Shaun Newman Podcast - #354 - Tom Korski 3.0

Episode Date: December 8, 2022

Tom the managing editor of Blacklock's Reporter is back. We discuss him being removed from the press gallery and where they go from here. Let me know what you think Text me 587-217-8500

I'm Alex Craneer. This is Sarah Swain. This is Terry Clark. This is Tom Corsky. I'm Trish Wood. This is Dr. Peter McCullough. Welcome to the Sean Newman podcast. Welcome to the podcast.

Happy Thursday. You know, it's funny, I started out almost every week now going, you know, I got Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday. You know, four days a week, perfect. I don't really think there's anything on Thursday that needs to be talked about. And then one of the first articles, too, sends me is a, is a, about Blacklocks, you know, Tom Korski being pulled out of the parliamentary press gallery, you know, first time in the national press, first time in history for the National Press building, you know, so there goes Blacklocks. I'm like, wow, freak, I got to reach out to Tom,

you know, like, I mean, he's, I've had him on every second week for, you know, the last month. I'm like, well, I guess fire up Thursday, you know? Like, I don't know what you guys think of this sometimes. Hit me up on the text line if you're enjoying it. I, I obvious, you know, to me, I enjoy rattling off. I never thought I'd be here at five, five times a week. I'm going to be completely frank. You know, it's, it's, we're closing in on four years, February marks four years of podcasting. And I don't know where the time went. And, you know, in the beginning, it was once a week. And I'm not saying that was difficult, but I remember once a week being, you know, kind of like, Probably when you know when you first start riding a bike, you're like, oh, man, if I could just make it like 10 feet without falling over, I'm doing good, you know.

And then you make it 10 feet, and pretty soon you're down the block and pretty soon you're cruising along. And all of a sudden, you're like, oh, I could do two, I could do three, I can do four, I can do five, you know? Like, it's this wild, wild little thing going on on this side. And I hope you're enjoying the ride. I really do. Anytime you have Tom Korski back on, I'm not going to lie. Everyone's going to enjoy this. I enjoy it thoroughly.

I got to find a way to convince Tom to do video. He's a phone guy, which is interesting. But he has the voice for it. Like, I mean, nobody's voice beats Tom's. Either way, let's get on to the tail of tape. Brought to you by Hancock Petroleum for the past 80 years. They've been an industry leader in bulk fuels, lubricants, methanol, and chemicals delivering to your farm commercial or oil field location.

For more information, visit them at Hancock, Petroleum.comptrillion. He's the managing editor for Blacklocks reporter. I'm talking about Tom Corsky. So buckle up. Here we go. This is Tom Corsky, and you're listening to the Sean Newman podcast. Welcome to the Sean Newman podcast today. I'm joined by Tom Corsky.

Tom, you're becoming a regular. And the funny thing is, is I keep getting inquirers to have you on more often, which I chuckle about, because I try and stick away from having too many recurring guests. But, geez, you seem so top. It just keeps coming up. I've never been called topical before, Sean. That's just, that's great. That's awesome.

Well, you got to, like, what is going on out there? You know, we read off the headline just a couple days ago about, well, and I'll bring people up to speed if they don't realize, and you can give the story. But the headline from you guys was parliamentary press gallery executives accompanied by armed police on Friday, evicted blacklocks from the press gallery. So I'm like, you know, me and you talked about this briefly the first time you came on and then to actually see it, I was kind of like my jaw hit the ground. And I'm like, well, I mean, and everybody's like, well, you got to get Tom back on. I'm like, I absolutely do. So what has been going on out east? Well, we have to get into court on this, Sean.

It's very important. What happened is the, exactly as it states, the executives of the press go, how are you evicted me from the national press bill. Never happened before. I'm the first. So two things happened to me that have never happened before. I was evicted, and I was called Topical. I mean, you can't beat that. And they did evict me in the company of an armed constable, which is striking.

