Toronto Mike'd: The Official Toronto Mike Podcast - Alex Pierson: Toronto Mike'd #253

Episode Date: July 20, 2017

Mike chats with Alex Pierson about her years at City TV and the rise and fall of the Sun News Network.

Welcome to episode 253 of Toronto Mic'd, a weekly podcast about anything and everything. Proudly brought to you by Great Lakes Brewery, a local independent brewery producing fresh craft beer. And propertyinthesix.com, Toronto real estate done right. I'm Mike from torontomike.com and joining me as broadcaster, Alex Pearson. Welcome, Alex. Good to be with you. Does that mean the six-pack in front of me is mine for the drinking? Here, if it wasn't for you, you'd feel misled, right? That would be great deception. Here's a six-pack and you don't get to take it home. No, absolutely. You're taking that home with you.

In fact, I was saving this for later, but let's talk about it right now. That is from the sponsor Great Lakes Brewery. They're not far from here. They're a great local craft brewery. And yeah, that six-pack is all yours. Aren't you sweet? Yeah, it's a nice little prop.

Good branding. Good branding. And it gets better because you're going to need a nice pint glass to drink that Great Lakes beer in. So there's a pint glass, courtesy of Brian Gerstein. You have his information. So that's from propertyinthesix.com. Awesome. This is good branding, good promotion. I'm glad you approve. I was excited to have you. You have such a great broadcasting resume. Do I?

Yeah. There you go. I've been lucky. And if you're happy with the presentation of the brands, then I feel like I've done a good job. So there you go. I actually got more to say about Brian. Usually I do this later, but we're getting this out of the way nice and early. You've messed up my whole schedule, Alex,

but that's okay. Propertyinthe6.com Call Brian at 416-873-0292 if you're planning to buy and or sell in the next six months. Just by meeting Brian, you'll receive a free property in the six pint glass, along with

a six pack of Great Lakes beer, just like Alex just received. So give Brian a call. Again, Brian Gerstein is a real estate sales representative with PSR Brokerage, and a heck of a guy. I think he's on his way to Cooperstown to, uh,

maybe it's already happened, but, uh, uh, Tim rains from the expos made, uh, the baseball hall of fame. And I believe Brian's making a road trip cause he grew up a diehard expos

fan. So give Brian a shout, have a conversation and get the, get the beer in the pint glass that Alex just received. I got a friend. People know him as Brother Bill. He was on CFNY. Yeah.

And you know Brother Bill? I do, yeah. I haven't seen him in a long, long time. Well, you know why? He's, yeah, he's now, he's going by his real name now, Neil Morrison, and he's in near Vancouver, I think, like White Rock, Surrey. Yeah, I got to know him a couple of, now I can actually say decades. Isn't that scary?

I think we're the same vintage. We are, but I've known him for a while now, and good guy, and I'm glad to see him get back on his feet. I don't know, because they let him go at that station in White Rock. So I don't know what on his feet is, but he seems like he's happy. He seems like he's doing stuff. And I think at this point in this business, if you're doing stuff, then you're just happy. You know what?

Yeah, I think Neil's a happy guy. And if Neil ever does make his way back to Toronto, even for just a trip or something, a vacation or whatever, he's going to come in this basement and talk about his years on CFNY because I've got lots of Edge 102 CFNY questions for the guy. He's going to come on. But he tells me, so he sends me a note. He tells me that you were a punk

rocker in Hamilton back in the day. Is that right? Yeah. Born and raised in Hamilton. And I did love rock. Like I was fully into, at one point, slash metal, going off to see like Pantera and Slayer and all that. But I was into punk. You know, the Ramones, Dayglo Abortions. Teenage Head. I'm like, finally I got

someone into punk rock from Hamilton so I can play a couple of Hamilton punk bands. These guys, by the way, played my graduation. Get out of here. Yeah, I mean, this was a Hamilton band, and we all knew each other. And so, yeah, who else would play your grad? That's amazing, because most of us get some shitty DJ playing. That's amazing.

It's amazing that we can swear. I didn't know that, but thank you for giving me that. No, like the Forgotten Rebels and Teenage Head, all those great bands, they were playing our grads. So it was very kind of cool. Did you say Forgotten Rebels? I did. Surfing on Heroin.

