The Bridge with Peter Mansbridge - A Tribute To A Friend

Episode Date: December 6, 2021

Brian Williams is a long-time friend and colleague and when he announced his retirement this weekend it left many people wondering how to imagine how an Olympics would ever be the same.  In tribute, I read one of the stories in my new book which is all about Brian.  Before that, some thoughts about a critical meeting on a very important topic that is just two weeks away.

And hello there, Peter Mansbridge here. You are just moments away from the latest episode of The Bridge. Today, a tribute to an old friend. And welcome to yet another week right here on The Bridge. And as usual, a variety of topics scheduled for this week. And we're going to start today. We're actually going to start today with something that doesn't happen today, but will be happening in two weeks' time. So circle that date, December 20th, two weeks time so circle that date december 20th two weeks from today it is a really important day

in the story of the residential schools question in canada why is it important well on this day two weeks from today, on December 20th, members of the Assembly of First Nations will be meeting with Pope Francis in Rome. That will be the third of three meeting with eight Métis leaders. On the Saturday, the 18th, the Pope will be meeting with seven Inuit leaders. And then on the 20th, the Monday, two weeks from today, the Pope will be meeting with leaders from the Assembly of First Nations. These are three critical meetings in the story of truth and reconciliation

and the story of Indian residential schools. The Catholic Church was part of this story, where thousands of young Indigenous kids were in some cases forced from their homes to attend schools, not in their home communities, but often in communities hundreds of kilometers away. And in some cases, those kids were abused. In some cases, those kids died and their unmarked graves have been found this year. Some of them, more than a thousand unmarked graves have been uncovered so far. Just as Murray Sinclair warned us five years ago in his report,

that that would happen once discoveries were made after much investigation. The decision to move kids was made by the government of Canada. But the church was part of that decision and, of course course was part of the running of the residential schools, a major part. Now, Canadian bishops have apologized for what happened, belatedly, according to Indigenous peoples, and according to many non-Indigenous peoples. But the apology they're looking for is from the top of the roman catholic church and the apology they want to hear they want it to be made in canada on their lands but this is part of the process these meetings which will take place two weeks from today

now of course the fear is that it's just going to be a photo op that it's not going to be substantive and you know there's some reason to worry about that concern. The Church and the Vatican, of course, have been very good at photo opportunities. I can give you a personal example. You know, I had an opportunity in 1998 to have what they call an audience with Pope John Paul II in the Vatican. Now, my audience lasted a couple of minutes.

These meetings are to last at least an hour each. But in those couple of minutes, it was all very cordial. There was no substantive issue to be discussed. And once it was over, Cynthia and I got a special tour of the Vatican, going to places that the normal tourists don't get to go to. And that lasted, I don't know, an hour, hour and a half. By the time we got back to our hotel, which was not far from the Vatican,

waiting at the front desk was a envelope, a large envelope, inside a whole series of 8x10 glossy photos with John Paul II, Cynthia and I and John Paul II. The church had taken these. They had all kinds of photographers there, which will be the case in a much more important series of meetings

in two weeks' time. And those pictures will exist of Pope Francis and Canadian Indigenous leaders. So that's the optics. What about the substance? Well, that is the concern on the part of the three different delegations that will be going to Rome to meet with the Pope. What they're hoping for, as I said earlier,

was that the Pope will agree to come to Canada. He's already indicated he would. But will come to Canada and officially apologize for what happened. Now, different leaders from these different groups have made statements. They're extremely pleased that the Vatican has agreed to these meetings. But they're all hoping for real substance.

And I've got to say, one of them, I spoke at a news conference the other day, was a youth delegate from the Assembly of First Nations, their National Youth Council, where she's the co-chair, Rosalie Labillois. She said she plans to speak to Pope Francis about the intergenerational trauma that her generation has fought through. And I'm reading her quotes from a piece by Michael Swan. In one of the Catholic News Service periodicals. And here's what she said. The opportunity that I get is something that my grandfather never got. He never got the chance to speak his truth. There are unmentionable things that he could never speak about.

Now it's my opportunity to speak my truth. She said she hopes to help represent that youth perspective from across the country on how we are severely impacted. Once again, she's the National Youth Council co-chair. And she wanted to be clear that the mandate to the delegates extends beyond those moments in Rome two weeks from now. After our trip, what it's going to look like when we come home. How do we share our experience in being able to empower young people

to be proud of who they are? Well, part of that story is being able to understand what happened. And there has been a certain secretive nature to not only the church, but to the government about what's happened. And that's why this morning's news, reported by the Globe and Mail, is really important.