It's as if I was the unabomber, Sean. I was an imminent threat. It's not really obvious to me what the role of the armed constable was. But they wanted me out. Why is that? Well, there was a compilation of, forgive me, trivial complaints. And I mean they were really something. Going back through the executive of the Press Gallery Association,

dating back from last May, what were the complaints? I propped open a newsroom door in breach of pandemic regulations. Guilty? That I listened to English-only audio feeds from the House of Commons. That is true. I did do that, that I called a competitor an idiot, yes. And it went on and on, these are all trivial. What this is is a classic reprisal, my opinion.

They get on our nerves and we get on their nerves and we will not stop chipping away about these press subsidies. We've been doing this for two years since Parliament approved half a billion in subsidies for government-approved press. It has to stop. It's a bad idea. And I guess that's where we are. But we feel very strongly, Sean, that this has to be litigated.

We have to get these people in the court because it has to stop. He always said when the subsidies were introduced, Minister of Heritage at the time, Pablo Rodriguez, he still ministered to this day, that no, no, this is about democracy. This is about helping media transition to the computer age. This is about promoting democracy and encouraging coverage. And we said, don't do it. To our friends, the publishers, lobbyists, and others, don't do it because it's about control.

You cannot be reliant on government, corporate welfare, and independent of government control at the same time. It's impossible. They wouldn't listen. They did it. And now we're getting down to control. So they put half a billion carrots on the table. We're the only news agency eligible for federal subsidies that will neither solicit nor accept them. We have tried to get all the information we can about the subsidies that have been sought and requested by competitors

that they will not disclose to their readers. And the culmination was this. So this is really where we stand. It was always about control. It's not enough to, frankly, pay off media that you like. media that you like. You have to punish the ones you don't like. That's the problem. It's off to court. Well, first, I, you know, I don't know, I made you laugh with topical and I'm like, geez, maybe I use that wrong. But I just so the listener is aware, topical, uh, of a subject of immediate relevance, interest, or importance.

And I was, uh, owing of, or importance owing to its relation to current events. So I was, I was, I was bang on my thought on that. So you are very topical right now. Tom, I, I, I, I, I'm struggling with this. I'm going, okay, so did the entire press gallery vote on this to have you removed just because of a couple of, like, I didn't, I didn't even know, like, what you just rattled off. I'm like, okay, like, that's what it takes to get, you know, the first time in Canadian history, this happens. Did everybody unanimously go, Tom's got to go? No, it was a meeting of the executive secret, in secret. As few as foreign members can vote on this.

There's 14 news organizations have reporters in the newsroom where I work in the National Press Building, 5th floor 150 Wellington Street and Ottawa right across the street from Parliament Hill. And 14 did not sign these complaints. Three did. it's the usual suspects. One is a freelancer, former press gallery president, two work for Canadian press. Now, I can't really fault Canadian press for not liking me or blacklocks. We reported two years ago they petitioned the Commons Finance Committee for 100% subsidies. I'm serious, Sean. They actually petition the Finance Committee for federal grants equal to 100% of their

revenue. You don't have a business anymore. You are now the official, you are Shenwa. If you take a hundred percent subsidy, you are a hundred percent reliant on the governing party. That's what they do in China. So I don't really fault Canadian press for, you know, finding that we are irritating. But this is a natural extension. Of course, this is a classic reprise Anyone who's ever had a workplace conflict in business, labor, or sports knows exactly what the name of this tune is, and it is reprisal. Get the court, Ontario Superior Court, we will file, and we're going to get some answers. We're going to find out what happened here. You know, forgive me for being, I guess, I don't know, skeptical or unnerved at the fact that you've got to take it to the courts.