You know it. Tell Me You Love Me. This is the other, I always think of the two Hamilton punk bands I know of anyway. Play a little of this. This is Forgot teaser to tell everybody now that you're not here to kick out the jams, even though we're kicking out some jams right now. But you did tell me your favorite song, which I have ready to go. So later in this episode, we'll play and discuss your favorite song. It's like

a teaser. I love music. Music's a very big thing for me. My friend, by the way, dated the drummer of this band when she was in high school. Yeah? Yeah. Get out of here. Pretty funny. He was a wee bit older than her by a couple of decades, but yeah. Hamilton had a great thriving music scene.

Tell me, like, okay, so Hamilton's one of, like, I've been there a few times. You know, I've seen big bands

like the hip at the Cops Coliseum and stuff. I've been to Hamilton. It seems so close. Like, I feel like I could throw a rock

and hit Hamilton, but like, what was it like growing up in Hamilton? Loved it. I tried valiantly to get my husband to go back because I desperately wanted to move back. I love it. I tried valiantly to get my husband to go back because I desperately wanted to move back.

I love Hamilton. I had a great upbringing. I was exposed to a lot of fun things. And I think it gets a really kind of hard rap. But I love it. Beautiful homes, affordable homes, nice lifestyle. And when I grow up, I was like hanging out, seeing a lot of good live music and stuff so

i have nothing but good things to say i read recently that it's uh hamilton's the new brooklyn did you read that it's interesting because you know my family has a really deep rooted interest in hamilton my grandfather built much of hamilton you know the skyway bridge and the old ivor wind so everywhere i look in hamilton i see buildings, you know, the Skyway Bridge and the old Ivor Wind. So everywhere I look in Hamilton, I see buildings that, you know, my grandfather had his hands on. So for me, you know, I have this real kinship for the city. And so to see it from what it was, a steel town, so-called, to what it's growing into is quite something. My sister just moved back there from Toronto, and she loves it. is quite something.

My sister just moved back there from Toronto, and she loves it. I think it's Ralph Ben-Murgy who's in that article about Hamilton being the new Brooklyn, because he moved out there, and he's loving it. A lot of Torontonians are moving there. Is that just because, like, speaking of real estate and calling Brian, but is that because our, I mean, at least maybe it's cooling now,

but that the prices of the houses in this city are just ridiculous? Like, no one can afford to live here anymore. I think Toronto's a hard city to live in. I mean, it's a very fast-paced, very expensive city. You know, you're stuck chronically in traffic. You go to a smaller city like Burlington or Hamilton, you know, you don't get those headaches of that, you know, just go, go, go. Even when I lived in Calgary, when I stepped away from, let's say, Ontario as a whole, I really noticed that the shoulders, my shoulders were much

lower down. I just think Toronto is a very hard city and I, and I can see why you would go to Hamilton. It's a really good place to raise a family. And you can, like I said, you can buy 10 times the home and get property and have a backyard. What's that series? What's the... My goodness. The Showcase series based on... The series...

I just watched a program where people can't get pregnant anymore and they... Why can't I remember the name of this show? Teen Mom is not what you're talking about. No, I'm not talking

about Teen Mom. It's got the girl from Mad Men stars in it is not what you're talking about. No, I'm not talking about Teen Mom. It's got the girl from Mad Men stars in it. Oh, you're going to ask me questions I don't know. I don't.

I'm going to come back to that. That's a crazy mental block I'm having right there. But there's a lot of scenes in this show filmed in Hamilton and it's really beautiful.

But it's funny you say that because I'll never forget the time my mom called and she's like, oh my goodness, they're filming something here in Hamilton. I said, oh yeah. She's like, yeah, it's a scene for Baghdad. And my mom called and she's like, oh, my goodness, they're filming something here in Hamilton. I said, oh, yeah.

She's like, yeah, it's a scene for Baghdad. And I was like, that's not a good thing, but OK. We need a place that looks like a war tour. Bombed out. That's exactly right. All right. So you're going to kick out a jam later. But in Brother Bill, mutual friend, good guy.

