Toronto Mike'd: The Official Toronto Mike Podcast - Alan Carter: Toronto Mike'd #583

Episode Date: February 12, 2020

Mike chats with Global News anchor Alan Carter about being tasered by police, anchoring Global News at 5:30 and 6 with Farah Nasser, hosting Focus Ontario on television and The Alan Carter Radio Program on Global News Radio Talk 640.

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One of the most celebrated roots, country, bluegrass bands in Canadian music history. I'm Mike from TorontoMike.com and joining me this week is global news anchor Alan Carter. Welcome, Alan.

Hey, thanks for having me. Great to be here. Was it a long trip for you to get here today? What part of this city do you live in? I'm an East Sider. I'm East Side solid. You know how it is in Toronto. You're either one side of the Don or the other. Right. I always go Yonge Street. I'm Don all the way. You i just got to go the other side of the bridge for me you know it's like and every you know you on the weekend you think should i should i really venture over the the dawn to go downtown or not no but it's just gonna stay in

the east side how do you feel now like you're on you're west of the humble river i'm utterly lost that's how i feel when i'm in your hood yeah i i tell you there's just a real divide that way every time i get over there by you know like around in there, it's like, what? I just can't. You think you're in Burlington or something? That's where I'm from. I'm a Burlington boy born and bred. You should be more comfortable with the West End.

I feel like you're Burlington. I think, but in terms of the city, I like the East Side. I'm East Side forever. I mean, I've noticed this, of course. I grew up in the West End and I went to school in the West End and I've always worked, almost always worked in the West End. And, yeah, right, when I venture into, like, if I'm going to the

Danforth Music Hall or something. Oh, that's what a great venue. Oh, it's a great venue, yeah. But it's like, oh, I'm on the other side now. It's like a, it's just so bizarre how we divide the city that way. But thank you for making the trek all this way, all this way

west. So thanks for doing that. It looks so different out here. Every time I come out here, man, there's so much development. I mean, there's development all over the city, but you know, the waterfront out here, it's just, it's gorgeous. You got a nice little neighborhood here. No, thank you. That's high praise from an East Ender.

Well, you know, don't spread it around. Well, listen, I don't discriminate. Like, I'll have the Western people, the Etobiconians. What do you call that, Etobicokians? What do you call it? You're the news anchor. You know, I don't know. Etobicokers?

That sounds good. I like that. I like it. I'll have them all on. All the boroughs are welcome here. Heck, I'll even know. Etobicokeers? That sounds good. I like that. I like it. I'll have them all on. All the boroughs are welcome here. Heck, I'll even have a Burlington guy on. So thank you. Are you a sports fan?

I am a huge Raptors fan. Raptors is basketball is my thing. I'm wearing the right T-shirt for you. You got it. You're wearing the bounce shot. You got the Kawhi there. That's amazing. And did you see that shot that Lowry put up?

I guess it was two games ago. They kind of bounced around very similar. Oh, yeah, yeah. Very similar. Like a four-bouncer. Did you see that shot that Lowry put up, I guess it was two games ago, that kind of bounced around very similar? Oh, yeah, yeah, very similar, like a four-bouncer. Yeah, it was reminiscent, you know? I'm glad you're a Raptors fan because I wore the shirt because yesterday my guest was Jack Armstrong. Yeah, great show. No pressure.

Amazing to hear from him and hear his story about growing up in the Bronx. Amazing. Oh, you listened? I did. Oh, good. Do you listen to many episodes of Toronto Mike? Or you just wanted to find out what you were in store for? No, I dip in and out.

You know, like I know you had St. Steve Bacon on here. Right. He's an FOTM. I mean, big fan. St. Bacon. And I'm a huge fan of him. So, you know, I listened in on that. You know, a couple others.

You know, I picked through. And that's always interesting. You cherry pick. Yeah. That's okay. Yeah. That's okay. Do you need to have others. Like, you know, I picked through and that's always interesting. You cherry pick. Yeah. That's okay. Yeah. That's okay. Do you need to have,

like, obviously you're a Raptor fan, that explains Jack, but do you need it, like, to be somebody you worked with or somebody you're, like, will you ever just listen to an episode of somebody you're not that familiar with just to find out what they're about?

You'd ever done that? Yeah, sure. You know, you just, you know, flip through and Bruce Dobrigan was on. And, you know, like, I don't know Bruce. I and, you know, like I don't I don't know Bruce. I've never worked with him. I've had him on my radio show and I've always been so impressed with him. So I wanted to hear more from him. So that was interesting. That was a great that was a great episode. Bruce is one of those guys. If you only knew Bruce from Twitter, I don't think you'd like him that much.

I guess it depends on what side of the spectrum you're on. But I feel like his Twitter persona is a little less palatable than if you actually have a conversation with the man like you talk to him you don't read his tweets so you can kind of get the bruise but uh yeah we have a few local bruises that have uh twitter personas that maybe are a little bit uh polarizing possibly what i what i've always appreciated about him of being you know being a news guy who occasionally ventures into the sports world is he brings a news perspective to the sports world as well. It's always so strange. You know, my professional experience is mainly grilling politicians.

I was the Queen's Park bureau chief. So, you know, you're yelling at the premier. You're shouting at a minister. And then eventually they'll send you down. They send you down to the Raptors. Go to the Raptors. You go down there, and the scrums are totally different. So they're not nearly as aggressive.

Everybody's much more laid back. And I remember last year during the run, I was in Milwaukee, and there had been the picture of the coach coming off the plane carrying the guitar. And so I asked him right away. I said, Nick Nurse, you know, what's with – he was like, open it up to questions. And nobody asked a question right away because everybody's kind of – you know, it's a different kind of vibe. And I wrote, did you actually bring a guitar? And he said, next question.

Really? No. No sense of humor about it. And then he came over to me later. He came over to me later and he said, listen, I apologize for shutting you down, but I just don't like any kind of personal questions whatsoever. So he was really sweet about it. He was very nice about it.

Good. He's a good coach. I can tell you that. You know, I heard, I mean, I think it's fact. Right now he has the best winning percentage in NBA history for head coaches because he's only got the two years and look at the winning. And the guy, of course, Steve Kerr had the record because of all those great Golden State Warriors teams.

But at this moment, Nick Nurse has passed Steve Kerr for best winning percentage as a head coach in the NBA. Do you see any similarity here? Because my family keeps telling me I look a lot like Nick Nurse. And I said this to them. Oh, the glasses maybe and the eyes. Well, I guess if I look, if I look, you know, completely perplexed by a call by the ref with the open mouth. That's right. But so they keep telling me I look like Nick Nurse. And so during this moment when Nick had come back over to me and apologize and, you know, was very kind about it, said to him i said you know what my family keeps telling me that i look just like you and he stopped and he looked me he took a long

look up and down and just turned around on his heels and walked away that's it didn't say a thing so i don't know if he's insulted i don't i don't know weird move well it was it was the obvious answer to just add some levity would you you be something like, yeah, you're a very handsome man. Well, no, he just took a look at me and I don't know. Was he insulted by the thought that he might look like me? Yeah, maybe he just doesn't like his own face. And we're the same age and we're born like a week or so apart. So we're essentially the same person.

So tonight we go for 16 in a row. And then there's a long break. I was looking at the calendar. This is not like you're, you know, in baseball we're used to, yeah, I And then there's a long break. Like I was looking at the calendar. This is not like you're, you know, in baseball, we're used to, yeah, I think now it's up to four. It used to be three,

now it's four days or whatever. But this is a solid, I think eight days or something. I don't know. But so if we can win tonight and we should win tonight in Brooklyn, then 16 in a row,

not too shabby. It's a good time. That's amazing. And this team has just been so much fun to watch. It really has. You know, you love that depth. You love the grind. You love the rookie out there, you know,

Terrence Davis Jr. I just love watching this team. They're so much fun. Shout out to JJ who's buying a TD2 jersey. I think that's her plan. She's a huge fan. He just falls from the heavens, right? Like, okay.

That's Masai. Is Mas, and he just falls from the heavens, right? Like, okay, it's just... That's Maasai. That's Maasai. Is Maasai sticking around? It's Maasai. You're the news guy. Do you have any... Well, yeah, I don't... You know, I talked to Scott Stinson

from the National Post about this on my show recently. And he talked about, you know, that eventually the lure of even, you know, a second tier American city might have more lure to Masai eventually. He's not going to go to New York. That's not going to happen. But I think, you know, the draw of going to a Boston or a Philly or whatever opens up, that eventually will be very, very strong for Masai. Now, I think New York wanted him. I just think, I mean, the wodge bomb or whatever

was that New York was pursuing him, but there were problems when his contract expired and all this. And then they hired somebody else. So keep your dirty mitts off our Masai, New York. And let's hope he sticks around. I think he's worth, you know, like, who is it? Michael Grange? You said just sign a blank check and give it to him and

you know that's easy for michael to say yeah but keep in mind yeah i always think about this as a kind of a cynical news guy is that there is this stuff is cyclical right so you know we're the defending champions now we're doing great this year but like two three four years from now and you know if it's a different thing the fans can turn on you pretty quickly. Yeah, no doubt. And we're a little long in the tooth in a lot of key, you know, like Lowry, unbelievable. But you got Gasol and Ibaka. These guys aren't spring chickens.