I mean, obviously that a few years ago I would have been absolutely go to the courts, win a case, carry on with life and, you know, and Blacklock's has reinstated and probably everything else. But, you know, if you got some of the most powerful media in Canada that doesn't like you, Tom, and then you got a government that's funding that media, I don't mean how nervous, but are you skeptical, I guess, at all, of taking. them to court and and you know and having the outcome come where it's like no this is the most ridiculous absurd thing we've ever seen well let's find out maybe it's a lost cause sean maybe you're right but i say let's find out because otherwise you'd never leave the house in the morning it's it's not a certainty it's not a hundred percent i don't think these people are that hot i'm going to be frank i don't think they really thought that through, I don't think they know what they're doing, but we're going to find out. But if we're now

going to live in a system where you can have four subsidized employees of government-approved media that are going to meet in a secret conference and vote to evict someone like me who's worked in newsroom since I was a schoolboy, this is my 41st winter, then we're going to get that on the record, Sean, and we're going to tell the world. And whatever people think of the mainstream media today, they're going to know even more after we're done. It's not merely about saying, well, we don't have a choice, you know, poor pitiful me. I don't feel that way at all. I think we have this nailed because there's something wrong. Who are these people to decide if we get to report on news for our readers? Who are they?

What does it matter to them? If we get on your nerves, you know what the solution is? I once had this conversation with a member of the Alberta legislatures. We were walking down the steps of the legislature in years past, Sean, you and I've talked about old times. And he said, I don't like your story. I don't like this story and I don't like that story. MLA Sheldon Schumer, liberal MLA from Calgary since crossed the river. He passed away a few years ago.

He said, Shelly, then you don't have to read it. So that's a good deal. If you don't like it, don't read it. Oh, but you don't want anyone else to read it. That is a problem. That's where we are. Yeah, but that's a problem, Tom, that's across the board right now, not just in what you're facing, but, you know,

I feel like that's, forgive me for trying to spit it out here this morning, but I feel like that's a problem that is a cross-exam. the board and people on a certain side don't want free speech, don't want the ability to talk openly about things and certainly don't want other people hearing that and being influenced by it. And that's a scary thing. Yeah, but we don't have to put up with that, Sean. They don't get to set all the rules all the time. It just doesn't work that way. If that was the case, there would be no independent. There wouldn't be a Sean Newman podcast.

Why wouldn't we just listen to, you know, they're subsidized radio. Why don't we just listen to them? Because we don't live in that kind of country. There's ebb and flow. And of course there's turmoil, conflict, dissent. I thought that was the whole point. Maybe I'm wrong. I don't think so.

But I thought that was the whole point. More voices, all the better. Come one, come all. If you have conflict and dissent, geez, that's too. bad. But that's the whole point. That's what makes us all better. It's feet, get out sharp elbows. If you have to get a, you know, have a little back and forth in the corners, that's where we are. But we can't have the right kind of people who work for the right kind of people deciding what the rest of us are going to do. Why would we put up with that?

And if that's what they want, then they're going to have to spell it out. I'm not going to help them. Well, I'm going to be fascinated to see where it goes, because I agree with everything you just said. And I'm happy to hear that you're confident. That's what I take from it, Tom, that you're on, well, and I mean, why wouldn't you be? I'm confident for you as well. I just go, the last couple of years have really beat a guy down, so to speak, you know? In saying that, I feel like I'm kind of regurgitating the same thing I said in the first one. You know, the rise of independent media and different outlets and different podcasts and different shows all on the rise, you know, it might be something like this that has the opposite effect

for them. And what I mean by that is, is, you know, the intended consequence is to have you never been there ever again, right? We don't want to tell them, oh, we got them out, right? Instead, by being the first time in Canadian history, it's kind of put your name all over the place, I can imagine, as if it wasn't there already. But if it wasn't, now it certainly is. And as time goes on, and I assume you will be on the right side of this, I assume the court system will do the right thing, that will only push you higher up. and in fairness, I think, have the absolute opposite of what they wanted by having you back in there,

and on top of it, making them look like utter fools. Well, who can predict the future? I say sometimes you have to, you know, you have to stand where you stand, right? You say, this is who we are, this is what we'll do. I can't predict the future. I agree with you. but I know one thing for sure. The future is not a handful of people meeting in secret to decide that they will expel