You're right, Brother Bill. We had a Hamilton punk on our hands here with Alex. That was very cool. People listening, if you want to help crowdfund this project and this podcast, please go to patreon.com slash Toronto Mike and give what you can. If you can't remember that address because you're currently biking or driving, just go to torontomike.com and hit the big orange button to become a patron and give what you can.

Join the club. Join the club. All right. In the beginning, you're in the hammer. And how does it begin for you, Alex? It's on Hamilton radio stations. Is that how your broadcasting career begins? Yeah.

I became the cruiser girl for one of the heritage stations there, AM 900 CHML. And I literally was in college at Mohawk College taking a broadcast journalism course. And I needed to get the experience. And so I got this dream gig. And it is a dream gig, driving a cruiser and talking on the radio about fun events and giving out stuff. I mean, it was the best. I would go back now and do that job because it was so fun. But what was interesting is the demographic of 900 CHML was about 60 or 70, and I was like 22.

So I didn't fit the demographic, but it was the most fun I'd ever had. And then at the same time, I got really lucky. I got a job at CH Television and I was doing local cable. So I was able to utilize what Hamilton had to get me the skills into the business. And then it just kind of took off from there. But I was very lucky and I had some great experience in that hometown. Did you ever bump into Billy Van? Billy Van from the hilarious House of Freidenstein.

Oh yeah. That's my CHCH callback. No, I did not run into him. But yeah, those are legendary. I mean, we had a lot of really cool shows that were shot at Hamilton. Tiny Talent Time? Yeah, of course. Which they tried to bring back, right? Because my buddy Jason

Agnew was hosting the new version. If I could snap my fingers and make... By the way, it came to me now. Can I please redeem myself? It's called The Handmaid's Tale. Oh, okay, yes. What is wrong with me? I couldn't pull that name out of my head to save my life.

I should have just said the Margaret Atwood novel. That's the one book I couldn't get through. Is that right? Sorry. Margaret Atwood rides the TTC, you know. People apparently spot her all the time in the city. But Handmaid's Tale, some great scenes filmed in Hamilton, and some scenes near here as well.

Because the architecture in Hamilton is stunning. That's right. I mean, everyone kind of looks at Hamilton and sees the steel mills, which I thank those steel mills, because without those steel mills, you wouldn't have places like Burlington or Waterdown or Dundas. I mean, they created a lot of jobs and opportunity. But beyond that, Hamilton is beautiful as far as ecological. And I don't think people realize just how beautiful with the Bruce Trail and with Princess

Point and all these ecological discoveries you can find. Yeah, because that escarpment's there, right? The Niagara escarpment. Yeah, there's a lot of hiking. Like the most falls in Ontario. I had no idea. Very cool. No, I'm all for Hamilton now. I had no idea. Very cool. No, I'm all for Hamilton now.

I'm all sold on Hamilton. So you're a big Ticats fan if you grew up in Hamilton? I'll ski a wee-wee. Yeah. Went with dad every week. So here's that. Since you moved to Toronto many years ago, did you ever go to see your Ticats in Toronto?

No. Only in Hamilton at the Labor Day Classic. There's something about being in Hamilton for that game that just makes sense. Because they get the crowds, unlike Toronto where, you know, they can't really fill the stadium. But in Hamilton, they fill it and people go and it's a really good time.

In Toronto, they hope that Hamiltonians will drive over and fill that stadium. I think that's what we hope for. But were you sad to see Ivor Wynn go? I guess, was it Tim Horton's stadium now. It is. It was because my granddad built it. Yeah.

So I was like, don't tear it down. But I mean, it was a rickety old thing. When you had like a VIP box, I remember when I was working the Grey Cup like 30 years ago in Hamilton and I got to go into the VIP box. I was so excited because I felt like I had arrived. And it was like this cement box with like stools and no heating. I was like, this I felt like I had arrived. And it was like this cement box with like stools and no heating. I was like, this is not what I was expecting.

No, but that is what I expect from a good CFL stadium for football. You don't want all those frills. So you didn't have some gold card like my grandfather built this shit like I can just come in when I want and sit where I want. You didn't get a pass of any kind of that nature. I went on a Stern lecture. He was a tough guy.

