The Agenda with Steve Paikin (Audio) - Valerie Pringle Signs Off After Five Decades in Journalism

Episode Date: April 4, 2025

For five decades, she has been one of the most recognizable faces on Canadian television. Over that time, she has hosted some of the most iconic programs: Midday, Canada AM, Antiques Roadshow, and the Olympic Games. But having just done her final interview on the PBS show "Canada Files," Valerie Pringle has decided the time has come to put the cameras and microphones away. And she joins Steve Paikin to talk about her career in broadcasting. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Renew your 2.0 TVO with more thought-provoking documentaries, insightful current affairs coverage, and fun programs and learning experiences for kids. Regular contributions from people like you help us make a difference in the lives of Ontarians of all ages. Visit tvo.me slash 2025 donate to renew your support or make a first-time donation and continue to discover your 2.0 TBO. For five decades, she has been one of the most recognizable faces on Canadian television. Over that time, she has hosted some of the most iconic programs. Midday, Canada AM, Antiques Roadshow, and the Olympic Games. But having just done her final interview

on the PBS show Canada Files, Valerie Pringle has decided the time has come to put the cameras and microphones away. And she joins us now to talk about quite the career in broadcasting. Welcome, great to see you again. So nice to see you. These are weird things, Steve.

It is weird, eh? Not asking the questions? Table's turned. Well, get used to it. It's gonna. Not asking the questions? Tables turned. Well, get used to it. It's going to be this way for the next 20-odd minutes or so. How does a kid from Windsor, Ontario decide she wants to be a journalist?

Well, I was from Windsor, Ontario, but I left there as a baby, really. My dad was working for the Ford Motor Company. Came back to Toronto. So I grew up in Toronto. And my guidance counselor, I was at a girls' school, Bishop's Drawing School, ready to go off to university.

My maiden name was Whittingham, so I was late in the alphabet, probably didn't get to see him until March. And asked me, and I so give him credit, Charlie Hawks, what are you interested in? And no one had ever asked me that question before. And I actually had an answer, which was, I love news and current affairs shows. At that point, This Hour Has Seven Days was on CBC. I go back that far. And he said, well, you should go to Ryerson.

You should maybe look into studying journalism or radio and television arts. And I went from going, oh, I guess I'll follow my brother and sister to, you know, Trinity College or something. And I went, let's go down to Ryerson. And that was the first time that occurred to you? First time that occurred to me. Then I was signed up and I thought, what am I doing here?

All these class clowns and people who had made films, and I thought, well, I'm a good student. Maybe I could be a producer, whatever that is, or maybe I could be a researcher. I thought I could do that. I didn't think I'd be on air until a job came up at CFRB radio. Hold that thought for a second.

I'm going to get to CFRB. Did you have, at that time in high school, the same kind of effervescent, ebullient, outgoing, inquisitive personality you have now? Well, thank you. Well, I was the editor of the magazine, the school magazine. I was head of the debating club. So it sounds like, yes.

Those were things that were of interest to me. Yeah, absolutely So what they now call news talk 1010, but back in the day we called CFRB. That was your first gig Yes, what would you do? I was a good news reporter and they hired every summer eight kids from you know universities and colleges to do little one-minute reports that came on after the news and You know, this is the bad news essentially and this is the good news. It was a wonderful program and, you know, I had no knowledge or interest particularly in radio, but I was damned if I wasn't going to get that job.

And I went after the news director, the nicest man in the world named Don Johnson. I would find ways to just— it was on my way to school that I would wave at him. I'd see him at his office. I door-stopped him a couple of times, and I got the job. Persistence, I'm always telling my kids, be enthusiastic, be persistent, and I sure was. How old were you when you got that job?

I was 19. And what name were you at that point? I was Valerie Whittingham from Ryerson. Valerie Whittingham, okay, very good. And I got married right after that. I was married at 20. You married Anne? On my graduation day from Ryerson, I know, I know.

It sounds Appalachian. You've been Valerie Pringle for how many years? Oh, we were 50 years last year coming up to 51. O-M-G. I know. Wow, you still like him? Yeah, he's wonderful. He's okay?