or take other punitive measures against unapproved, unsubsidized media. Whatever the future holds in this beautiful country, it's not bad. I think the future is exactly what you said. You and I've talked about it. It's not even unique, Sean. It's happened in years past. You will have a landscape of media that is unbelievably rich and varied. There will be a bunch of, we call ourselves, proudly, niche media covering specific fields of interest

with people who share those interests. And it will be unsubsidized. Meet community standards, libel law, criminal code. Yes, yes, yes, we have all that. That's enough. There's no new layer of approved thinking of government. What is the official designation they use? It's absolutely priceless.

The Canada Revenue Agency. Qualified Canadian journalism organization, whether you are a qualified QC.JO. A list of QCJO media approved by the Minister of Revenue. you get the special treatment and to hell with everyone else. I'm almost certain that's not the future. But let's ask a judge to decide. Find out.

You know, that example, though, right there, Tom, I think a lot of people, if you rewind that and just think about that and apply it to the world, not just media. And what I'm pointing out is, you know, a group of people do not get to sit in a closed door meeting and decide what happens in the world. We have our say. That right there, I'm like, ooh, that is, you can apply that to a lot of different places, not just what's happening to black locks. You can apply that to a lot of different things. And honestly, that's pretty damn optimistic in my, my humble opinion. Well, it's, I agree with you. And I think that's where we're

headed. But, you know, we have some people say, well, are you getting any support? You know, of 400 members in the parliamentary press guy. Are you getting any support from any? Oh, we say, sure. Sure, we have a handful of friends. They tend to be fellow independent. You never guess what. Not all of them.

They tend to be fellow independents. But I say to people, it's not that the majority of the membership of this mainstream media organization are malicious or vindictive. They're just scared, Sean. they just go through their workday, petrified, that they're about to get a layoff notice. And guess what? That's an entirely rational fear. When you have some of the financial reports that have come out of these media organizations

and you see their insistence on lavish subsidies, and I mean millions, it is staggering, the sums that go into some of these companies. and they just live week to week in fear. Please don't let it be me. Oh, heaven's not before Christmas. What about the kids? That's where they are. And when you have that kind of atmosphere, that's weakness.

That's lack of positive outlook. That's a complete absence of faith or self-confidence or even self-awareness. This is where you get small groups of people meeting in secret to make decisions. decisions without scrutiny, accountability, or consequences. And we say, let's bring on scrutiny, accountability, and consequences. You will ask and you will answer for what you have done and what you think you intend to do. And we're going to put that, we're going to tell the world we'll let people decide what they want. Yeah, I think you raise a good point there, Tom. You know, when it comes to the individuals, even of, you know, they ask about supporters,

the independents have a little bit of the ability to support openly because they're independent. If you're working for a giant media corp that is funded by the government, layoffs is a natural fear, but sticking your head up, we all know this. We just went through it. if you stick your head up, then you're almost certain of reprisal. You're certain of your giant company saying, we had to let go on anyways.

Miles will be you because you're getting out of line. I mean, we've seen this game played out over the, listen, the last two years across a lot of different jobs and different areas of expertise. The people who have spoke out have had to. Their heads, you know, not literally, but taken off. So for me, that makes complete sense that out of the 400 members, you might have more support than you think. But nobody's going to voice it, because if they do, we all know what happens to them. And that's the world we currently live in.

And that in itself needs to change. It may. It may well be. I don't disagree with what you just said. The only thing I would say is I don't think that to. do that makes you or me or anyone uniquely courageous or brave. There's millions of people like that in our country, small business people. They're the largest employers in the country. Cattlemen, farmers, restaurateurs, retailers, little shopkeepers, 1.2 million of them. They employ two-thirds of

the payroll, the national payroll. Those are people who don't like taking order. and they'll work a 70-hour week, 52 weeks a year to make the point. Are they uniquely brave? Well, sure they are. But if it happens enough times, a million point two times, you have to say, well, that's sort of a human condition. I guess there's people who aren't interested in taking orders, that they have a different idea, they have a different view of what they would like to do, and where they see themselves in their community and their country. That's the point. But imagine, Imagine. This is the problem with the subsidies. But they went to you, and everyone remembers Eaton's.

