders and Labradorians have found themselves a new rockstar.
“He’s awesome,” said one supporter on a change.org petition that hoped to persuade the Liberal party to re-open nominations and put Health Minister Dr. John Haggie in the race, which he had opted out of before that process closed.
Haggie is keenly aware that certain times of turmoil can inspire patriotism, such as the COVID-19 crisis that has been compared somewhat to the tone of wartime, during which politicians can see their popularity spike if people see them as an effective leader.
And for people who have tuned into the daily COVID-19 briefing with Haggie, Premier Dwight Ball and Chief Medical Officer of Public Health Dr. Janice Fitzgerald, Haggie’s frank manner and clever turn of phrase gripped the audience early on.
It’s even spawned a new word in the vernacular of the province and indeed across the country — Haggieisms.
Thanks to @Jaimiefeener for making a meme real!! #dontlickthecarts pic.twitter.com/jgbiV1z7T2
— John Haggie (@Johnrockdoc) April 1, 2020
Dominion Memorial Market on Lake Avenue in St. John’s has even decorated cakes with Haggie’s sayings, such as “Please don’t let them lick the handle of the shopping cart,” uttered during a late March briefing in which he urged families to appoint one shopper to the grocery store a week and leave the kids at home unless they had no alternative. The gist was that if you had to take your child to the store, don’t let them lick the cart.
As soon as he said it, Jamie Feener, of the embroidery business FeenerandThread, cross-stitched the saying and presented it to him — from a social distance, of course.
Other Haggieisms include the admonition to those looking to get on dating apps — “If you use Tinder or Grindr and you swipe right, you might be getting more than you bargained for.
Another popular one: “A mask in a bank is no longer what it used to be,” said in support of people wearing masks to protect others from their sneezes and coughs.
The Haggieisms are all his, though he acknowledged borrowing the swipe right one from his comments about an increase in syphilis cases in 2016-17.
Haggie said his preference for bullet-point notes — from his days of teaching medicine — as opposed to detailed briefing notes induces a roll of the eyes from his communications director.
"I have never been called a rockstar. I have never been loved by a fan base. This is all very strange." — John Haggie
As Health Minister, Haggie knows that the days of making tough, unpopular decisions will roll around again as the province eventually grapples with the economic fallout of COVID-19 and the downturn in global oil prices.
And then the notion of being popular shall too pass.
“It certainly has been an interesting twist. I never expected that … I have never been called a rockstar. I have never been loved by a fan base. This is all very strange,” he said.
“I would be quite happy to settle for mildly loathed and regard that as a win.”
From a personal perspective, Haggie can relate to separation from family — one of his three daughters, Elizabeth, lives in Lewisporte, but his other daughters Hollie and Jennifer live in B.C. and Ontario respectively. All have children and another grandchild is on the way outside of the province.
Some of his tough-love parenting style has been revealed in the briefings.
“I tried to realize two things — they had plenty of friends. They needed a father but at the end of the day ... you’d still all be friends,” he said of setting limits during their growing up years.
Haggie grew up in post-Second World War Manchester, U.K. during a time of rebuilding from the wartime destruction, followed by a decline in the manufacturing sector.
He graduated from the University of Manchester in 1977, after having been raised by his mother Barbara in an extended family household including his uncle Glyn, who helped inspire his love of words and creative word usage. His sister, Katherine, remains in the U.K.
1. What is your full name?
John Alastair Haggie
2. Where and when were you born?
I was born in Manchester, U.K. in 1954.
3. Where do you live today?
Gander.
4. What is your favourite place in the world?
You know what, I think it’s my camper on a sunny day. (Which he may or may not get to use this summer due to the COVID-19 crisis.)
5. Who do you follow on social media?
I follow a wide group. I like to follow Susie Dent of the U.K. who writes about words people no longer use, a couple of health economists and I like following Melissa Royle Critch.
🎵 It’s the 24th of May, we won’t get to get away
— Melissa Royle Critch (@melissaroyle) March 26, 2020
We’re not out of the woods; not going out today
There’s all kinds of places but the place we likes to get
Is inside the doorway, waitin’ out Covid 🎶 https://t.co/jCXnt80A7h
6. What would people be surprised to learn about you?
I am actually very good at handcrafting ammunition. At one time, I was a competitive handgun shooter. We used to make our own competition rounds (in the U.K.) I was actually trying out as a squad member of the Welsh team for the world shoot, but then I immigrated instead.
7. What’s been your favourite year and why?
Any current year because I am alive and enjoying it.
8. What is the hardest thing you’ve ever done?
There are so many categories — work as a surgeon and raise children.
9. Can you describe one experience that changed your life?
Probably the death of my first wife, Jane in 2005.
10. What is your greatest indulgence?
Probably red wine.
11. What is your favourite movie or book?
“Shogun” by James Clavell.
12. How do you like to relax?
Reading — a mix of fiction, non-fiction, books read before and books I have never read.
13. What are you reading or watching right now?
I am actually reading Francis Fukuyama’s on “The Origins of Political Institutions.”
14. What is your greatest fear?
I honestly don’t know. If I find something that scares me, I always try and do it so I don’t get scared about it anymore.
15. How would you describe your personal fashion statement?
A product of an excellent and tasteful wife, Jeanette Augot.
16. What is your most treasured possession?
I don’t see myself as a person who gets attached to material things. I hate losing things, but I don’t covet things.
17. What physical or personality trait are you most grateful to a parent for?
I think a love of words from the man who raised me, my mom’s younger brother (Glyn). My dad died when I was very young, so I was raised by my uncle who was a young academic teacher and historian, a guy who loved words.
18. What three people would join you for your dream dinner party?
I have always been a fan of Winston Churchill. He was certainly a very good conversationalist. The other person from a history point of view and a medical point of view was Jackie Duffin, professor of medical and epistemology at Queen’s University. And Jeanette because she has a practical turn of phrase and common sense.
19. What are your best and worst qualities?
My sense of humour (for both). I think my sense of humour has been a characteristic for most of my life and it has got me as much in trouble some years as it has got me out of it.
20. What’s your biggest regret?
That I didn’t immigrate to Newfoundland and Labrador before I actually did. I should have come here sooner. I seriously really, really think I could have saved myself at least three years of misery. I have enjoyed working here so much. The contrast between the last couple of years in the U.K. and a job that wasn’t suited for me and I wasn’t suited for it ... (academic surgeon — teaching and research — of which the teaching he didn’t mind) compared with the transition to St. Anthony and then to Gander seemed a lot easier.
Twitter: @BarbSweetTweets