I know, Andy's amazing and he's really made my life a lot more interesting for sure. Isn't that a wonderful thing to be able to say about that? Okay, isn't that wonderful? Okay, people of a certain generation are going to remember this. You are one of the founding co-hosts of Midday on CBC. Sheldon, roll it if you would.

Good afternoon. This is Midday for Monday, January 7th. In Geneva, the superpowers are face to face in new arms talks. In 10 minutes, two experts on the issues and what this country has at stake. In Vancouver, one of the luckiest men you'll ever meet, a climber who fell off a mountain at 20,000 feet. In business, the changing profile of the Canadian consumer and how it affects us. In entertainment, the triple-barreled return

of Patrick Watson. These stories and more in 10 minutes. We take you first to the midday news. Oh, that was episode one with Bill Cameron. Oh, my gosh. The late great. He was the late great, and he was, you know, a Mount Rushmore broadcasting and such a great writer

and such a precise guy. And I was given, when they created Midday, Bill Cameron half the time and Keith Morrison half the time. I mean, honest to Pete. Well, speaking of which, hang on. Look what I just so happen to have here. I know, sweet Keith, there he is. Look at you and Keith Morrison.

Oh my gosh, are you two yummy together or what? Well, they were really extraordinary teachers for me to sort of how to learn. Because I come from radio. I spent nine years at CFRB radio working with Andy Berry, working with Gordon Sinclair, working with Betty Kennedy. I mean, I feel like I knew Edward R. Murrow personally. You did not know Edward R. Murrow. I go back that far though. I mean, honestly, Edward R. Murrow personally. You did not know Edward R. Murrow. I'd go back that far, though.

I mean, honestly, the Patriot of the Constitution, 82, they sent Gordon Sinclair, who was 82, and me. And I was 28 to cover that. So many days, you're like 30, 31 years old, something like that? I guess I was. I had two kids at that point. But going to TV was a whole different canvas, and it was national and just a whole new scope.

Steve, I met you there at the CBC. We worked together. It was, with pictures. It was wonderful. Because I filled in for Ralph Ben-Murgy, I think, once. Yes, you did. So you and I co-hosted Midday once upon a time. That was ages ago.

Well, it was memorable. Nice of you to say. You were awesome. I'm not surprised TVO stole you when you've had an unbelievable career. Midday had a great sense of the country. I always likened it to a sort of a Morningside Zosky kind of thing. And you guys went everywhere. It was a sweet show. You really traveled everywhere. Oh, to the Arctic and to the Yukon.

So, Valerie, give us the dirt here. Who was your favorite co-host? Wow, because I had Peter Downey. Peter Downey was hilarious. Peter Downey and I would Weep with laughter Ralph Ben-Murray was awesome, and I even worked with Kevin Newman briefly at the end just before I moved to Canada am and Oh, man, that was a sweet show. But nine years and I was ready for a change. I really was ready to go to live. And that picture of Keith Morrison

was actually one they took for CTV. And he'd come back to Canada from working in Los Angeles. And so he liked working with me, I guess. So he said, get me. And I was scared. I've been scared every job I've taken. I've been terrified. Sure doesn't show.

You sort of leap into it. And I've obviously loved every job. I cry whenever I leave a job, and then I'm scared what I'm going to do. But going to Canada M was great. The hours were nutty, but it was energized, and it was more newsworthy and you're in people's homes in a different way than midday was.

So yeah, that was a great experience too for nine years. Then it was time to change that. What time did you get up in the morning for Canada AM? I got up around four. I had three kids. Fairly outrageous. Well, it is. People would say, are you a morning person?

I think they said, that's not morning. And it required a lot of discipline. I had kids, and you have to have your nap. And it was like Groundhog Day, because do your show, and I'd come home, and I'd have a nap, and I'd get up. And then they'd start sending interviews again. But I'd do them on the phone that time. You just sort of never stop doing interviews.

And I'd go to bed often before my children. But it was a good show. Did you think when you were at CBC doing Midday that you would probably be a CBC lifer? No, I didn't have a sense of that particularly. I mean, I loved being there. Barbara Frum was a huge hero. I remember interviewing her and it actually ended up being not long before she died. And I remember asking what she'd listened to when she interviewed people.