I had no idea that you were connected to Hamilton in that way. I knew you were from Hamilton, but that's a really cool history to grow up in a city and see things built by your grandfather. That's pretty cool. Okay, so you're at CHCH in like mid-90s, we're talking here. You're at CHCH? Yeah, I was young. I was 25-ish. And so I did a short stint there. And then I kind of quickly got hired out to Calgary at this new station that was opening up. And I thought I wanted to be an entertainment reporter. So that gig was a dream come true for me. And it was a startup, which if you've ever been part of a startup, it's a lot of fun. And it was really my first time out of home. So I mean, I moved out really, really young. I was out on my own at 17. That is young. Yeah, I was really, really young. And so being kind of plucked

out of Hamilton, taking me away from all my surroundings was, first of all, a really great experience. And I'd advise it for every young person. But, you know, here I went from Hamilton to Calgary, which is the most embracing and warm. I like I love Calgary. And it's where I made all my friends like Liza Fromer was there, Robin Gill, all these people. I have met Liza Fromer. She sat in that chair. She's great. I'm like the biggest Liza Frommer fan. I know. And so here are these people that are, and years later are still my very closest

friends I met in Calgary. So it was a really defining moment, but I learned in Calgary I did not want to be an entertainment reporter. So I came back. So that's A Channel, right? But it was a lot of fun. We got, I mean, Stampede and Calgary is interesting

because they work very hard, but then they, when they're done, they party hard. They work hard and they play hard. And they don't want to hear about the Ontario kind of problem. They just want to play and do their thing. So it was really nice. And I was treated very well there. But you ended up coming back to we'll call it i want to call it

the gta but it's not really gta like gta doesn't go to barry i went to barry it was it was the the new vr back then and and literally i mean i left the the landscape of mountainous beauty of you know cam loops and and bamf and all that and I come back and I wake up in this yellowish hotel along the 400 and I could not have been more depressed there's no Lake Louise stuff in Barrie it's like a racetrack and a highway and I was like what have I done but it was I think a really important step to getting me to Toronto. And I, Barry, for me, as much as I did not like living there because it never stopped snowing, I got kind of introduced to some very big news stories that I, to this day, will not forget. Now, you mentioned you were friends with Liza Frommer.

But at the new VR, did you cross paths with Kevin Frankish? He was gone by then. Gone by then. I mean, he was gone down to City TV at that point. So, no, I did not come across him there. His legend, though, lives on. Is that like, yeah, you couldn't escape the legend. But I did know Frank Vargini very well.

Oh, yeah. We were close, yeah. Is this Frankie Flowers? Frankie Flowers. This is Alias? Yeah. Okay, so I think what I like about your career progression here is that you're on CHCH in Hamilton,

but then you go to cut your chops out in Calgary at A Channel, and you kind of bring that over to the new VR. And the new VR, of course, best known for syndicating Leave It to Beaver and The Andy Griffith Show or whatnot, and you can't go wrong with that. And then you end up getting yourself to the big smoke from Barry. So is this all just you're leaving for greener pastures?

This is how this works to get you at City TV? No, I mean, I was doing so many Toronto stories when I was at the VR, which is kind of a mistake because I would go into City TV to cut my stories. And that's, you know, you then meet the news director and they get to know you. And I think, you know, I spent 13 months in Barrie, but I was able to form a relationship. So when an opening came at City, it was, you know, come on down. come on down. And, you know, going from Barrie to Toronto, I mean, which is kind of the dream of a new broadcaster. I mean, you walk into that newsroom on Queen Street. I mean, it was epic. I was like, this is unbelievable. I have made it. And the vibe, I mean, it was the cool club.

Because this is, of course, this is back when it was the vision of Moses. Yes. I mean, by the time I got there, he was kind of on the outs, but it was still very much like the vibe of Queen Street. It was much music. It was city TV everywhere. You know, Mark Daly's there. You know, you'd walk in the halls, you'd see Tom Cruise there. You'd see, you know, I walked into Brian Ferry and almost fell over. I mean, it was just, you didn't know who you were going to run into. And it was a very, very competitive building. So it was, it was a really, really interesting time. Well, it's no secret to listeners of this podcast that I have this mild fascination with the, that building, 299 Queen Street from just, even a couple of weeks ago, Ziggy was here.