You know, when Eaton's failed, oh, the humanity. I remember I happened to be walking down Youngstreet in Toronto. The day that Eaton filed as insolvent, and I ran across a cameraman, ironically outside Eaton Center, I was coming out of a subway station in Toronto. And I said, I have a long time to see what he up to. And he said, oh, you know, he said, we're doing, you know, we're doing street interviews. with people about the closure of Eatans. It's so sad. He said, I said, oh, yeah, when's the last time you shop there? Long pause. Anyway, this is what government involvement in the newsroom is, that they were going to keep financing Eatans, whether you wanted to go there and buy a snowblower or mixing bowl for Grandma or not. You were going to pay for it. How berserk would that be? That's what they've done with media. It's unsustainable, Sean. These people are failing in the marketplace, and they don't have the wherewithal to turn it around. And they can punish the rest of us if they want to, but not for long.

I want to, you know, with the few minutes I have left with you, Tom. And I always appreciate you giving me some time because I find your insights very thoughtful, maybe even well balanced and probably some other terms. I'm curious, I'm going to lean on some of your history. You know, you've been, you always mentioned 41 years of being in media and covering the beat and everything else. the bank of Canda raised its pulse rate

by 50 basis points again today. 4.25% is what it's at. And I'm curious, you know, over the course this going up isn't something new. I mean, it's new right now. But I'm curious for the average Canadian,

you know, when you lean back on your view, your lifetime, what do you see coming as we close in on Christmas and everything else, as things become more and more expensive. And it's already been a couple of tough years with the COVID and everything else. Oh, recession. I mean, and there have been others say that the former bank of Canada governor, David Dodge, testified that Senate committee.

Anyone who follows this was, I mean, they're choking the economy. They say they don't have a choice. They have to get those inflation numbers down. It's going to be brutal. Recessions always are. And so you're going to have no growth and rising costs. So you're going to get it coming and going. And it does focus the mind.

I mean, when you see a $5 chicken breast in a grocery store, $5. And our children are older now. Everyone personalizes this. People with growing families where you have kids eating 4,000 calories a day, God bless you if you have a hockey player in the family. You know, this is getting expensive. So there's no doubt there's going to be a recession. It's going to be a long winter.

The problem is, and there was, interestingly, a senator on the Senate Banking Committee from Quebec, Senator Gignolle, and he was a former economist for the National Bank. And he said, it seemed like a very bitter remark, but I don't think he meant it that way. He said, you know, anyone who took the Bank of Canada's advice over the last two years just got clobbered, and they did. You remember the Bank of Canada? They wouldn't stop talking, Sean. And they said, interest rates are going to remain at historic lows for a long time. Well, that would encourage people to go out by house, get a variable rate mortgage.

And then the Bank of Canada said, so help me, you can take this to the bank. inflation will remain low. We've documented the number of times Bank of Canada said that, and that was 100% wrong. If you made life decisions on the basis of what you were told by your government, you are going to have a very, very long and difficult winter. I can say only this, and there are other people who have their own stories. There's lots of us who remember the summer of 1981, my goodness, it was really something. People get through this. There's going to be some casualties.

