The hangar

The Telus Convention Centre, in downtown Calgary, is a vast hangar of a place, with, today, a swirling swathe of electric blue running alongside one side imprinted with the Conservative logo. It’s eerie now, still empty and with the cameras not yet rolling. Soon, as Harper’s Calgary pied-à-terre for the evening, it will either be the launching spot for a Conservative triumph—a Harper majority, a strong minority—or the place of post-disaster introspection. On one side blossoms of umbrella-like light diffusers for the TV gang; on my side, opposite the stage, print reporters checking over their copy. It’s all still too quiet.