They're in the, you know, the downward slide there. And, you know, but then again, you got Siakam, right? He could be the, who knows? Maybe he'll end up being a Kawhi. Who knows? He's an incredible upside. Well, you know, I think we're showing with this franchise a kind of Spurs-like development office.

You know, the Spurs just were in contention every year for so long. Just if I may, they had that thing that sort of Golden State can kind of do right now where they can be awesome, get an injury to David Robinson, and then be able to draft a Tim Duncan. I feel sort of like when Pittsburgh, not quite the same, that was a weird year after the lockout

when they got Sidney Crosby, and everybody had the 2% or whatever. But I feel like the Spurs, yes, yes, not taking anything away from the Spurs. But having that draft pick, number one, when you really shouldn't, but they just kind of tank it because Robinson's hurt. Like, it's almost like, got you, Tim Duncan. Like, I just, I'm not trying to take any,

you know, discredit the Spurs. They're a fantastic organization, but that doesn't hurt when you can do that, you know? Like, Masai's better, is what I'm saying, because he does it without, you know,

he doesn't do of any top five draft picks. You know, he did the one year of Kawhi, got us the title, but this is real effort. You know, you're not getting a blue chipper because you tanked for a season. I remember I got to go down. I mean, I don't get to go down to the Raptors practice facility and interview the players very often.

But every once in a while, I do. And I'm still a huge Corey Joseph fan. I rock his jersey. And in fact, during the playoff run where we were eliminated in the conference finals in Cleveland, I actually wore his jersey and then longboarded through the streets of downtown Cleveland, just inviting abuse from the fans. But the following season, I'm there, I'm interviewing Corey Joseph, and in the background is this really super skinny kid. And all the talk is about

how excited everybody is about this raw material of this new guy named Siakam. And look where he is now. And it's that kind of development that has made this team incredible. And incredible to watch, to see that development of those young players that don't have all the skills,

but be able to develop them into now we have an all-star. I think he's the first guy to be a D-League guy who becomes an NBA all-star, I think. What did he say the other day? Some incredible thing like it was only eight years ago he picked up a basketball or some insane thing like that.

Unbelievable, but he's just so talented. I could do this whole episode about the Raptors but if people haven't heard the Jack Armstrong episode, check it out. It's the one before this one in the queue. I want to ask for you maybe, if you have any thoughts about the, and I'd be remiss if we didn't mention that,

a longtime writer in this city, a journalist, and well, she was everywhere because she starts at the Globe as the first, I think Canada's first female sports reporter. Yeah. Right. And then she moves over to the Star, starts doing more new stuff.

And then of course her long time run at the Toronto Sun, she jumps from the Star to the Sun. And then she, when, when they start up the National Post, she goes there. And then I know she, and she goes back to the Globe for a good run and then back to the, uh the National Post. But I'm talking, of course, about Christy Blatchford, dead at 68. Terrible. Yeah.

So tragic. And, you know, I spent a lot of today talking with some other journalists about, you know, our memories of working with Christy. I didn't know Christy all that well. I mean, we knew each other. I spent a lot of time covering court too. I mean, we knew each other. I spent a lot of time covering court too, not to the extent that she would. But, you know, I sort of, as a TV journalist, you'd kind of dip in and out of cases. You wouldn't be there from gavel to gavel the way that Christy would. And she was always very, very generous with information because as a journalist,

you come into those things, you're like, who is the crown you know and you and she would tell you and the other i told this story today and i have never in all of my years covering court ever seen anything like this i was in a courtroom at old city hall and in the midst of the thing in the midst of the proceedings christy stands up and berates the judge for not speaking loud enough your Your Honor, we can't hear you back here. I'm like, who does this? Who stands up in the courtroom and berates the judge? And I'm telling you, the judge looked like, okay, I'm sorry. Chris, I'll do it.

Right. So you might not always, I disagreed with her passionately on a number of things she wrote, but I always felt like it's good to have her voice in our marketplace. And it's terrible that it's been silenced. So, Christy Blatchford dead at 68. A quick story for you that ties in with somebody in the Global News family

that I only... So recently, speaking of the Dan... Was it? No, it wasn't the Danforth musical. It was Lee's Palace. Okay. I was seeing Lois to the Low at Lee's Palace recently. Well, we're going to... As you know, I'm going to close this episode of Lois No, it wasn't the Danforth musical. It was Lee's Palace. Okay. I was seeing Lowest of the Low at Lee's Palace. Love them. Recently. Love them. Well, as you know, I'm going to close this episode of Lowest of the Low.

Of the Lowest. I love them too. So did you pick up Shakespeare, My Butt in the early 90s? Yeah. So no, I was in Vancouver at the time. I was working in Vancouver and I had this friend who said, this band is coming to town. In Vancouver, they hadn't broken yet at all. They'd sort of broken here.

I'm told they still haven't broken. Yeah, well, there is a point of that. And they came into town. I interviewed them. I interviewed them when they were on their tour for Shakespeare, My Butt. And they were already at a point where like, well, man, we've gigged this album so hard for so long.

They were ready to move on to the next thing. But saw them at a club in Vancouver and was blown away. And that CD was just never far from my reach for years and years after that. I still listen to it all the time myself. And I'm wondering though, since you were listening to Vancouver

Radio at the time, were they getting airplay in Vancouver? Not really. There was a little, you know, Vancouver didn't really have an independent station like that. We had Coast, I think it was called as an AM. Dave Marsden had a radio station out there for a while. Right, yes. And he lived in White Rock for a little bit. Yeah. And I remember interviewing him as well out there. And that was fascinating for me because I grew up here. And so I knew Dave Marsden. And of course, I grew up with CFNY and, you know, it shaped my worldview in so many ways. So to interview him, I just, oh my God, it's Dave Marsden. and, you know, it shaped my worldview in so many ways. So to interview him, oh my God, it's Dave Morrison.

But, you know, there wasn't a lot of that at the time. It's kind of changed, obviously, in Vancouver now, but for a long time, that was just pretty much a steady diet of classic rock there in Van. The drummer from The Watchmen told me that they couldn't sell out any place in Vancouver. Meanwhile, in my books, they're like, I don't know, they're like the Beatles. You know what I mean?

Like here, because 102.1 played them so much. And that album was so strong. And I mean, they have great stuff since then. But that album's a playthrough and everything's so perfect. And it's good to kind of get a perspective from a vancouver guy who's living in vancouver at the time as a who also loved the low so uh where was i going oh yeah okay so i'm at lowest of the low at least palace pick it up right sorry no this is what we do in toronto mike we run off on the tangents i just have to remember to come back where i was and a conversation i some

people i went to high school with are there so i'm catching these are people i haven't seen since high school so it's many years ago and i think the topic came up i had i had a guy booked for the show justin rutledge who's a very good musician and he went to school with my brother and another fotm jason agnew went to school with my brother and i was asking the crowd who who's the most famous person from our graduating class because you, they did say it was me. It's you. But one year below. So I didn't know her.

I didn't know her. But she was one year behind us. So one year younger than me, one grade behind me in the same school was Carolyn McKenzie. And they said she was the most famous person from that year. So I just,

finally I have a global news guy coming on and I can share that story. So, and then I wrote a DM, I DM'd her. That sounds dirty, but it's not, but I DM'd Carolyn to tell this story. This might be the longest gap between me sending a DM and getting a reply.

I think it took a few months and then I finally, I got a, I got a reply. She's very busy. No, listen. Is she Jack Armstrong busy? Yeah. She's doing great with the morning show on Global and it's doing great coast to coast. And I get to see her because I work at the Chorus Key Building for half of the day. That's where my radio show is. And then that's where her show is. And then the other half day I'm up in Don Mills. Okay. Okay. So you came here straight from- From Corris Key. Yeah. And then I'm on from here.

I came straight from Bay and Queens Key, like pretty close to Corris Key. I could have biked you over here. So that's my Carolyn McKenzie story. Apparently she's a big deal from my high school. And I only found this out a few months ago at Lee's Palace watching Lowest of the Low. Alan, you went to Ryerson though. So you're a Burlington guy who went to Ryerson for university? That's right. I went to RTA. A lot of...

Isn't Jamie Campbell on the show tomorrow? Yeah. He was in the same class as I am. Is that right? What a coincidence. See how small our little world is. Yeah. He was in the same class as I was. Is that right?

What a coincidence. See how small our little world is. When we were in university and we were in Ryerson, they kept saying to us over and over again, this is a small industry. This is a small industry. Like, be careful. Don't, you know what I mean?

Like, you don't. And you sort of, you hear it and you hear it and you hear it. And then you work in a bunch of different cities. You work in Vancouver and Edmonton and Toronto like I have. And you realize, oh my goodness, this is a small industry. I know everybody and anybody I don't know, I know somebody who knows them. Well, then you find out that you're on some guy's podcast in his basement and his guest tomorrow is the most famous graduate.