At the end of the day, you become philosophical, and you say it's only money, but we're going to get through. But it's not going to be pretty. And the government poorly served, people who probably could have used some good advice. You know, when certain politicians say the Bank of Canada, a governor ought to be fired. And oh, oh, oh, tut, it looks like,

like rain and the officialdom in Ottawa is just absolutely appalled. How dare you, sir? How dare you? Look at, if Prince Andrew can get fired, the governor of the bank of Canada can be fired, that's a public agency and they badly, badly serve. There are customers who are the taxpayers who pay for them. They gave some really bad advice. It's going to hurt, Sean. So is that in your eyes ineptitude? Or they completely understand what is coming? but they want to keep the masses calm and cool and collected, and so they give them bad information. Absolutely.

Got to go with incompetence on this one. I think, in the words of the old judge never ascribed to maliciousness, that which is merely incompetent. Former Bank Governor David Dodge had a very compelling testimony in the Senate committee. He said, you know, they wouldn't stop talking. He said, I don't know why they wouldn't, you know, he didn't put it. impolitely, he's like, shut up. He said, he didn't understand.

The bank wouldn't stop talking. They kept offering forecasts and witty opinions and giving, you know, lively interviews with their favorite media friends and offering this really horrible, horrible, incorrect advice. And Dodge, who's an old timer, goes back to the nut, he says, I'm not getting it. Like, just shut up, right? Just do your job. A virtue is his own reward. Let the people see how competent you are by the deeds you do, not how much you're jabbering. And the bank just would not.

They just wouldn't stop talking. And unfortunately for them, you know, there's a great story. Michael Wilson, former Mulroney Finance Minister, his memoirs were published posthumously. He's passed away now. Hilarious, and he was not a funny guy. hilarious anecdote, the closest thing to humor from Michael Wilson, he had been an investment banker with Dominion Securities in the old days, became finance minister. And he recounted in his book about the first meeting I had with the governor of the bank account of how exciting he was.

And it was Gerald Bowie in the day. And Minister Wilson said, I went into this meeting and I had all these questions. My 30 years in securities, I couldn't wait to finally ask the big brain at the Bank of Canada. He said every question I asked, the response was, well, it could be this, but on the other hand, maybe that. Be tomato, perhaps tomato. Wilson walks out, he says, you know what, for all those years, we assume this was the big machine. And I just discovered the governor of the Bank of Canada has no more brains than the guy who is sitting at the desk next to me trading bonds of Dominion securities. That's the point. Well, Tom, I appreciate you always being so courteous with your time and giving me some of it.

I know I've certainly enjoyed, I certainly have enjoyed talking to you yet again. And I know the audience loves having you back out this way. And by this way, I mean out west. Anytime we get you on, you just enlighten us all so much. Before I let you off, you know, I didn't do it the last. time. And I was thinking, I got a, I got a, you know, I'm going to have to work on this for 2023, I think. But we'll do the crude master final question here. Just a nice, quick, uh, easy one, I think. And I'm essentially, I'm curious what you're, uh, hopeful for in

2023, you know, we're closing out 2022. It's ending in an interesting way for you. What is your hope, uh, you know, in the new year? Funny. Well, of course, who doesn't hope for peace, but it's Funny, you know, Christmas for me is about the family, and it's about the kids who are grown now. And you wish the best for your kids want to help them through their problems, their challenges and adventures as they set out in life as we did once. And that's all I can wish for our family, your family, and everyone, Sean, peace of mind. and some happiness. You're very gracious in your remarks, thank you. You know, I got to ask, you know, 41 years in,

and I go, has the adventure ever been dull? You got to like what you do. And if you like what you do, you're the luckiest person on earth. When I was a schoolboy, I just wanted to be a, we called them newsmen in those days, there were no women who worked in those rooms. That's all I wanted to do. that's what I got to do.

How fantastic is that? We always say it is like farming. It makes no economic sense, unless you like it. And then it makes all the sense in the world. Well, Tom, I appreciate you again, giving me some time. You know, I would say I won't talk to you for another six weeks. But at this point, who knows, once again, until we talk next, appreciate you giving me some time again this morning.

Have a great day. And if nothing else, we don't talk for some time. Merry Christmas to you. A very happy Christmas to you. Thank you, Sean.