And she had this line. She said, I'm listening for the ring of truth. You know, a line. And you know that, Steve. Every once in a while, through all the blah, blah, blah, you hear somebody says something, and like the hairs stand up on the back of your neck. You go, that's so true. That's real.

I believe it. Those moments of authenticity. And boy, she was great. I thought she was fabulous. I was real. I believe it was. Those moments of authenticity. Yes. And boy, she was great. I thought she was fabulous. I was lucky. I worked with Brian Williams. I worked with Mansbridge. I mean, these are real legends of Canadian broadcasting.

When you left CBC and you went to CTV for Canada AM, did you notice, this is from public broadcasting to private broadcasting, was there a significant change in culture from one place to the other? You know, I wouldn't say massively, no. Because Canada AM was really committed to news. There was a budget attached to it. The hard news was covered.

They took great pride. CTV News, which, you know, was Lloyd Robertson's stuff at the time. I mean, I think at that point it was, and it was still a big, powerful, decently financed network. So yeah, I think all those things were taken very seriously. And then I had the opportunity to do Olympics and space launches and go to the Oscars. And we traveled with that show a little bit too. So yeah, royal wedding, royal funeral, all that stuff.

Yeah, I know. They had budgets in those days, eh? Yeah, I know. They had budgets in those days. Well, I laughed because you say that. When I got to CBC, it was before a big, just after a big round of cuts had come. And I think I was in the friendly giant's dressing room and friendly friendly wasn't there anymore. But, you know, they'd say to me, oh, in the days of like the journal or money. And also when I got to Cannes d'Ame, they went in the old days we'd fly to London for an Olympic announcement but those

things didn't happen I seem to always get there just after the budget cuts but compared to now it looks you know ridiculously you know flush yeah do you ever estimate how many interviews do you think you've done over the years? Geez no I never have you should probably do that I don't know it would be tens of thousands for sure. And it's funny, you run into people who say, oh, you interviewed me. And you have no memory of it. No, no. I mean, I was interviewing people, well, it's, you know, 50 plus years, really.

Back on radio, so many. And then, because I did a nightly interview show, I replaced Andy Barry. He was a mentor of mine. Andy Berry was amazingly important in my career. So, and then all those interviews, most of those ones you saw in midday, the opening, most of those interviews we were doing, Patrick Watson, I think I had three minutes. Boom. Any favorites?

Yeah, there are lots of favorites. Robin Williams was one I remember. I'd seen him on TV so many times that he was always doing shtick, and you want him to be funny. This was for Good Morning Vietnam, so it was a long time ago. But he also then would be very serious

talking about, you know, drugs or a little bit, I think, touching on, you know, mental illness and stuff. I remember it having just this perfect wave of being hysterically funny and weeping with laughter, with moments of sort of seriousness and poignancy. And that was perfect. Oscar Peterson I adored, interviewed him many times. I remember him when I asked him about the best song he'd ever written, or piece of music. And I thought he'd say him to freedom, which was a civil rights anthem.

And this was after he'd had a stroke. And he said, haven't written it yet. Oh, what a great line. I love that it is a great line. And Oprah Winfrey, when she said, you know, I used to preach when I was a child. And I'd stand up in the pulpit and I'd say, you know, I don't know what the future holds, but I know who holds the future. And I'd think, oh, what wonderful words of wisdom.

June Caldwell, who was also one of my heroes, would say, well, you have to know what you will not tolerate and what you will not put up with. And I will not tolerate injustice. And we have to interfere. And I'd go, I love how she uses interfere. But she was also a big hero. That sounds like John Lewis's good trouble. Yeah, it is. You've got to get into good trouble.

It is. Get into good trouble. You have to interfere, because it's interfering that keeps us together as a society. You must have had one or two, as you look back now, that you just despised. Who were the interviewees that you really did not like? Oh, there were a lot of movie star people

who are impossible personalities. Well, Holly Hunter and I had not have happy. No kidding. No, and I thought I've seen your movie. I've done all my research. And she couldn't have been grumpier. This is broadcast news? Yeah.