The Globe had an interview with Crown Indigenous Relations Minister Mark Miller. You remember Minister Miller. He's been on this podcast giving his thoughts, and in some cases, very personal thoughts about this situation. Well, in their interview with Mark Miller, I guess it was yesterday or last night, he said that the government has come to the conclusion that continuing to withhold documents

is a breach of Ottawa's moral duty to survivors of the schools. So the federal government is about to hand over thousands of previously undisclosed residential school documents to the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation. Now, we don't know what's in those documents, but you can be sure that not only Indigenous groups,

but all those who are interested and concerned about this story are going to be pouring through those documents to see exactly what they say and whether there are any clear answers to some of the many questions that exist about what happened to these thousands, tens of thousands of young kids over many years who were sent, once again I underline,

in many cases against their will and against their family's wills to residential schools in different parts of the country. Apparently there are more than 12,000 pages of these documents. Minister Miller said the government, this according to the Globe, said the government had not previously disclosed these records because of third-party obligations to the Catholic institutions, including Sisters of St. Anne and Sisters of Providence, to other institutions that had influence over the records are now defunct.

According to Minister Miller, the government plans to inform the surviving institutions that the document release is taking place. He estimated that the handover process would take about 30 to 45 days. So listen, this process is taking a long time. It's moving very slowly, but it is moving. Two weeks from today, that critical meeting at the Vatican. And hopefully it will be substantive. And Pope Francis, who has shown in the past a desire to work with Indigenous groups in his own country in South America, will he show that same sense in these meetings with Canadian Indigenous leaders?

We're about to find out. And then the federal government taking its position of releasing more information about what happened. We don't know what's in these documents. But hopefully they will answer some of the many questions that still exist. All right. We're going to take a quick break. When we come back, as hinted at the top of this podcast, broadcast today,

a tribute to a longtime friend. That's when we come back. And welcome back. Peter Ransbridge here. This is The Bridge. You're listening on either Sirius XM Canada, Channel 167, Canada Talks, or on your favorite podcast. And as we always say, wherever you're listening from, we're glad you've made the decision to join us.

All right. So I've been awfully lucky in my career, as I've mentioned many times. I had the opportunity to travel the country, travel the world, meet all kinds of people, and work with some tremendous people on all levels of the broadcast business. Both those who I work with at the CBC and those who I worked alongside of, colleagues from other networks in different parts of the country and around the world. So I've been lucky.

And one of the things that I've been lucky about is having had the opportunity since 1988 of being in attendance at many of the Olympic Games and being involved in the coverage of the opening ceremony that always takes place at both summer games and winter games. And so I've had the opportunity to stand alongside Scott Russell, terrific broadcaster. Ron McLean, great friend, terrific broadcaster. And the first person I stood beside in Seoul, Korea in 1988, the fall of 88, was the one and only Brian Williams.

Brian and I knew each other at the time. We'd worked together in local news in Toronto in the early 1980s when I was starting to anchor and he was the local sportscaster. So this was the first big moment on network television. Now, I talk about this story in my new book, Off the Record. Now, I haven't read anything from this book over the last eight weeks since its release. It's been on the bestseller list every week since then, by the way.

But I thought I would today in talking about my friend Brian and his decision just announced to retire. He's 75, a couple of years older than I am, just a couple. Brilliant career. Has decided to retire. So I thought, here's an opportunity to tell a story. You've seen lots of stories in the last couple of days about his career and where he's been and the things he's done and what he's best known for. But I wanted to share this one because it's personal. So I open up my book.

