Inside Vancouver
Majordomo Nation
By Jesse Spencer published Apr 1, 2008
Butlers, those discreet keepers of regal mansions and family secrets, dress impeccably and speak with proper British accents. They have names like Jeeves and Benson, and in movies they're played by actors like Anthony Hopkins and John Gielgud. That's why "Canadian butler" seems-like "Saudi defenceman" or "Moroccan lumberjack"- an oxymoron.
Things are changing. Beginning in April, at the Galiano Inn in the Gulf Islands, a dozen carefully screened aspirants will spend six intensive weeks learning how to butle (if only it were a verb). "They'll be instructed by Olivier Lepetit," says Linda Samis, the spike-haired, 57-year-old Energizer bunny behind Butlers of Canada. "Olivier has worked all over the world, for the emir of Qatar, Sting, the Flick family [heirs to the Mercedes-Benz fortune] in Germany, the Arnault family in France, and British royals. He lives in Paris with his wife and four-year-old son. It says a lot that he's willing to come to Galiano Island to train the candidates we've accepted into the program."