Who's the most famous graduate from your Ryerson class? Well, Tyler Stewart probably from the Barenaked Ladies. He's been on the show? I know, yeah. Okay, I'm collecting the whole class. I need to know all the famous graduate from your Ryerson class? Well, Tyler Stewart probably from the Berenaked Ladies. He's been on the show? I know, yeah. Okay, I'm collecting the whole class. I need to know all the famous people from your class. Yeah, there's so many of us. So Alan Carter, I had no idea.

Tyler Stewart and Jamie Campbell. That's exciting. And so, yeah, and a lot of people, I mean. Avery Haynes from W5. She's been on the show? Yeah. She has that part of the front of her hair is. It's white.

It's white. And she said they tested her for some disease where that's a symptom. I don't think it was a cameo positive, the test. And then I had a similar, not the same like hers, but I had a big white patch here. And she said, I should get tested. And I'm like, no, I don't want to. I don't want to find out I have this weird. Just look it up on the internet.

I'm sure it'll be fine. Every time you look up something on the internet, it's like, oh, I'm dying no I don't want to I don't want to find out I have this weird uh just look it up on the internet I'm sure it'll be fine every time you look up something on the internet it's like oh I'm dying so oh yeah no you're right everything is everything is bad uh okay so tell me a little bit about uh going over to Vancouver so what what what what made you leave the big smoke here for Vancity well I finished uh school and quite frankly I couldn't get work uh and it was just not working out for me. I was working at an Eastside Mario's in Burlington at a mall. You know, their portions got smaller.

I used to eat that bigger portion. And I was a good waiter. Like, I was the kind of waiter that if I had me now, I'd be horrified. But, you know, I played a kazoo. Yeah, that is annoying for your waiter. Yeah, so I annoying for your way to play kazoo. Yeah, so I would come over,

and as I ground the fresh pepper and Parmesan cheese, I would play Lady of Spain on a kazoo. Okay, if I remember correctly, and maybe it's still the case, but you got the all-you-can-eat garlic bread and soup, right? That Italian wedding? Yeah. So was it that way when you were there?

Yeah, you bet. You name it. Honestly. Load up on carbs, baby. Honestly, I would go just for that. Like that sounds like heaven. I know it was. Anyway, that wasn't exactly what I was hoping to do with my life.

So I had a friend who was working at a television station as a part-time news editor in Vancouver. And he's like, dude, just get in your car. And so I packed up my life in a 1982 Honda Prelude. And I drove right across the country. I drove to Vancouver and I just started, you know, living with this guy and hanging out at this television station and just going to their parties and just, you know, just kind of being a pain. And that summer, and this is so true about jobs in the industries, you know, often the job that gets you in the door

is not the one where they do a bunch of interviews and, you know, consider the strengths and weaknesses. That's not the way you get in often. You get in because, you know, just the door opens and you just, you happen to be there at the right time. So I just happened to be there when they were launching this thing where they were trying to make up

their Canadian content rules by doing 30 second news updates on the hour, every hour, seven days a week. And then you'd add all those 30 seconds up, and that would turn into Canadian content programming. Okay, without a loophole. Yeah, not a loophole. So in typical news fashion, they're about to launch this thing on a Thursday. And in typical news management fashion, they realize like Thursday afternoon, wait a minute, there are 24 hours a day, seven days a week. There are hours on the

weekend too. We need somebody for the overnights on the weekend. So they didn't have anybody. And they're like, what about the skinny pimply kid that's always hanging around? And so they brought me in and said, okay, just do an audition. And I just sucked. I was terrible, in and said, okay, just do an audition. And I just sucked. I was terrible, but they needed somebody. And so they put me in midnight till 8am Saturdays and Sundays doing these 30 second news updates. And I was awful, but because the bosses were never up to watch, they never got around to firing me before I got a little better. Was that going to be your on-air moniker, the skinny pimply kid? Yeah, sweaty. I was also sweaty and blinky too.

I scarred a lot of young kids in Vancouver because I'd come on between Inspector Gadget and the Care Bears on a Saturday morning. Oh, yeah, okay, yeah. Boom, and there's some sweaty, blinky kid talking about who knows what. The voice you have, okay, so I've been now listening to you in the headphones for, I don't know,

24 minutes or something. You have like an anchor voice. Did you have it then? Like, when does this voice settle in? Like, did you always have a voice? I've always had a deep voice. I've always had, you know. How do I get one is what I'm trying to find out. Misuse is hard living

is, I just have been born with it um a lot of vancouver weed is what you know um you know so just i don't this is just you know something that god gave me lucky to have it hope it keeps going well it's working for you thank you i was hoping you had better tips than that, but okay. Hard living. All right. So you're in Vancouver. So this is CKVU? Yeah. This is, it's now actually City, but it was CKVU at the time. It was actually owned by Global at the time.

It was called, at the time it was called UTV. It's gone through a number of changes. So you were not there when City took over. No, I left just before City took over. Because, I don't mean to interrupt you there, but Dan O'Toole from Jay and Dan. Yeah. He tells everybody listening,

go right now, pause Alan Carter. No. Come back to Alan. Stop. He'll still be here when you come back. Go listen to Dan O'Toole on Toronto Mike. This is the worst promo ever. This is the nice thing about podcasts

is people can pause and they can go take a call and come back. It's not like your traditional radio, you snooze, you lose kind of deal. So why am I bringing up Dan O'Toole? Because he was in Vancouver at the time they launched when Moses did a big party. And he tells the most elaborate story of the Moses party for the launch of City TV in Vancouver.

And he has to tell it, but we come back to Vancouver weed and it's everywhere. And this extravagant party. And I think maybe, was there a, was there a, not a Molson Indy, but some kind of an, was there an Indy race in Vancouver? Okay, I should know that.

I used to watch Indy stuff back in the day. I just watched Ford versus Ferrari. And I was like, I used to watch Indy stuff back in the day. I just watched Ford versus Ferrari, and I was like, I used to watch this stuff. That's about cars, right? Yeah. I think so. So, well, this is just to say. As I look at your bike.

I think, yeah, that's right. One of my bikes is still outside because I didn't think there was room for all of us down here. But anyways, Daniel Toole took like the Miss Molson Indy or whatever she was from vancouver to this party and he tells a story amazing okay but you were you were there during the boring global days well so then i left and i i have my own uh crazy launch story and it doesn't

involve moses but i then go from vancouver where i had been anchoring the 1130 News, and I get hired to launch a new television station in Edmonton, A Channel, owned by the Craigs at the time. And so the Craigs decide that we're going to throw a huge party in Edmonton, and they block off the street, and they bring in bands, and Jan Arden is there, and Jan Arden plays. And I've been in Edmonton for all of like two and a half days at this point. And I'm the six o'clock news anchor, and I'm trying to figure out how to pronounce the names of the various communities.

I don't know anything. Athabasca. Yeah, exactly. Which way is that? East, west? Who knows? At that point, I have no idea. So anyway, we get the concerts going.

It's the big thing. And then they get Jan Arden up on stage with the president and the whole thing. And they do the big countdown. And they have this big sort of plunger that they're going to push. And then this is going to launch the station, you see. And we're hoopla. Right. And so they count it down.

Three, two, one. And they plunge the plunger down. And the generator goes down and everything goes to black. And it stays black for like 20 minutes. Wow. We the air you press the wrong button it's a complete sctv moment and hilarious the uh i asked my wife was uh born and raised in edmonton and i said i said do you remember you know h the a channel news she knew apparently it's a big deal like we didn't get one here but we had one in Barrie, I think. Yeah, well, that was sort of CTV rebranded.

A-Channel took that. It's not the same, quite the same thing. They sort of, you know, stopped the branding. It was kind of weird. So it was different. Okay, good. Because I don't remember one in Toronto, but I do know that A-Channel that was in Barrie,

whatever it was, they finally stopped calling it the new VR, and they were calling it the new VR for like 20 years or something. Like there should be a statute of limitation on how long you can call something new. Right. Anyway, that's... So if you're new kids on the block

and you're touring again, should you be... You're not the new kids on the block anymore. Should you be the geriatric kids on the block? I'm sure. That'll be the audience that they attract, I think, will be in their wheelchairs and they're bringing their canes, I think. So, okay.

But I asked my wife if she remembered you and she did not. So I just want you, I know that's not a nice thing to say to you. How long were you there? I was there for two years. I was there for two years and then I came back here and got a job here closer to home at Global. And I've been at Global for over 20 years now. Why did you leave beautiful Edmonton for this place? I got fired. Welcome. I've never heard that one before. You know, it just did not work out after the disaster

of the first two years. It just wasn't, it just wasn't working out. Because you pressed the wrong button. I, you know button. They just figured that maybe we just wipe away the last two years of the station. We'll put a new face in. And they went on to great things after. It was a good idea for them. Is it still A-Channel or did they rebrand it? It's a city property

now. Okay. I have so much to learn here. The other day, I think this gentleman worked with you somewhere, Scott Fox. Did you ever work with Scott Fox? He seems to, okay.

So he was on the air in, where the hell was he? That's terrible. Did Newmarket have a station? Somewhere up there. And yeah, okay, so scratch the story, but Scott Fox has fond memories of you, Alan. Oh, okay. Now he's going to be hurt when he hears that.