I know, I saw him. street from just even a couple of weeks ago ziggy was here and i just just i need to know like i need to know so uh we we are going to talk about mark daly in a minute because you were closely with him and uh what a voice what a voice but uh can you tell me a little bit just give me a little more detail don't think it's going to be boring it doesn't bore me i need to know details like like who was there and what you were doing at city tv gosh that's a long time ago well you know it's interesting because i came in i was very very intimidated because you can't help but be intimidated because the personalities of city were larger than life it wasn't necessarily the number one station it wasn't necessarily what everyone was watching but

everyone knew it and to this day i will walk by people and they'll say, hey, everywhere. That's how powerful their branding was. But they say it in Mark's voice, right? Well, they try. City TV, everywhere. Yeah. So, you know, when you walk in and you see people like Ann Murzkowski

and Gord Martineau and Pam Seidel and Laura DeBattista and Cynthia Mulligan, I mean, all these larger than life personalities that i had read about and now i'm like sharing a desk beside them or dwight drummond it was a really really really intimidating cool experience it was liz west there she was yep yep but she was in a different department um katherine uh humphries was there of course um john gallagher was there. And, you know, you never really knew what to expect because all of these personalities came with their own personalities. They weren't going to be managed, so to speak.

I can't imagine John being managed. Well, you couldn't manage him. And so you kind of got what you got with him and many others. And to me, that was the most organic thing about it. It was you got to know these personalities and they didn't play by rules, which was kind of nice. Do you think you're going to show up in the new tell-all book by John Gallagher that's coming out this fall?

Maybe. I know it's written. He didn't like me. He didn't like you? No. Well, that's a good company, I think, actually, from what I gather. I don't know John that well, but I spent a couple hours with him. Very big personality.

Huge personality. Kind of a he loves you or he hates you kind of guy. Yeah, I liked him. I mean, I thought he was just a funny, funny kind of caricature. So, like, he was just... There's no one else like him. Or Jojo. Jojo, by the way, who's going to come on this show.

I had a phone conversation with him. Also Hamilton. Is he? Jojo was a mentor of sorts to Dwight Drummond. And that's how I got put in touch with him because Dwight put me in touch with Jojo. But please, your story, I'm sorry. No, no. It's just that you saw these personalities.

But a guy like John, you know, he could be great to you one day. But if he didn't like something you did, he would not hold back, even if it was on air. So there had been a couple of times when he'd correct me or whatever. And, you know, but you couldn't have a station like that without people like them. So, you know, it's if you go back and look at JoJo's stories, I mean, they're hysterically funny, but just as raw as it gets. You just don't hear it in broadcasting today because everyone's so sanitized.

Okay, thank you. This is what I feel about City TV. I feel it had character. Yeah. Loads of character, big personalities. And I think it got slowly sanitized until at some point it just looks like ctv now like it's just and I think I was part of that movement I'm a pretty normal person and when I got called into city tv I was a straight up reporter there was not really I

wasn't I don't think people walked around saying oh my god that Alex Perez is so vibrant and exciting you know if you say Catherine Humphries it it's like you can, I mean, she is so unique. And, you know, like JoJo, they're all very unique in their personalities. But I was more straight edge, up and down reporting. And I tried to have my own kind of unique brand. But there was definitely people way beyond me. Okay, several questions at once here. but let's start with this one. Yeah. So Ann Roszkowski has been on the show and in her words, Gord was not nice to her. Okay.

She, and this is paraphrasing her, of course, because I don't know anything, but there was a period of three years, she says, where Gord only spoke to her when the red light was on. Did you see this? Did you sense this tension in the environment? I did not. I mean, I know Anne quite well. And I love Anne.

I mean, she is smart, beautiful. is smart, beautiful. And I think in her time at City, I think she was put through a lot that she could write her own book. But I think she experienced probably a lot of things that I didn't have to because of her. But yeah, for sure there were those moments when egos would collide.

Not everybody was nice. And if you could intimidate someone, you would. You know, but I can't particularly speak to what her experience was. I know about things that have been told to me, but no, it would not surprise me. Was Anne recently spotted on The Real Housewives of Toronto?

