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the podium and tuck into lasagna and caesar salad, her left hand holding both a knife and pen for last-minute speech edits. Halfway through lunch, McKenna in- dicates it's time. She presses a napkin to her lips, grabs her speech, and awaits her introduction. The morning's miasma of conference calls and management meetings at her office, the signing of papers, questions posed and answered, the migration of file folders, the roving, half-finished conversations in hallways — "Don't forget to invite so-and-so," and "Gail, do you have a sec?" — drains away. Gail Asper is here for one reason, the only reason she goes anywhere or talks to anyone these days, including this magazine: to spread the word about, and gather remaining dollars for, the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, an architectural and cultural coup for Winnipeg and the last major unfinished business of Izzy Asper. This year, Myers Weinberg is donating conference pro- ceeds to the museum, so she's here to say thanks and point out that labour rights are human rights and deserving of space at this new institution. Three levels of government are sup- We can help extend your reach and enhance your client's success in Manitoba We work seamlessly with legal firms to serve business clients - in traditional as well as emerging industries. We can be the extension of your law firm's presence in Manitoba. Untitled-9 1 Pitblado LLP's diversified team of lawyers is committed to delivering responsive and effective results. We have the knowledge and experience to find successful solutions for a wide range of legal challenges and to address the sophisticated needs of clients across the business spectrum. We can compliment your service requirements in our province with Pitblado's trusted integrated approach. 12/13/06 12:46:15 PM porting the $265-million museum proj- ect with cash, land, and other in-kind donations, and the legislation that sanc- tions Canada's first national museum since 1967 — and the only one outside the Ottawa region — received Royal as- sent in March. But the Friends of the Canadian Museum for Human Rights and Asper, its national campaign chair- woman, are still short about $16 mil- lion in private fundraising. (The Asper Foundation gave $20 million.) Cruising into the home stretch of this seven-year relay from father to daughter, Asper is barely breaking a sweat. She's got a num- ber of generous promises outstanding and, as surely as the Golden Boy shines above Manitoba legislators, she'll col- lect. "Once I had to say no to Gail, and believe me, it wasn't an easy task," says Winnipeg mayor Sam Katz. "I didn't sleep that night." Growing up the middle child of Is- rael and Babs Asper — David is the el- dest by one-and-a-half years, Leonard is four years her junior — in Winnipeg's tony River Heights neighbourhood and whiling away summers at their Falcon Lake cottage with comics and junk food, Asper was content and comfortable. The only Jewish kid in her public school class, she was always called upon to ex- plain Hanukkah. Izzy, a tax lawyer with Pitblado Buchwald Asper, ran for leader of the provincial Liberals, in 1970, and won. But much to young Gail's disap- pointment, the nomination was held Halloween night. The Asper kids and their friends had to forego free candy to parade around the conference room, singing their dad's campaign anthem, "Let the Sunshine In," from Hair. Asper wanted to be a schoolteacher www.pitblado.com 2500 - 360 Main Street, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada R3C 4H6 Tel. (204) 956-0560 Fax (204) 957-0227 34 M AY 2008 www. C ANADIAN mag.com but dad had other plans. After gradu- ating with a BA from the University of Manitoba, he persuaded her to go to law school. Law, he told her, was a calling card: proof of tenacity and brains. "Even