No, I know. This is horrifying. You've got to give me a little bit more than that. Yeah, I can't remember the rest. Terrible, terrible. Okay, we will move on elegantly. Oh, I feel terrible. No, I'm not going to sleep now.

Maybe he had a different name, Scott Chapman. I feel like he changed his name. Have you ever worked with a Scott? Many, many Scots over the years. All the Scots I know. So we got you back in Toronto working for Global, where you still are today. So I'm going to take a moment to give you some gifts

for coming all the way west of Yonge Street. That's fantastic. Do you drink beer? I do. I'm fond of the beer. That's the correct answer. So I have a six pack. By the way, if you didn't, I wouldn't judge you.

I would just take your beer from you. But there's a six-pack of Fresh Craft beer, courtesy of Great Lakes Brewery. They're ours, okay? You can buy them in LCBOs out east of Yonge, of course. But the retail store is in my hood here, not too far from here. And

great people. I want to say happy 50th birthday to their brewmaster, Mike Lackey, who is a good guy. What did I get you here? Oh, yeah. So I just picked this up yesterday. So if I had better eyes, I'd read the date. Is there a date in the bottom there?

You got glasses on. I don't have any. It seems to be this year of some kind. Are you suggesting it's fresh? Super fresh. Super fresh. Yeah. Is that a term? Super fresh. Absacker. Super fresh. Yeah. Is that a term?

Super fresh. Absacker. All right. So this one, okay, so January 2020. So this stuff has all just been canned. It's all very fresh. Yeah. Nice.

Oh, I love the lake effect. I like that. Is there an octopus wants to fight in here? I like that. Oh, there's the Canuck. I like that one. You know what? I can swap one out for an octopus.

No, I like them all. I'm a big fan. I've been out there a number of times. You know, when craft brew was a real news story and we were doing a lot of craft brew stuff, we'd always go out there. And they've always been very great, good to us. You know, let us come in, shoot, interview,

you know, do all the stuff you need. Good to hear. If they ever give you trouble, let me know. I will. I'll call you right away. You probably paid a visit there maybe when that buck a beer thing went down and all you guys were...

Well, yeah, that made a lot of news too because it was mostly ridiculous. Well, Troy there was telling me everybody at some point was either at his house or the brewery or whatever because everybody's trying to get a take on that story or whatever. But beer for you. I also have a fantastic frozen

lasagna. This is an empty box, but I have a frozen lasagna for you in the freezer upstairs. Tremendous. I look forward to that. I've heard other guests get lasagna. This is an empty box, but I have a frozen lasagna for you in the freezer upstairs. Oh, that's tremendous. Tremendous. I look forward to that. I've heard other guests get lasagna. I'm excited to get one as well.

Would you have been offended if I didn't give you one? I would wonder. I would wonder what was wrong with me. Like maybe I'd make a call early in the afternoon. Like, is this guy lasagna worthy? Lasagna.

No, no. Give him the beer, but no lasagna for that guy. For the rest of the episode, I'm going to pretend I'm talking to Nick Nurse. Is that cool? Sure, that's fine.

But here, I have a StickerU sticker for you. That's courtesy of StickerU.com. They have a bricks and mortar store on the Queens, almost at the Queensway. It's not the Queensway. It's Queen Street near Bathurst, 677 Queen Street West. You can go to StickerU there.

But of course, they're online. Everyone hearing my voice right now can probably, probably if you can go to sticker you there but of course they're online everyone hearing my voice right now can probably probably if you can hear me it means you have the internet and if you have the internet you can go to sticker you.com you can order any volume of a variety of things beyond stickers upload the image it's very slick very high quality stuff

I have the decals to my left here from sticker you they're good people everybody should should order stickers from sticker you and I have the decals to my left here from Sticker You. They're good people. Everybody should order stickers from Sticker You. And I have a book for you. Have you ever seen Stompin' Tom Connors? No, I never got to, I never saw Stompin' Tom. And I love his music, and I do. I remember back in the day, and I don't know who it was,

but I would go and see like Stompin' Tom tribute acts, you know downtown surprise the tribute act was actually a stomp and yeah it's a shock what was it a sim is there a simpsons reference i'm having a recall now where somebody says oh that waiter looks like john travolta and then the waiter says yeah looks like because it was Travolta. That's my imitation of the guy, John Travolta. And that would be the same thing. You go to see a Stompin' Tom tribute act, and it is Stompin' Tom.

He's his own tribute act. So this is by Banjo Dunk. I call him Banjo Dunk, but his real name is Duncan Fremlin. My good times with Stompin' Tom. And Duncan has recorded a message for us. So let's hear from Banjo Dunk. This is Banjo Dunk.

And for the last few weeks, you've been hearing my ads on Toronto Mic'd about the big Stompin' Tom show coming up on April 16th, 2020. But there's another Banjo Dunk production that's happening very soon. My music buddy Douglas John Cameron and I, known internationally as Doogie and Dunn, are going to be performing in Oakville at the Moonshine Cafe on February 27th

not too far from Toronto Mic Head Office. So if you live in Toronto, Oakville, Mississauga, Burlington, Milton and surrounding areas, you'll find all the information you need at themoonshinecafe.com. We look forward to seeing you on February 27th. Junk included Burlington on that list.

I think you're in on that one. B-Town. B-Town. Nelson High School. By the way, Bruce B-Town. Nelson High School. By the way, Bruce Dobigan went to Nelson High School. I found that out on your podcast. Okay. See, these names don't resonate with me,

so I don't retain them. Bruce Dobigan. No. Yeah. Remember? That name resonated. Nelson High School. Nelson Heights.

Did you know Carolyn McKenzie went to my high school? Well, you mentioned. You mentioned. You're slightly more famous than she is my high school? Well, you mentioned. You mentioned. You're slightly more famous than she is. Quick, quick, a few, even more famous than Carolyn, believe it or not, would be Cynthia Dale and her sister Jennifer Dale. Very nice. And Brendan Shanahan.

Well, look at that. Big deal. That's a big deal. Yeah. And now also Carolyn McKenzie. I just learned. So thank you to my classmates that I met at Lee's Palace for educating me.

Imagine I went my whole life without knowing that Carolyn McKenzie went to my high school. You'd be poorer for it. You'd be such a letdown there. Now, what did you do originally for the Global Toronto team when you got here in,

I think it was 99. Yeah, so in 1999, I began filling in for Sue Scambatti, a legendary crime reporter who had just gone on a mat leave. So that was my way in in Toronto when I was looking for work, and they said, well, okay, you can come in. So I covered a number of high-profile cases during her mat leave, and then after that, I just continued on.

She actually left shortly after coming back from her mat leave. And then I became the crime reporter. I was crime reporter for quite a while at Global. And then after that, they launched a morning show, an iteration that had since changed. It's not the same anymore, but I launched the Global Morning Show, and I was the anchor on the morning news for five years on Global. Okay.

Remind me, who was anchoring with you? Well, I couldn't keep an anchor, co-anchor, because they kept cycling through. So the late Christine Crosby. Oh, yes. I'm sorry. Yes. Was the initial anchor.

That's the saddest though. I mean, there's some, we talk about Christy Blatchford, but I mean, that's because her husband got hit on the bike. Yeah. Yeah. And then she passed away like a year later. Yeah, a year later. Poor children.

Terrible. Just terrible. And she was a joy to work with and so much fun. And so she anchored for a while. Zoraida Ullman, who is still at CTV, was anchor for quite a while on that show. Is this the, I'm trying to think, did Liza Fromer ever anchor? think, did Liza Fromer ever

anchor? No, so Liza Fromer, so then what happened is the 2008 meltdown happened, and the company at the time was owned still by the Asper family, and they lost control of it, and so basically that show went away.

And then when the Shaw family, when Shaw picked up Global after that, they decided to relaunch and that's when they brought in Liza and that was that new show. Gotcha. Because there's been a few, yeah.

I know we're talking about they're in a current one now. Yes, okay. So I'm trying to keep my Global Morning Show straight here, Alan. It's not as easy as it looks. No, it's not easy. Now take, but back,

before we get you to that, doing the morning news there, tell me about this police taser. Have you ever seen this? So this is, I believe, 2001, perhaps. So what happens is the Toronto Police call a news conference, and Dave Sabucci, who at the time was an attorney general, I believe, for the province, said, we're going to bring in this trial of this new weapon called Taser. And at this point, nobody really had ever heard of this thing, didn't know what it was.

And they said, we're going to demonstrate it. And so they hook up a retiring police sergeant, and they zap this guy so hard a retiring uh police sergeant and they zapped this guy so hard he drops to his knees and drops to the floor screaming and he's a big cop right and i think my goodness and then the thing is over and dwight drummond from city uh from cbc now right um he was there for city and he looks at me, and he says, I'm going to get tasered. And I said, you're going to do what? And I thought, well, if you're doing it, I'm doing it. And so I got to give, you know, cred to him.