Have you heard about this? I didn't, okay. I watched The Real Housewives of Toronto? Have you heard about this? I didn't, okay, I watched The Real Housewives of Toronto because I watched the franchise, and it's my guilty pleasure. I didn't see her. I have to watch the whole series again? I mean, I didn't see it, but I got reports. Oh, did you? I didn't see her. There was an Anne sighting, and I'm like,

this is exciting. I wish there was more Anne on radio or television because I think we're missing, I think we are missing voices like hers. I think you know, as women, once you hit 40, you're not really valued the same way, let's say anymore in this business. And it's harder

to keep women on TV. And it's sad because I think it's only when you get to that age of 40-ish that you start to really kind of get it. So true. Like I now understand life. I've now got kids and I now have experience.

And it's only now that I feel like, okay, I get it and I can actually do this job properly. Any younger and I was kind of guessing half the time. You're right. You're probably the best broadcaster now than you've ever been. But the opportunities were probably more plentiful before. Well, they were hard to get before. I mean, there was a lot of competition. But now, you know, I didn't leave the industry.

The industry left me. And it's sad because it's shrinking so quickly. And there's so many good people out of work now. And yeah, you're right. At my age now, and I think Liza would say the same thing, it's only now that I feel like I actually have something to say where I've got critical thinking going and I've got experience and I can say, you know what, I'm going to come at this a different way,

maybe ask deeper questions instead of going off a press release. Like perspective, essentially. You can't teach experience, which you've earned. Yeah. It's funny, when Anne was on, she said a sentence that I haven't forgotten, like, and I think about it all the time, particularly when I'm talking to broadcasters like yourself, who are like north of 35, let's say. Not that you're much north of 35, but you're north of 35, North of 35, let's say. Not that you're much north of 35, but you're north of 35, as am I.

But I'm not a woman broadcaster. So I said to Anne, like Anne who had that stint at Global, and then she was gone from Global. And I said like, are you going to get back in the game? Like we want to see, we need you. And she says basically, Mike, she looks at me, Mike, I'm a 63-year-old woman. Nobody is hiring me. And it's so sad that somebody that's

skilled and talented and effective can't get a mainstream media gig because she's a 63 year old woman yeah if I look like that at 63 I'll be very happy it is true and it's part of the business that's not really discussed and it's unfortunate

I mean it's the networks are still very much trying to capture that young audience, those millennials. And I don't think they realize they're not going to be caught. They don't want this kind of medium. You know, they are watching, they're not watching traditional TV, they're watching their phones. And there's still a big audience out there who actually do want to hear from, you know, us older people. And so I do think it's unfortunate that there are less and less voices.

But it's true. At this age, costs, they don't want to pay for that experience. And quite frankly, in Canadian broadcasting, it's not like we were making millions of dollars. It was a very competitive rate. But once you're done, you're kind of done. I mean, I'm lucky I kind of branched over to radio, but even then, there's just not a lot of opportunities available. Another, they came together. Kate Wheeler came with Christine Bentley. And Christine, you know, in the public eye, we all saw that Christine was retiring.

I don't know if it was cake or not. I think the cakes are only for Ann Romer. I'm not sure who gets a cake. Are you friendly with Ann Romer? Yeah, I've always been friendly with Ann. She's a real animal lover, so we had that in common. I haven't seen her in years. But did you ever send her a gift card from the keg upon one of her several retirements? No, I did not.

I did not. I'm trying to get somebody who's done that because I'm very curious about that. Okay, so where was. I did not. I'm trying to get somebody who's done that because I'm very curious about that. Okay. So where was I? Christine Bentley and Great Wheeler. And Christine, for the public eye that she was, she was retiring, but the actual fact of the matter was somebody basically told her her time was over and you're done. Like, so she was fired, except it was spun for public consumption that she was deciding to leave. And very similar, I know she wasn't ready to retire. None of us are.

I wasn't ready to retire. When Sun News closed, I was 41 years old, 42 years old with a baby to pay for, a house to pay for, a husband who was having a nervous breakdown. And wouldn't move to Hamilton? Well, no, because he's got a business here. Who wants to be stuck in traffic three hours a day, getting to work and another three going home. But

you know, you get to a point in the business where you think, okay, I'm finally getting it. I've got this paycheck coming in and then it's gone. And then it's just gone. And then what do you do? Because then you have to retrain yourself to do something totally different. But again, because there's so many people in broadcasting out of work, and now you're competing against all of those people to try to get jobs that maybe your skills will lend the expertise to. So it's very difficult. I have to work until I'm 80, basically, because I don't have a huge pension.

