I guess he trying to look like a common guy. Before the age of 11, his schooling was whatever was offer at the embassies his father was in charge of. It was his mother’s connections, who is a Grant, and her father who was the principle at Upper Canada College. Nice elite connections in his whole life.

“Born here. Educated here. Had a publicly-funded education here that gave me my start.”

I guess what he means a publicly funded education is attending the University of Toronto.  I bet if he was questioned about it, he would tell the reporter he meant the University of Toronto, and not Upper Canada College. Talk about splitting hairs.

Iggy’s not alone in concealing his private school educational history. Toronto French School headmaster John Godfrey flounts his UCC connection, but others hide it well.(Galen Weston, Jr, John Stackhouse, Rocco Rossi, Duff Conacher, and many others). They have learned, I think, that it arouses incredible resentment among certain people. Rick Salutin is a prime example of this attitude.

When I lived in Quebec, I was startled to discover that Quebec fancophones have no such hang-ups. Even the Parti Quebecois leaders broadcast their afiliation with the private colleges. It’s still an incredibly elite-driven society.

Iggy’s biggest problem is that he is simply not comfortable in his own skin. His autobiographical books are part of his obsessive attempt to come to terms with all the contradictions in his life.  The Russian Album is my favourite because it reveals much about his Csarist tendencies.

He’d do better by acting like the “public intellectual” he really is. The pollsters and handlers are trying to remould him and it’s patently obvious to anyone who knew him before the makeover.

When I see Galen Jr acting like a “common man” in those Loblaw commercials, I do wonder if it is possible to pull the same trick in politics.