He was the one that said to do it. So basically then they taped me up with the taser, and I did a stand-up, you know, where I delivered to a camera. And then they pulled the trigger, and 50,000 volts goes through me and I scream. I scream out in agony. And ever since then, the librarians at Global have that tape ready to go at any, anybody want, anybody want to see Alan screaming pain? I got it.

It's right here. It's queued up. No problem. Was there any like lingering effects? No, this was psychological or physical. No, this was... Psychological or physical? No, this was the most amazing thing about it. It was excruciatingly painful, and then it was gone, and it was done. And now, you know, we took a kind of cavalier approach to it.

Now, obviously, what happened in the years subsequent to that, you realize, okay, wait a minute. This is not, as advertised, a totally non-lethal weapon. We've seen time and time again that it can be lethal so do you have uh you feel like you dodged a bullet uh that's a poor expression well you know it was it was one of those pieces of tape that i dined out on you know every once in a while in your career you have moments like that right um for example i was knocked off the air live by tear gas during the 1997 Stanley cup riot in Vancouver.

And so, you know, you basically, you see the tear gas come in and I cough and I'm hacking up and I'm like, and I, I basically, I got work for a decade because of that piece of tape. And the same thing with this taser thing.

Right. Until then, you know, everybody did it. Next thing you know, some CNN clown is doing it. No, no,

it's like, well, that's not special anymore. Now you need to get waterboarded doing it. No, no, it's like, well, it's not special anymore. Now you need to get waterboarded. I need to, yeah, I really need to up my torture. I got to get some kind of other torture. Why does Vancouver riot? They seem to like to riot.

Now, we're not without our riots or anything, but it just seems like they are far more likely to riot in Vancouver than they are here. You have any hypothesis there? Well, I think that the, I think that in both cases, the Vancouver police totally mishandled it. They mishandled it in 97, and in the second riot,

they did the same thing. It was like, come on down. We're having a big viewing party. Well, that's not a good idea because the next thing you know, things get out of control. But we do it here. The Raptors just had a run.

We have big viewing. Is it more control? Have you been to Jurassic Park? I was in Jurassic Park on game six when we won. And it is so penned in. Right. They do different strategy, multiple pens. And all of these pens are not

full. It's not like they're jammed like you're at a rock concert or anything. There's a lot of room within each pen. And there's just simply no way for things to just go crazy. Now, it could have been, it could have happened after the celebration when we saw that chaos

Young Dunn does. And I think everybody is just really thrilled that the next morning it didn't because those kind of situations. But it's celebratory. I feel like if you lose, that's when things seem more likely to go sour. We've seen that the other way too. Didn't Montreal riot after they won?

Yeah, but they riot because the Guns N' Roses concert is delayed a couple hours. Vancouver did too. That's right. That Axl Rose has caused more riots. I saw him recently. He was right on time. It's like he's learned his lesson. So why am I holding my own? I bought this in 1989.

This is my Let Your Backbone Slide 12-inch by Maestro Fresh West. Why the hell am I holding this? Because you mentioned Dwight Drummond. And I need to let you know, you might know this already. Do you already know where I'm going? Like right now, do you know exactly where I'm going? No, I don't. Okay, good.

So there's no spoilers here. That Dwight Drummond is in the video for Let Your Backbone Slide. I did not know that. Yeah, because he was a security guy at City TV at the time. Right. And Joel Goldberg, shout out to FOTM Joel Goldberg,

he's one of the creators of Electric Circus. Yeah. He directed the video for Let Your Backbone Slide. And Dwight was doing, he was doing security, I think, for Electric Circus at the time. Dwight was one year behind me in RTA as well, so he went to school.

I went to school with him as well. Keep dropping those names. I need to know these RTA guys. There's a lot of them, eh? If you were going to be a media guy, I guess Ryerson was the place to go. Yeah, I think there's a lot more competition now, but back in the day,

certainly we all felt that this was the creme de la creme. I mean, I don't know if that's true or not. Sometimes when I would go and actually apply for jobs, you'd hear from employers like, I'm not going to hire a Ryerson grad. I'm not going to hire an RTA grad because you guys all come out of there thinking you know too much.

So that was a bit of a knock against us. I don't know what the rep is these days. It's like on The Simpsons, I'm going back to The Sim a knock against us. I don't know what the rep is these days. It's like on The Simpsons, and going back to The Simpsons twice now, I don't know why, but in the early days, all the writers went to Harvard. Whoever was hiring was a Harvard guy, and he kept hiring himself or whatever. So just don't hire

those Ryerson people. No, do, do, do hire. Is there any jobs left? I thought that there's a whole other story. I mean, check my Twitter. I post jobs every once in a while, you know, jobs within the global network. There are jobs. You know, it's the old thing when you're in this industry and you're in school,

inevitably somebody comes in to talk to you and just like, there's no jobs. I mean, we heard it back in the 80s. There's no jobs. And it's true. There are no jobs except for there are jobs. You know what I mean? Like that's back in the 80s. There's no jobs. And it's true. There are no jobs, except for there are jobs. You know what I mean? Like, that's the truth of the matter. Maybe it's radio where there's fewer jobs.

Radio, I think, I think radio has survived in a way that television broadcast, traditional broadcast television is in jeopardy, you know, in a way that radio is not. Could you elaborate on that since you brought it up? Well, you know, I think that, you know, I do a newscast that starts at 530 and it's, you know, it's on 530. And, you know, I think there's not a whole lot of things in your life these days that are like it's on at that time. It's, you know, generally you consume media now whenever you want. On demand. However you want it. And, you know, Global's done a great job in branching out into all of those different categories,

but we still have, obviously, we still have the big show, which is the traditional broadcast, which is still super important to the network. Okay, because you would be the man to ask that question to because you're a radio star and a television star. You're like the king of all media. I think that's, I don't know. Is that taken?

I can't remember if somebody's taken that or not. Well, I just coined it right now for you. Okay, thank you. All right, so you're, I guess it's 03, you make the jump to daytime television on morning news. And then what does it mean to be a Global Toronto's managing editor? Tell us, outsiders, what the hell that means. Okay, so after, I mentioned that the morning show

in its previous iteration was cancelled as things kind of went sour around 2008. And so out of that, I sort of had to decide, what am I going to do? You know, I'd been on TV for a long time, been a journalist in front of the camera for a long time, and I decided, well, you know, I've got a lot of opinions, so why don't I

take that into management? So I took a management job and being managing editor means you're essentially responsible for the day-to-day operations of the news organization. You report to the news director who's senior to you, but you're sort of down in the trenches every day, assigning all the stories. Like a showrunner? Kind of. Kind of. Every morning, we have a managing editor, Simon Osler, who's our current managing editor. He runs a morning meeting in the morning saying, these are the stories we're going to cover today. He talks to the reporters, assigns them,

and then monitors that progress throughout the day, then vets the news stories when they come in to make sure that they're right and factual. It's a pretty intense job. It does sound intense. So you're kind of doing that, but at the same time, you're an on-air presence as well. I wasn't on-air at that point. So that was off the air for a couple of years for me.

And I enjoyed it and I learned a ton. But then what happened is all of a sudden my dream job opened up and that was to be the Queen's Park Bureau Chief. And, you know, I'd worked in, I love politics, and I'd worked sort of covering politics around the edges for many years, but I'd never been embedded in a legislature, not in Victoria, not in Edmonton, not here previously. And when that job came open, I just basically,

I just lobbied as hard as I could, and I got it. Well, good for you. Good for you. And you did that for five years. Yeah, and I just, and I got it. Good for you. Good for you. And you did that for five years. Yeah, and it was so much fun. I began when the writ dropped. It cropped in 2011, the election McGinty versus Hudak that McGinty squeaks out, and he gets his major minority

where he's one seat shy of a majority. And that was just an incredible ride to watch that, and then to watch that minority and watch it fall apart with Dalton basically being chased from power. Do you have a favorite guest during this period of your professional life? Like a particular, I don't know, cabinet minister? Even any political guest that would be like, was your favorite because maybe surprised you?

Well, I always enjoyed speaking with former finance minister Charles Souza. We had some sort of famous, well, famous, maybe stretching it, but we had some back and forths a couple of times that sort of made news where I would kind of go after him. I remember once in a budget lockup, so this is where you're in the lockup and you spent the whole day pouring over the budget. And then the finance minister comes in and you get a chance to ask him. And I just basically grilled him for a minute and a half about why he was making life more expensive for ordinary people and then put that on TV. And he made the cardinal error of addressing me by name, which is not like when you're

really going at it, he said, geez, Alan. And then I just took, geez, Alan. And I just made that, you know, a promo for the next year. That's why I always enjoyed talking to Charles. He's a Mississauga guy, right? Yes, of course, yeah. I bike by his signs all the time. I was, yeah, you know, I always, if I bike through your signs, then I know who you are.

There we go. So, what do you do after being a Queen's Park, uh, bureau chief? So I'm the Queen's Park bureau chief. And then suddenly, uh, we have an opening at Global for the lead anchor. Um, and you know, I had talked about, you know, the Queen's Park job was something that was a dream job for me. I always wanted it, but I almost didn't let myself believe that I would get back to being a six o'clock anchor. I just didn't, you know, I kind of thought, well, you know, maybe the ship has sailed on that.