It's just not the reality of those in the private sector. So you live your life contract to contract, freelance to freelance, and it's just a whole new world out there. We're going to get into that and I need to deep dive into the Sun News Network. We're going to get there. So first, I mentioned Mark Daly. So you were co-anchor of the 11 o'clock news with Mark. Yeah. So you knew Mark very well. I did. Well, I don't think anyone ever really knew Mark very well. I mean, when they came to me and said,

we're going to make you Mark Daly's co-anchor, I almost fell over. I mean, who gets to... I mean, he had anchored that show solo forever. It was his show. And I never said anything otherwise. It was his show that I became a part of. And I felt very, very, very lucky to do it.

But, you know, he was a quirky guy. He was definitely a different kind of personality. Again, a caricature. You would never see someone like Mark Daly in news today. Who would hire him? Really? Other than his baritone voice. But he was an awkward looking guy.

Very, very tall. But in broadcast, they want like the shiny package. He just would have been a misfit as so many people were at City TV. But at City TV, they were larger than life. But yeah, it was an interesting run. I took from it what I could. But we weren't all that social.

He kept to himself. For sure, he kept to himself. But he did speak to you when the red light was not on, right? I just want to clarify. Yeah, no, there was never anything unfriendly, ever. Now, when Ed the Sock was in here, I had this loaded up because it preceded his night party on City TV. But it is Mark, so let's hear 10 seconds of Mark Daly

while we're talking about him here. The following program contains adult themes, nudity, and coarse language. Viewer and parental discretion is advised. So you're right about the voice. That's a legendary voice in this city. And anyone who... But he was quirky.

Like, he was fast. Like, who comes up with lines like Mark Daly? Mark Daly. See, I think this is why, like, we talked about this character, you know. It's interesting to me. Like, I wish I could have Mark Daly in my basement to talk to him. I know. We sadly lost him far too early.

But in hearing you, somebody who worked with him, to hear about how he was kind of quirky and different, maybe beat to his own drummer maybe, very interesting to me to kind of flesh out his personality when the red light's not on. The only thing I'll tell you about Mark, and I don't know if he would get a laugh out of this now i think he probably would um he had gas oh he'd probably get a laugh there's an exclusive because i know he did it to katherine humphrey she told me but every once in a while

before that red light went on because we would sit side by side introduce the show he would let one go and then he'd walk away to his position i'd be like are you kidding me yeah is he one of i gotta sit here in this smell with a smile on my face and i'd be like you son of a bitch and i think he did it on purpose to throw me off i think that's bullying i think that's gaseous bullying and you can't do that in 2017 a product of his time that's funny no i had not heard that one that's very funny so city TV, and before we leave City TV together, you were working, tell me about working 9-11. So this is by far in my lifetime, in your lifetime,

I'm sure the biggest news event. Yeah, for sure. I was actually that morning, the first plane had gone into the building and really no one knew what it was about. And I was anchoring CP24 because you did both at City TV. Right. And I was doing my shift.

I was getting ready for it. And kind of, we have this bank of TVs at City TV. And so I was looking up and everyone's like, oh, look, something's gone into the top of the, you know, the Trade Center. Oh, but it wasn't that big of a deal because no one really understood what was going on. Like it was hard to tell. I mean, only because I remember my boss came in. I was working in an office and my boss came in and said, a plane just hit the World Trade Center.

In my head, it's a Cessna, okay? Yeah, that's what I thought. Because I remember a Cessna. I remember reading about a Cessna that went into another building in New York at some point. And, you know, that happens. These guys flying the Cessnas get off course or whatever. So that's what I'm visioning in my head. So I think maybe that's the initial, we don't know how big this plane was.

Yeah, it was the end of breakfast television and Kevin Frankish was kind of of saying yeah we're gonna keep an eye on this looks like a plane a small plane has gone in so you know there was you didn't feel that kind of like that moment of oh my god it feels like an accident it didn't happen till a few minutes later so i started anchoring 24 and i remember it started we started getting reports of the severity of it that it was a passenger plane and then i remember kevin kind of came in and started co-anchoring it with me and then we saw the second plane go in and there were audible you could hear it in the whole news room it was a gasp where people were like oh my god and then just off to my right there were these scanners and the scanners went nuts and we're hearing reports that hijacked planes are coming into Pearson and that people are dying.