No, it was the piano, I think. I was surprised at how, you know, I thought, yeah, you've done a lot of interviews today. Movie junkets are awful. But really? And Mavis Gawande, boy, I'd done a lot of interviews today. Movie junkets are awful, but really? And Mavis Gawande, boy, I'd say she didn't like me. It was in Paris. And Morley Safer was like, why are you asking me

these things? And Joan Collins, oh boy. She'd written a book. She was tough. That was, I guess, I don't know if she just didn't like me. But I remember it was over a satellite. And as we sort of signed off, she said, oh, what a bitch. Wow.

Joan Collins called me a bitch. Well, that's something you can hang your head on, actually. My husband gave me a card, I think, that Christmas, to that effect. Well, you know, it's a strange thing, because you kind of have a reputation as being sort of one of the most affable and likable people who has been doing this business.

So for somebody to call you that, it's a real badge of honor. Well, I guess she just didn't like what she heard or didn't like the tone of the questions or something. But you know, it's interesting. I got that a lot. The word I got when I was a broadcaster that stuck and people kept throwing it at me was perky. And it infuriated me.

You hated that. Oh, yeah. I thought that's so dismissive. Katie Couric case that, too. And it infuriated me. You hated that. Oh, yeah. I thought that's so dismissive. And it's so misogynistic. Katie Couric said so. I read her book, and I thought, you know what? You don't say that about men. And it's not like I was any great cheerleader of life

or had no ability to discern what's really good news and happy. I've got energy, yeah, for sure. But I sure don't think everybody and everything is great. Is there an interview that you wish you got you never did get? Yeah, Nelson Mandela. Ah, okay.

They tried, you know, Barbara Frum had a great interview with him when he got out of prison, and he came to Toronto and he got an honorary doc from Ryerson. At one point I was in the audience for that, but boy, you know, and everybody, I never forgot, like even the first time I interviewed Ted Scott, it was Archbishop, Canadian Archbishop,

and he'd just seen him in prison, and all the disinformation was out there about this terrorist and blah, blah, blah. And Ted Scott sat across from me, and I said, tell me about Nelson Mandela, and he said, he's the most impressive person I've ever met. And he was the first person to say that to me.

Subsequently, like everyone says that, he's ever met him. So yeah, he was one, oh man, I would love to have been able to speak to him. I think he was one of the more extraordinary people of history. Well, it's hard to say undoubtedly, but surely the greatest political figure of our lifetime. I would say that anyway. You mentioned Ryerson a couple of times already.

So let's try this. It's not called Ryerson anymore. With TMU. Yeah. What do you think of that? Well, shall I admit this? I was on the committee. I was put on the committee to rename and I was thinking, okay's a thankless task. Nothing's gonna work. You can't do a

person, maybe a place, not a thing. Most place names in Toronto, York, Toronto, you know, we ran around the block and the block and you know even the sort of basis of tell me about Edgerton Ryerson. What did he do? What was his relationship with residential schools and with indigenous people? And you know, I got that people felt uncomfortable, unsafe, and that was what the decision was to change it. I know I still, just because I'm old, go back and sort of we'll say Ryerson slash TMU. But when we aligned this large committee on that and put forward a couple of suggestions, and Toronto Metropolitan was the one that was chosen, I just, I just thought what was there was a line about a broadcaster so

inoffensive, she's offensive. You know, it was always going to have to be something that was almost forgettable but anyway there we go. There we go. There are thousands of would-be journalists who go to places like TMU and Seneca and Humber and a whole bunch of other post-secondary institutions in this country that want to be the next you. What advice would you give them? Well, you know, you always have to say believe, you have to believe in yourself, right?