And all of a sudden in 2015, it opened up and I had a shot at it and I applied and I don't know, maybe they think I have pictures or something. I don't know what, but anyway, they gave me the job and here I am. That's a big deal, right? Because now, you know, they got to put you on plaster, your face around the city. Yeah, and shortly after that, there was my face on a bus. And I'd be driving down the road on Queen, on Queen East, and you'd look over, and the giant, your own giant face. Did you get used to that?

No, you never get used to it. And the kids are in the back seat going, hey, Dad, there you are. How many kids you got? I got two kids. I got a 14-year-old girl who's in grade 9 and a 11-year-old boy in grade 6. Yeah, that would be a good age to see your dad. He's like, hey, Dad.

And then they complain bitterly. And you're like, oh, there you are again. That's funny. So you're basically, you owe a great boost of your career here to Leslie Roberts. Is that correct? Yeah, it was, you know, unfortunate what happened with Leslie, you know, but that's how I got where I am. Well, you know, doors open and doors close and you got to, yeah, you walk right through. That's cool, man.

So who's your co-host on the Global News? Farah Nasser is the co-host, and she's just amazing, and we have a really good time together. And, you know, we're different kind of journalists, and I think we complement each other, and, you know, we challenge each other, and it's great. It's a lot of fun. Did you have to pass a chemistry test? We did. We did, actually.

You know, she came in and read with me, and, you know, we sort of did some stuff back and forth to see whether or not, you know, we were like oil and water. And I guess they decided, I'll tell you a quick story about the audition I did. So yeah, in the global news studio, it's a virtual studio, which means I basically, I sit in a green room. It's just a giant green room. There's nothing there. When you watch the newscast, you see all that stuff behind us.

That's just all chroma keyed in. That's, that's just all. Okay keyed in. That's just all technology. Okay, I didn't know that. So one of the golden rules or the green rules in television is you can't wear green. You're not allowed to wear green. Well, the day I came in for my audition, this is a time when fancy socks was a thing. For whatever reason, I wear green socks. And so I have to sit on the stool and do this kind of conversation and my

ankles key out. So I am the guy with no ankles. So I think that's how I got the job. I stood out because what about the guy with no ankles? How about him? Yeah, that's actually, I would tune in just to see a guy with no ankles. The guy's got Mr. Invisible ankles. That would be my selling point. I'd stick that on all those billboards I see. So Farah Nasser, you had good chemistry, obviously, because you got the gig.

And how long have you been doing the global news with her? I think since 2015. That's when we started in 2015, in the spring of 2015. Okay, real talk. Would you recommend that she do an episode of Toronto Mic'd? Because I would happily have her on the program. She's famous. She's amazing.

Is she more famous than you? Yeah, absolutely, 100%. Because she's better looking than you. It's got nothing to do with, first of all, I disagree fundamentally with that. But she's amazing. I truly am her biggest fan. She didn't go to my high school.

Well, there's that. You know my rule. If you didn't go to my high school. Well, there's that. You know my rule. If you didn't go to my high school, you don't get on Toronto Mike Tears. And tell me, okay, I got a nice comment from a Charles Brandt. I don't know if you're related to Charles or not, but he says,

I think he is one of the best in the business. I really enjoy Focus Ontario on Sundays. Oh, thanks. Is that your burner account? Are you Charles Brandt? Yeah, that's right. Thanks, Dad. Appreciate you putting that in there.

That's nice. It's really gratifying when I hear from people who are fans of Focus. Focus Ontario is a labor of love. It's a political affairs program that runs on Saturday at 5.30 p.m. and Sunday at 11.30 in the morning. It really is. It's a no budget.

It's just basically me and a producer. And we just, we pour into Ontario things and Ontario politics, really deep dive. And it's a real labor of love. So do you speak to active politicians? Yeah. So like right now we're in the midst of interviewing all of the candidates for the liberal leadership, one by one doing interviews with them. Often I have ministers on, premiers on. You know, yeah, it's a look at politics and political issues in Ontario. Okay, I got to ask you a question

because I've had a rule since I started this podcast that no active politicians. So we'll never have to worry about taking each other's guests. Well, that's good to know because I don't want to have to fight you. Well, sometimes somebody might do both. Who knows? But I have the rule because I am of the opinion that active politicians just read like talking points and they don't go off script.

I mean, I know your show is very different. That is a challenge. very different that's a that is a challenge and and as a political journalist part of your part of the challenge for you is to try and move a politician past descriptive talking you rough them up like uh and you know and sometimes it is verbally roughing them up and being aggressive and trying and interjecting and stuff and this is where it gets really, where experience comes in and it's hard. Because to be a good interviewer, you know, there has to be a combination of interrupting people when they're just going off on their own thing. Right. And also being respectful. you just keep interrupting and trying to needle somebody, whether or not, if the viewer begins

watching the interview, you know, anti the politician, they can quickly turn to be anti you because you're being rude. Right. They think you're being mean. You're being mean. And all of a sudden the sympathy turns immediately. So you have to be very, very careful how you structure your questions. Make sure you ask very pointed questions and limit your interruptions.

I don't think we have any, I don't believe we have any active politicians in this country that are flat earthers. But like, for example, you have on an act, let's say you have a, let's pretend there's one and you're talking and they're talking, but you, you, there are, there are sometimes you need to, you need to like assert reality or if somebody's full of crap crap like you can uh you gotta call them you can call you gotta call them out you can't just let them explain why the earth is flat for well for example you know i i haven't had the opportunity to do this recently but you know every time that uh doug ford talks about well we inherited a $15 billion deficit from the Liberal government. It's not true. It's not true.

And he said it prior to the point when we actually knew whether it was true or not. And then the auditor went through the numbers and said, it's not true. And he still says it. Right, of course he does. And you'll call him out on your program. And so we call him out for that.

I hope Pagan's calling him out too. I got to make sure FOTM. Bacon is my hero. You know, listen, I tell you what, I just talked about that skill set of being pointed and being nice. That guy is so nice while he's asking you. You know, I agree with you. I agree with you.

He kills you of kindness. He really does. And that is, I tell you, that's a skill. That is, and I learned from him. Do you think I should have active politicians on Toronto? As a listener, and I'm not asking you as the guy who hosts Focus Ontario. You know, if you had somebody with an interesting personal, you know, story, then I'd be interested in that. I'm not interested in hearing what their particular issue of the day is. I don't think that's what your show succeeds at. No, and I'm bored thinking about it.

So I realize I like my rule. And this only came up recently because I had a, not my show, but I produced Ralph Ben-Murgy's show, Not That Kind of Rabbi with Ralph Ben-Murgy. And he had a conversation. Ralph's, yeah, I'm going to see him Friday. He's coming here Friday. In fact, I think I have an episode with Mike Wilner on Friday, and I think I'm going to see him Friday. He's coming here Friday. In fact, I think, I have an episode with Mike

Wilner on Friday, and I think I'm going to open up a third mic and let Ralph be on the episode too. So it'll be like Ralph Ben-Murray and Mike Wilner. Just because I never think of them together. So I just think it'd be fun to throw them together and see how that goes. But, Ralph Ben-Murray had Kathleen Wynn as a

guest on his program. And I was there for it because I'm producing the show. it was she was great like she was fantastic yeah and she's you know she's still an mpp so she's technically an active she's active politician still even though she's not leader anymore and me and her we had for a variety of reasons because i uh she heard me tell a story about it uh with sean mccullough fromough from Toronto Star and she wrote me a nice note and I wrote it back. We went back and forth a few times and basically she said she would be delighted to do Toronto Mic'd

and I told her my rule. So basically the day after she steps down is not running for MPP or whatever, I will invite her on. But I think I'm going to stick with that, but that's what brought this all up to my thought, like my rule. Well, you know, rules are made to be broken maybe, but I'm not brought this all up to my thought, like my rule. Like, well, you know, rules are made to be broken maybe,

but I'm not going to break this one quite yet. But you have to break it for Focus Ontario and it sounds like Charles Brandt tells me that you're one of the best in the business.

That's nice. Thanks, Charles. Appreciate that. That's fantastic here. I'm going to play a little clip of, because you're a global news anchor and this is a very short clip

of a gentleman who's still with us, but a guy my age, remember, Peter Truman. So I'm just going to play, just Mark Weisblatt, let me know. He's still going. He's like 86 years old, I think, and a little bit of Peter Truman. The Israeli cabinet has rejected a public inquiry into the Palestinian camp massacre.

U.S. Marines are steaming towards Beirut to take up peacekeeping duties. And the Ontario government has introduced a 5% wage restraint program for civil servants. I'll have details at 11. I love that teletype sound in the background. You should just, you know, you already have the virtual. I should bring that back. Bring that back.

I like it. You know, the truth of the matter is, growing up in Burlington, I watched him. And I thought to myself, and no word of a lie, I thought to myself, I want to do that back. I like it too. You know, the truth of the matter is, growing up in Burlington, I watched him, and I thought to myself, and no word of a lie, I thought to myself, I want to do that job. I'm a high school student, and I'm like, I want to do that job. And now I am doing

it. And here's something else. The producer of the program that I do, that's his son. His son works at Global, Mark Truman. His grandson, Devin Truman, also works at Global. There is a lot. It's a Truman mafia, actually.