Those of you who have bought the book already, and there have been many because I know you don't get on the bestseller list unless the book is moving out of stores and off shelves. But I also know because so many of you have sent requests for book plates to go into the book. Okay, so let's get reading, Peter. The one thing about this book, for those who've read it already or are reading it, you know, is that it's an easy read

because the chapters are fairly short, you know, a couple of pages long each, but they're snapshots, they're anecdotes of different things that have happened in my career. So when you flip to page 101, there's a story called The 24-Hour Suit. So let me get reading most people remember the 1988 Seoul Olympics for the Ben Johnson fiasco how Canadian

emotions ran high then came crashing down in 48 hours when the 100 meter dash gold medal winning fastest man in the world was thrown out of the games after testing positive for steroids. Canada was ashamed and embarrassed

and it showed in so many different ways. The worst was when some Canadian writers and broadcasters went from calling Johnson a Canadian hero to a Jamaican born runner in attempt to distance the shame. The Johnson story was unquestionably the story of the games, and it impacted sports, all sports, for decades to come. But those who thought it meant sports would be cleansed of drugs were wrong. It just meant that those who used drugs

got better at cheating, as we still occasionally find out today. So yes, I was one of those who used drugs got better at cheating, as we still occasionally find out today. So yes, I was one of those who will always remember Seoul for the Johnson disaster, but I remember it for something else as well. I was in the Korean capital to co-host the opening ceremony with the legendary sportscaster Brian Williams. Brian and I had been friends for years. We used to do the late night local news and sports at CBC Toronto and we'd always had a good time doing it. Then we both quickly moved up our respective ladders. He became the top broadcaster at CBC Network Sports and ditto for me at Network News. So when in 1988 the corporation decided

who it wanted face first in the opening broadcast of the 24th Olympiad, they called on Brian and me. We were excited and focused. This was a big deal. We spent hours prepping for the broadcast, which always featured the Parade of Nations. Brian would talk about each of the 159 nations represented that year in terms of their athletes while I'd focus on each nation's past or present history and we'd ad lib our way through the rest of the many hours we'd be on the air the opening ceremony was set for Friday September 17th but we had rehearsals and editorial meetings for the three days beforehand. After two days of cramming, Brian turned to me and said, let's go shopping. I know a place where we can get a suit made in 24 hours. I wasn't impressed. I know places like that, Brian. I once bought a 24-hour suit in Hong Kong, and it started falling apart after 25 hours.

This is different, he insisted. Famous people go there to shop. So I relented. After all, I was tired of reading up on countries that had never won an event, never would win an event. Time to see the sights. Off we went to the sole tourist shopping heaven, Itaewon.

Cosmopolitan dining, nightlife, and shopping are the hallmarks of this district, and it was, as it usually is, packed when we got there. Brian led me to a pretty nondescript-looking shop marked with a Korean tailor's name. We went up a short flight of concrete steps, and then we were inside. One of the tailors quickly latched onto us. Before I could say anything, Brian spoke. My friend is looking for a new suit, but it has to be ready in 24 hours.

No problem. We moved over to a huge pile of bolts of fabric, all different colors, and I picked out a safe navy blue. I didn't see anyone famous. Then the tailor moved me to a mirror and asked me to stand still while he took measurements. Then he took contact info. Then he took a deposit. The whole thing took, at the most, 15 minutes.

I still didn't see anyone famous. You'll love it, Bragg Brian. You'll always thank me for this. 24 hours later, on the eve of the big show, we were back ready for pickup. We'd barely gotten in the store when all of a sudden sirens started blaring outside on the Itaewon street. We were all very aware of the constant threats that there could be an attack from North Korea to disrupt the games. So that was the first thing that came to mind. I didn't know whether to hit the floor or dive behind a suit rack. I did neither because just as suddenly the sirens stopped.

Right outside the store, one of those black, limo, half-FSUV-type vehicles had come to a halt at the foot of the steps and out jumped a couple of very serious-looking American plainclothes security men, carrying high-powered weapons and with little wires coming out of their ears. Behind them came a figure I was very familiar with seeing,

Lieutenant General Vernon Walters. This was a guy who had, or there was no other way of saying it, a hell of a career. He'd stood beside U.S. presidents from Truman to Reagan. He'd covertly slipped Henry Kissinger into Paris in 1972 for the peace talks with North Vietnam. He'd secretly met with Pope John Paul II in the early 1980s to plot out the fall of the Polish communists, which would eventually lead to the fall of communism in Eastern Europe. Those are just a few of the things that were known about his accomplishments. Let's not

forget he was a deputy director of the CIA, so who knows what else he'd been up to. And now there he was, walking up the steps of my Itaewon tailor shop. Brian looked at me. He didn't say anything. He didn't need to say anything. The look of, I told you so, was all over his face. A few minutes later, there we were, General Vernon Walters, one of the most senior, most protected people in the world, and me, standing in our underwear, together, in a tiny sole dressing room, trying on our 24-hour suits. Sir, I said, all ready for the big day?