Steve, you have to push, you have to work hard, you have to be persistent. Like getting my good news reporter job. I think it is a lot tougher now, although people, God knows, doesn't everybody in the universe have a podcast? Which I mostly find flabby and undisciplined, as an old school broadcaster, you know, TikTok and get to the point and do your research. But yeah, you love to think that, and people do, rise up and you see all of a sudden you must do that. You'll see or hear somebody and go,

they're good. They break out of the noise. They jump out at you and that's what you want. Okay, here's the sort of nastier follow-up, which is are we playing a nasty trick on almost all the kids who are going to J-school these days because the jobs simply are not going to be out there for them when they graduate. Well there aren't many jobs and it is much harder and journalism and news gathering and all that has just changed so much. It's terrifying and depressing. So yeah, I don't know if it's a big trick. You'd like to believe that then they invent, create, with all the technologies

and the ways of reaching people. But you know, I call myself a broadcaster and that word is, you know, that's an old fashioned word. Ain't no broad much reach anymore, any place, anyhow. Narrow casting these days. A lot of that. Tell me about Canada Files on PBS. How did that come to you? Well, Jim Deeks created this show. He wanted to do an interview show with Great Canadians, half-hour conversations.

I think he went to Canadian networks and they all went, no, no money, no how, old fashioned, don't care. And it was the PBS station in Toronto, you know, Toronto Buffalo, public broadcasting. They said, great, we'll take it, but you know, you've got to finance it yourself, which he did. He figured out how to do it. He did it. He did it.

He did it. He did it. He did it. He did it. He did it. He did it. He did it. He did it.

He did it. He did it. He did it. He did it. He did it. He did it. Toronto, Toronto Buffalo, public broadcasting. They said, great, we'll take it. But you've got to finance it yourself, which he did. He figured out how to do it because there's a way for sponsors to get tax donations, just like here. So he did it for three years, 13 half-hour interviews.

And then when he was done, he wrote me. And at that point, I was chairing the board at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, where I've been a volunteer for 20 years. But it's a big job and we had a billion or half billion dollar campaign going on and I thought, you know, I haven't done this for a while. I don't know. And, you know, it was my husband who said, you love interviewing people. This is sort of the perfect job for you and the perfect code.

And I love the fact, you know, because you've worked in organizations all your life with producers who say don't do that take that out I don't like that don't get that to have complete control and say I want to interview this person I do the research this is how I want it edited I've got a spectacular producer worked with me Jennifer Scott who I worked with at CBC two of us I shot the last season in my living room. I mean, but I got to talk to people I'd want, Louise Arbour, Rosie Abella, Moshe Safdie, Wab Kanu, James Cameron.

The last interview I did was with Justin Trudeau on his final day of office. He's like meeting with Carney, and he's saying goodbye to the cabinet. I think we may have a little snippet of that, Sheldon, if you would. We should be talking about acceptance. It's not a religion in the world that says tolerate thy neighbor. It's love your neighbor.

It's be open to each other, learn from each other, be challenged without being threatened by someone who has different perspectives or different stories. That's what Canadians do so well. And when we're cheering this flag, when we're in tough times and pulling together for each other, that's us at our best. And when we're at our best, nobody can stop us. It's challenging when you interview somebody who has done thousands and

thousands of interviews as a public figure, as is the case with him. Do you go into an interview like that thinking, I just want one moment of authenticity, and did you get it? Yeah, I actually did. I couldn't believe I got that interview. Where are the networks on this one? Why am I here? This puny little show.

And I pitched it as a legacy interview. I said, and this is what we do, you know, choices made, lessons learned. We talked about his brother's death. We talked about his mom's bipolar disorder. We talked about the time that Ronald Reagan recited, you know, Robert's service to him and how he figured out even as a kid

that that kind of focus from anyone made such a difference. No, he was serene and chatty. I mean it was like an exit interview. It was just sort of a moment. So I actually I felt there you know huge amount of authenticity. We were on a real high after that. I thought you know I'd interviewed his dad just with a little tape machine in that same office you know how many decades before.

So yeah that was sort of I thought okay we'll just tie this one up with a bow. How'd you get him when nobody else could? Well that's what I said. I think it was because I didn't want a political interview. I wasn't talking about elections or whatever. I wanted to talk about him and his life. And they, you know, when they came back and said, you know, how about doing it on March 10th?

And I went, isn't the leadership election on the 9th? How can there be a worse day? And they were happy. And he went, what are you going to do? Oh, I'm going to sign some papers tonight, go home and cook. I can't wait to cook some more, make some shepherd's pie. And he was a calm, happy man. Did you like the last interview?