They should have called that show the Truman Show. It really, the whole station should be named just the Truman Channel. Because Peter, he quit, right? Like over some principle or something. There's some legend there. Yeah, that I, you know what? That I don't know. I think I might have been in Vancouver

when that happened, but I'm not sure. Interesting. Okay, that's very interesting. So what, in your opinion, because I want to talk about some radio stuff and some of your extracurricular activities I'm interested in, but what... Oh boy, that sounds dirty. It's like when I DM'd Carolyn McKenzie. It's not dirty, it just sounds dirty, but

what makes a good anchor? Like, what's a good anchor now? And I ask this and also maybe because, you know, the National, for example, they had one guy married to someone who went to high school with me, actually, but they had Peter Mansbridge, and then they tried four people. And now I see it's down to two again.

So they're obviously figuring it all out. It's like news anchor thunderdome. Like four anchors enter, one anchor leaves. Right. So what you tell me as a global Toronto news anchor, what makes a good anchor? I think for everybody, it's something different. I think it's an ability to identify,

for the audience to identify with the person that's giving information. It's trust. It's about being able to give the news. Like everybody's got the news. You can get news anywhere. But how am I going to give you the news? What is it that I give you in terms of the delivery of the news,

even just how do I read the intro to the way I package it, the way I put the stuff together. And what I bring to the table, I like to think, is a critical eye, an analysis of the day's events, and an eye for accountability to say, all right, people in power, answer some questions. Why is it that our streets are so increasingly unsafe? You know, I feel like we're at an absolute tipping point in this city about vulnerable road users, and I know that I'm increasingly frightened when I'm out in the streets as a pedestrian or cyclist.

And I think that it's time for journalists to be active about asking very, very pointed, hard questions to the people in power. Why are we not doing more? Are you getting results? I'm a cyclist. I need to know these things. I think that they're in a – I wouldn't say that it's me that's getting the results,

but I think that there is that sea change, and you are seeing that increasing – and I come back to this is what makes a great news anchor, is someone who can be that focal point of that and focus the attention of the public and say, look what is happening on our streets and what will we do about it and why are we allowing our elected politicians to get away with not doing something. Now I'm trying to decide, i want to radio or maybe i'll come to radio in a moment here let me ask you so i hear that you uh compete in endurance races oh yeah this is so you're reading from a bio that's going embarrassingly back a few days a few years decades perhaps well let's update this bio i know i know i gotta get on that uh but it's it's true i used to uh and i

haven't for a while but i used to do those 24 hours of uh adrenaline remember those things have you ever done one of those no so it's like so it's a mountain biking event where you go and you can get a team of you know 4 10 20 whatever and you go and the thing starts the race starts at noon on saturday and it ends on noon on sunday and it's how many laps can your team put in? Oh, it sounds cool. And it's great. It's great.

Like Ford versus Ferrari is about Le Mans, okay? This sounds like it's Le Mans on a bicycle. And so they do them here. I haven't heard recently if they're still doing them out in Bolton. But I did one in Canmore, and it just about killed me. But it was a lot of fun. So this wasn't last summer or anything? No.

It makes you sound cool. Maybe that's why it's in there. Well, that's why I leave it in there is it makes me sound cool. And I think we like, if we find out you're fit and active for some reason that fuels the whole branding thing is like you're, I don't know.

I'm very fit. Virile and relevant and all these important things we need from our anchors. Absolutely. By the way, do you enjoy Anchorman? Is that a movie you enjoy more because you're an anchor? It's one of those movies that when I first saw it, I was like, whatever. But then it's the cumulative bits that are just so awesome.

Like Jack Black booting a dog. It comes back. My favorite movie is Big Lebowski, which, you know, it's just really, as a movie, I don't know if it really works as an entire movie, but it is a series of great quotes. That's right. You know, careful there's a beverage here. That rug really tied the room together.

Yeah. There's a lot of great Lebowski quotes. I love that movie, too. When I was in Iceland, I went to the Big Lebowski. It was, I could tell it was unlicensed or whatever, unsanctioned or whatever, but there's a Big Lebowski restaurant in, I never say it right, you're the anchor, Rejikovic?

Rejikovic? How do you say the... Rejikovic. Why do I put a J in there? There is a J, but it's Icelandic. Oh, it's silent. It's Bjorki. The J is silent. Yeah, Bjork, that's right. All my Iceland, sugar cubes, all the Iceland references here. Okay, so maybe this is also false.

Tell me if this is also false. Do you still longboard? Yeah, that I do. Okay, so that's accurate. Let me just get a check mark there. Accurate. And of course, you're an East Ender. And tell me about,

I'm naturally curious about biking. So what kind of bike, do you still bike? Yeah, I do. I still yeah i do i still i'm mountain bike i'm exclusively mountain biker i don't bro i'm everybody's gone to roadie uh being roadies these days and so i find myself alone in the forest more and more there's all my all my buds are now you know gone to blacktop i'm hybrid but which means i'm you're not going to find me in the forest there but uh i i because i find road bike like there's too many potholes and stuff like it's too i I'm a hybrid guy.

So I own, I own a couple of hybrid bicycles, but you're a mountain bike guy. Yeah. Tell me about the trails before we get to the radio stuff and. The Don is unbelievable. The Don, it's, I, you don't, I don't, people don't realize it's there.

If you drive up and down the Don Valley. So if you're driving north in the Don Valley, it's on your left-hand side, there's the Innscarpa. And you know, and you see it in the summertime. It's all, you know, treed in and everything. But in through there are incredible trails, just jaw-dropping and frightening, like challenging, challenging terrain. And you can often, I go in there and you forget, I'm in the middle of a city, a huge metropolis.

And to have that right there, I ride there from my house. It's amazing. Okay, I now realize, and I mentioned it briefly when I told the Kathleen Wynne story, but you now need to listen to the Sean McAuliffe episode of Trot Night. I see. Because he's, yeah, cycling to, yeah, go ahead. I'm a huge fan of his. And I was just thinking the other day about his Twitter feed and how he goes around the

city and takes pictures and just, you know, you sort of experience the city with him. And I thought, man, that's a great idea. I wish I'd fan of his. And I was just thinking the other day about his Twitter feed and how he goes around the city and takes pictures. And just, you know, you sort of experience the city with him. And I thought, man, that's a great idea. I wish I'd thought of that first. And he does stuff I never think to do. Like he skis the city. Yeah. And he experiences it in all kinds of different ways.

I love his content. And I asked him about some of his favorite trails and he started naming some. And I really think you would benefit from hearing that just because you're out there riding the trails across trails across ontario on your mountain bike so very cool and i'm with you because i'm uh i because i don't get that far east that often but i have you know several times over the past few years you know gone up the dawn trail so i'll take the waterfront trail and then bust uh bust north on it and it's fantastic like Like for a guy, I grew up with the Humber trails. Like I'm a

Humber trail guy but yeah, you've got some great stuff going on over there. When you hit Pottery Road next time when you're going north, just stay to the left and get up into the woods there. It's just gorgeous. Wow. Okay. I'm going to do that for sure. Okay. Terry.

Terry says, ah, I'm going to put a pin in Terry. Do you say that on the news? Is that a cliche that people drop? No, I don't. Putting a pin in Terry. No one says that, Mike. No one says that?

Where did I hear that? Okay, I want to let people know. So we've had a lot of talk about you. You're in Toronto's beaches there on the east end. And here I am in New Toronto, which is nestled between Long Branch and Mimico. And if anyone listening has any questions at all about Toronto real estate, please text Toronto Mike, one word, to 59559. The Keitner Group have partnered with Toronto Mike to fuel the real talk. And I sincerely

believe Austin Keitner can help you out. So engage Austin. No obligation to actually do anything or sign anything. Have a conversation with Austin by texting Toronto Mike to 59559. Now back to Terry, who says, I'd love to know what interested him in having a noontime radio show in addition to his other gigs. Weren't his weekdays already pretty damn busy? I do like how his, and you put the Twitter handle,

which is AM640, even though they're Global News Radio Talk 640. It's still, yeah. What is the title? Global News Radio. Global News Radio Talk 640. But yeah, the Twitter handle is still at AM640. But he says,

it lets you frequently play with your lighter side. So yeah, let us know, how did this come to be that you're on 640 every weekday? It has been an incredible journey. I've been doing it since March of last year. So I'm, you know, coming up on a year of doing it. I've always loved radio, always loved the immediacy. And so I just kind of went and pitched this to the powers that be. I had been up until the 2018 election still Queen's Park Bureau Chief,

but we have Travis Danranish there now, and who is an incredible reporter. Right, he came from CP24. That's right. And he has great context, and he's doing an amazing job. So without being the Queen's Park Bureau Chief anymore, I was looking around for, okay, what's my next challenge? What's the next thing that's going to really excite me? And so this opportunity came up and I have enjoyed it immensely.