Always ready. It was the most I could get out of him. He was gone as quickly as he'd arrived, and as the sound of the siren slowly faded away, I stood there impressed. Vernon Walters and I share the same tailor, I thought. Funny how you meet some people, right? The next night, I could see the general

sitting in the United States VIP box from our broadcast seats in the Olympic Stadium. As ambassador to the United Nations, he was representing President Reagan at the Games and would stand when the American athletes entered the parade of nations. Brian and I chuckled when we saw him. He sure looked different than when I'd seen him in his boxers. The broadcast went off well. Brian is amazing at those kind of shows,

and my sidekick role was relatively easy. There was one moment near the end, though, that wasn't easy. Part of the tradition after the lighting of the Olympic torch is to release doves as a sign of peace and goodwill. It seemed especially important that year as we were just kilometers from the border with the South's constant enemy, North Korea, with whom they were still at war. With great fanfare, the doves were sent aloft. Brian said something appropriately poetic about the moment. I watched, and we paused. Suddenly, I was aghast. I looked at Brian and whispered, I saw them fly up and straight into the flame. I didn't see them fly out. Now, TV angles can be misleading.

Sometimes you can't be sure. So we said nothing else, nor at the time did anyone else. However, our eyes had not deceived us. Most of the doves had been burned alive, caught in the torch. They've used pigeons ever since. Postscript The suit actually lasted a few years. I had to replace the stitching a month or so after getting back to Canada, which happens often in these quickly made outfits, but the material was top-notch. I'm not sure how long

the generals lasted. So there's my little story about working with Brian Williams, always a connoisseur of perfect clothing. In fact, not only did we share the tailor in Itaewon, but we've since shared the same tailor in Toronto. I won't tell you who it is or where it is, but it's a small independent. And Brian has always made a point of telling me I got the best suit. And you know what? He always did. But Brian, as has been noted by friends and colleagues and admirers and fans over the last few days, has been a classic sportscaster,

one who none of us will ever forget from his moments that became famous as a result of Seoul, where he kept telling us what time it was in different parts of our country as it related to the time in Korea. To his sense of humor, to his command of the facts, Brian's the consummate, and always there to help others. It's been a tremendous friendship,

one which I'm sure and hope will continue through into the future. All right. A couple of notes about the days ahead. As we get closer to the end of the year and the beginning of the holidays, like many of you, I'm going to take a break in a couple of weeks. But over the next couple of weeks, there's lots to do. And there's lots to cover. And through this week, that's exactly what we'll do.

I've got a bit of moving around to do over the next couple of days because I've got speeches in a couple of different parts of the country. But we will keep the bridge going. And on Wednesday, of course, Smoke Mirrors and the Truth with Bruce, and on Friday, Good Talk with Bruce and Chantal. In between, a couple of shows on both Tuesday and Thursday. I've extended the book plate thing as much as I can. I still have a few book plates left,

so I will handle whatever requests come in until I run out of book plates. And I will advise you when I do. But I don't know. I think I've got probably 100 or 150 book plates left. And at the rate they've been going lately, those will be gone pretty quick. So if you're getting a copy of Off the Record,

copy proof of purchase, and that could either be the receipt or you standing there holding the book, send it to me. That's a publisher's requirement. And I will send off to you they're holding the book. Send it to me. That's a publisher's requirement. And I will send off to you a book plate that you can stick inside the book. This is, of course, because book tours,

as traditionally many authors like to do, visiting bookstores, what have you, has just been impossible due to the pandemic. So if you want something, please send it along to the Mansbridge podcast at gmail.com, the Mansbridge podcast at gmail.com. We gave you a hint of what the stories are like from our little revisit with the Brian Williams story

that's inside the book. But that's just one of, I guess, 60 or 70 anecdotes that are in that book. It could be about people, it could be about places, it could be about moments. And there's also some thoughts about journalism today and some thoughts about Canada today. So I hope you have the opportunity to take a peek at Off the Record. Simon & Schuster is the publisher. It's available in every bookstore that I can find in all locations across Canada.

So you can either go to a bookstore or you can order online from places like Indigo or Amazon. It's literally available everywhere. So thank you for this. It's always been good to talk to you, as it has been on this Monday, as we kick off another week of The Bridge. I'm Peter Mansbridge. Thanks so much for listening. And we'll talk to you again in 24 hours.