Loved it. Did you know it was going to like the last interview? Loved it. Did you know it was going to be your last interview? Yes. Yeah, because I had decided probably, I guess, last fall, you know, it's a lot of work. I'm 71, and I still was doing the CAMH stuff. That's wrapping up. And you know, getting guests is hard.

So many people don't even get back to you. You know, so many people don't even answer your please, I'd love to talk to you many people don't even get back to you. So many people don't even answer your, please, I'd love to talk to you. They don't even say no. They just don't answer. So struggling with that, I did 39 people who I thought were fabulous.

And I thought, I think I'm done now. I'm at peace with that. So that's why it felt like a good ending. I mean, the fact that we got Trudeau at that moment, that was sweeter than I'd planned. I'm going to ask you the question that you asked all of your guests on that show, which is what does it mean for you to be a Canadian? Well, it means everything.

And I think when I've thought about the qualities, I think humble, welcoming, kind, generous, those are words that come to me. And sometimes people say, we think that, we aren't all that, and we don't always demonstrate it. I say I also can't leave out the geography of Canada, because I spent 20 years of my life building the Trans-Canada Trail across the country and raising money and trying to make that project happen.

So the geography and how we perceive that and even bits of the cult of the North, places that you never go and never will but just figure largely in your brain because it's part of Canada. I think we can't be complacent, which a lot of our guests pointed out. You've got to guard to keep these characteristics and principles and values, to use a word I don't love. And we've got to be a bit more aspirational.

I'd like to see, let's get that damn high speed train built, and let's meet our NATO targets and let's you know sometimes rise up a little bit. But you know I like the kinder, gentler, more thoughtful aspects of Canada. You know I didn't have a lot of job offers from the states but you know I feel like Anne Murray would go like no who'd want to to leave here? This is where I belong. If somebody came to you and said, we want you to come back and do one more interview and it's going to be with Donald Trump, what would your first question for him be?

Geez, Donald Trump. I wonder what you'd ask Donald Trump. You know, because you want to say, are you real? How do you want to be remembered? Like, what would make him vaguely thoughtful? But the problem with Donald Trump too is that you just sort of go hello and he starts vomiting out whatever he does. He just says anything and everything. I mean, I think, as you do, I

think long and hard about structure. I do tons of research. You know, what will, and I never ask either or questions. You want to listen. Learning how to interview people is a skill. It takes a long, long time. And silence is usually your great friend so that people say things. But with Donald, maybe not so much. Yeah, to try and understand where he got his vision of himself as the king of the universe. You are far too young and energetic to retire, obviously. So what are you going to do now? Well, you know, I don't know. You know, I don't, I think the broadcast stuff, I'm quite happy to go, like, obviously. So what are you gonna do now? Well, you know, I don't know.

You know, I think the broadcast stuff, I'm quite happy to go like, okay, wrinkly enough, done enough, whatever. And I've loved it and I ended really happily. You know, I spent 20 years, I mentioned, with Trans Canada Trail leading that, fundraising governance, same with the Center for Addiction and Mental Health,

and raising awareness of that, raising a lot of money. So I know there'll be another project, because the one thing you learn, Steve, from all the people I talk to, especially the last 39 great Canadians, is don't stop. You want to keep going. If you love doing stuff and if you're good at stuff and curious and it's good for your brain and it makes you live longer and have a better life. So there's no doubt in my mind that I will find another project.

I don't know what it is. I've got to tidy up my office. I want to see my grandchild. I love my grandchild, my dogs, you know, say hi to my husband. I think I could just dial it back a little bit. I don't see you dialing it back. You don't seem to be the dialing back type. Anyway.

Yeah. I can. And same with you, mister. You know about dialing it back. No, I don't. Anyway, you know what? This has been a joy. Thanks for coming in and sort of taking us through the great contours of your life.

I always loved co-hosting with you. Oh, God. Aren't you sweet? I feel like we're doing it right now. Anyway, Valerie Pringle. So great. Thank you. Thank you.