It is terrifying. It is totally different. You know, I come from a world of, you know, 30 seconds. You have 30 seconds to fill to now they say you have 15 minutes to fill. And I think, what do you mean? Like, I don't, where's the teleprompter? That's right. Burgundy.

It comes naturally to you, but you kind of have to work on the muscle, right? Like maybe it was always natural to you. Well, I mean, I love to talk about the news, right? And I love, I mean, I would do it. I just sort of realized at the end of the day, I'm doing this anyway. You know, it's just I'm boring my colleagues or making my wife crazy, you know?

So that's when I just do it on the radio. Okay. Any aspirations to, and again, long may Stafford run, okay? So long may he run. But any aspirations at some point to maybe do the morning show? You're sort of like the chorus John Moore, if you will. You know what I mean?

Like you could go head to head with him. And any thoughts to do such a thing? Well, I mean, first of all, John Moore is incredible. I'm a big fan of his, but I'm also a huge fan of Staff's. So, I mean, I think that that says that. No, but I prefaced it. I was careful. I'm also a huge fan of staffs. So, I mean, I think that that says that. No, but I prefaced it. See how intense? I was careful.

I'm learning. So long may staff rhyme, but let's say staff wins a lottery. Well, okay. And he quits because he doesn't need the money anymore. I would love to do more on radio. I hope I'm getting better. I'm really glad to hear from,

you know, I'm so really humbled when people say that they like the show or, you know, that they've listened in and they like what they hear. So I want to do more. I want to get better. Have you, again, I'm getting, most of this episode is me asking you if you've heard episodes of my podcast, but have you heard the Mike Stafford?

He's got two. I have not. You've got to check out the Stafford episode. I don't know. I didn't see that. I've got to check that out. He even kicks out the jams. Awesome. In fact, yeah, if you want to get to know Stafford better, listen to him kick out the jams on Toronto Mike. So you're on, okay, so just to get this right,

it's every day at noon, every Monday to Friday at noon to 1 p.m. Yep. GNR, I like to call it, but it's a global news radio talk 640. Is it just you? And give us a little idea of what to expect when we tune in. So it's a lot of, you know, my perspective of having been a working journalist now for 20 years in the city and knowing what I know about how process works. And, you know, and sometimes process can be super boring, but sometimes it can be very illuminating. And what I try and bring to the table is, you know, okay, so you heard the soundbite in the newscast.

All right, let me take you to the press conference and let me tell you, you know, okay, what's not being said or how it's being said and how that shapes. Or, you know, listen to the soundbite and be able to recognize that's a talking point because they said it three times i'll play it for you three times and so to take you behind the the scene with the news and really get an understanding of what's going on on a deeper level and then i tell uh bad jokes too that's that's my job okay here's a quote from

the uh like the uh i guess this is the official page for this. Cheeky and a little daring, it's radio that promises to never ask how often you floss. That's true. Who wrote that? Who wrote that wonderful line? That's me. You don't want to know how, you should, should we floss more often? Is there anything that makes you feel worse as an adult than when you get, you know, castigated by the dental hygienist? Hygienist, yeah.

Every single time. Like, this is a common thing. Does any point, and I said this to my wife the other day, I said, do you think the dental hygienist says to anybody ever, oh, floss less? She said, they said that to me last time. I'll tell you what really kind of put a light bulb over my head, went off when I, at some point in my life, the hygienist did the usual, are you flossing every day or whatever? And she's lovely. And I think I told her, yes, of course. And then she does the, you know, some scaling and cleaning and checkup and stuff.

And she said, it looks fantastic. It looks great. Keep it up. Meanwhile, I totally lied. So like she believed me that because she does the whole thing up and stuff and she said it looks fantastic it looks great keep it up meanwhile i hadn't i totally lied so like she believed me that because she does the whole thing and she even does the there's a you know she got the pick in there and she's flossing she didn't want to call you out man she knows you're lying no she i could i could tell she would have called me out and she'd be like are you sure because there's some problems here so i think that this flossing thing i'm not saying i'm

not telling people not to floss, but I mean, I'm not sure it's as necessary as they would have had us led to believe. You know, I don't know. I don't know. You know, I need to know your thoughts on flossing. This is,

this is a slippery slope into anti-vaxxism right here. Next thing you're going to, you know, argue against vaccinations or something. Careful. You're on a slippery slope here. I have a rule here at Toronto Mike, no guest who doesn't have up-to-date vaccinations.

You had to bring your yellow immunization form with me. The anti-vaxxers. No, not welcome. But are you friendly with Gene Valaitis from the Jesse and Gene show? Do you know him at all? No. Okay. Then this comment seems a little weird to me, but I'll read it.

I actually thought it was an inside joke because he's your bud, but Gene's a bit, Gene's an FOTM. He's a little bit. Maybe I know. Now I feel bad. No, you wouldn't forget.

I don't think you would, if you were friendly, if you knew Gene Volaitis, I think you would, you know, ask him why he chose the nudist lifestyle north of Toronto Resort for summer weekends. So this is, I thought it was your buddy having fun with you, but this is just nonsense. You know, hey, I like being in my birthday suit as much as the next guy,

but just enjoy that mental picture, by the way. I'm going to ban Gene Valaitis from asking any future guests any questions at all. Okay, so what day is this, Wednesday? So, okay, so you're done for the... No, from here I'm getting in the car. I've got to go to Don Mills. I've got to do another TV show. Why can't they let you do your radio show from there?

They want you in the studio. Yeah, so it's kind of a weird thing. We have these two studios and we do the morning show from Chorus Key. That's where you see the morning show come from but the noon program and the 5 30 and the 11 all come from don mills and that's because it's virtual it's because that's where the control room is so even when you're watching the morning show coming out of course the you know the director and the switcher and all of those people are still in don mills so on a normal and a typical day you you go to chorus key yeah and you do your thing there and then you go home no then i go directly to don mills

okay so there's a lot of uh prep work yeah so then i'm you know i i'm in a series of editorial meetings throughout the course of the day um and you know trying to help uh shape the content as as best i can um you know and then getting ready for the content as best I can and then getting ready for the 5.30. And then, you know, Mike, I've got to put a lot of makeup on. I mean, at my age... How long did that really take? Well, they do it with a trowel now that we have HD.

Oh, and now that I've got cameras in here, I might need to hire a makeup artist myself. You might want to do that. You're looking a little sweaty. Oh, yeah, but I did just bike here. Oh might need to hire a makeup artist myself. You might want to do that. You're looking a little sweaty. Oh, yeah, but I did just bike here. Oh, all right. Fine. So I have a good excuse. All right, my friend. Is there anything else you want to share with everybody? I'm so glad

you came. I'm so thrilled to have been here. This has been a lot of fun. Was it everything you hoped it would be? It really is. That and free beer, too. It's just... and a lasagna. Well, maybe... Don't skip on the lasagna, by the way. Yeah. Don't forget on the lasagna, by the way. Don't forget. I was going to say, don't forget. Lowest.

Love it. I close every episode of this song because they close every episode, every episode, they close every concert with this song. I don't remember if I've ever seen the low. I know they have ended concerts about this, but

I've seen them several times over the last few years alone and every concert has ended with Rosie and Gray. It's fantastic, right? And it's got that long, not that I'm using it right now, but I could... You have to pay royalties on this?

No, but they know I use it because they've been on the show five times, lowest or low. Those are great guys. They're really good. That's a whole separate, the whole royalties thing. There is no such...

You had Bedini on here shortly. I'm sorry to interrupt. No, no. I love Bedini. Yeah, yeah. Bedini's great too. But there is no mechanism. There is no way for me to say,

here's my wallet. How do I legally play this song? This does not exist for podcasts. I actually would happily, I would consider it a business expense, depending on the numbers, obviously, but I would like to legally play copyrighted music. I would love

that to exist. That mechanism does not exist. This is a whole separate thing. I'm a pet peeve of mine. I have two options. I can not play copyrighted music, yawn boring, or I could do what I've been doing and then suffer the consequences,

but I wish there was a third option where I could just pay money and do it legally. Can you do a global news report on podcasts

and copyrighted music? Yeah, dig right in. I'll blow that open. I'm going to blow it open, Mike. All right, shout out to Robbie J

who's working hard on the Chorus podcast at Chorus Key. He would probably love to be able to legally play copyrighted music

as well. And that brings us to the end of our 583rd show. You're going to get a tattoo

that says 583? You know it. Where's it going to go? Oh, show me later. Show me later. You can follow me on Twitter. I'm at

Toronto Mike. Alan is at ACarterGlobal. ACarterGlobal. Our friends at Great Lakes Brewery are at Great Lakes Beer. Palma Pasta is at Palma Pasta. Palma, did you say pasta or pasta? Pasta. Pma, did you say pasta or pasta?

Pasta. Pasta, pasta. Okay, I'm doing it wrong. Sticker U is at Sticker U. The Keitner Group are at The Keitner Group, K-E-I-T-N-E-R. And Banjo Dunk is at Banjo Dunk. See you all tomorrow when my guest is Jamie Campbell, who went to university with Alan Carter. This podcast has been produced by TMDS and accelerated by Roam Phone. Roam Phone brings

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