And it became really pandemonium. I get chills. You're talking about it now because I was expecting my first child when 9-11 happened. And I remember like how everything felt. You just suddenly felt so much less secure. Like the safety seemed it was instantly was instantly evaporating. You realize this is intentional. We know of these things happening. We're hearing

about things that turned out to be false, but in real time we got some reports of things that didn't happen, but you don't know what's next. I know that they decided at that point, they said, Kevin, stay on 2-4. What Kevin was really good at, he was able to keep the calm and start picking from the wires.

And we didn't have Google and stuff like that back then. Like it wasn't prominent the way it is now. It wasn't like it is today. So you had to really wait a little bit longer. So they said, Alex, get out to the airport. We're hearing reports of hijacked planes coming in. So me and my camera. And again, this is a time before cell phone.

Like we had cell phones, but we got to share one cell phone. Like it was, you weren't texting. It was a much different environment in news than it is today. I went out to Pearson and it was almost like my shooter and I went into like this cone of silence, um, where we were in our own story, um, not like buried by other huge news. But at that point we're seeing people at Pearson running everywhere, like pandemonium, women crying, men crying, people trying to get on planes. I remember one woman saying, my father's in that building,

my father's in that building, and not being able to get back in. And again, we didn't know what was going on. So you're trying to deal with this. And this is when we had a lot of freedom at the airport. We could still kind of come and go as we please. Everything of course changed after, after nine 11, but I would end up spending the next four days camped out at that airport doing live reports. Because again, then the airport's shut down, air traffic's not coming in. It was just a really, so I was in my own world. I had no idea until I got home of the severity, seeing it for my own eyes, of what had happened. I just knew that in my world, air traffic was paralyzed and that planes were going to Halifax and Newfoundland

and all these things were going on. But you really get kind of in your own news bubble and that's what happened. Yeah, and if I recall, Anne was working, talking 9-11 on City. And I guess you're on CP24. And just, yeah. But it changed the way we do news. It just changed the way we do news as a whole.

And it's interesting what we pulled off at City TV. Well, we were competing with all the big networks. We didn't have the toys of the big networks. We literally, things were held together at City TV with tinfoil and hangers. Where all the big networks would come in and they had satellite dishes. We didn't have that kind of stuff at City TV. So we were expected to pull off the same product. We had none of those toys.

So I'd be sitting in a truck listening with one ear and, you know, on a rotary dial phone trying to, you know, it was just so challenging trying to keep up with the big guys. And I think because of that, I became a much better reporter because I could do pretty much anything with nothing. And so could the other reporters. We pulled off miracles daily. articles daily. Yeah, you had to wear a lot of hats, right? Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. It was the toughest newsroom I ever worked in. I'd never worked as hard than I did at Citi. By the way, fun fact that ties to you is that so when I'm in this office and my boss says, oh, a plane hit the World Trade Center. Oh, that's interesting. And then when the news came out, a second plane, and we realized like, holy shit, this is not what we thought it was. I remember distinctly that I was trying to stream on my computer. I was trying to stream news. I ended up because I ended up streaming CP24. There was a stream of CP24 you could get through the web. And I ended up, that was my channel that I would find out what the hell was happening in this world. So that's how I stayed in touch at the

office that day. Yeah. It's interesting because, I mean, there are a couple of events that have really changed the way we do business. And one of them is happening, you know, as we speak, which is O.J. Simpson probably going to get his freedom given to him today. He changed news in the way it's covered with the Bronco chase. Right. And then 9-11 happened. And it really changed the way we did 24-hour wall-to-wall coverage of breaking events. hour, um, wall to wall coverage of breaking events because literally how many weeks were we wall to wall coverage, you know, reporters out in the field everywhere doing that kind of news. It was 9-11. Wow. And, um, so 9-11 happens, of course, you're at City TV, which means you're

doing shifts on CP24. Was it CP24? Did you call it Cable Pulse 24? Or both? Both. And I don't think a lot of people understood that. Even though I had a show anchored at 11 o'clock at night and I filed for the 6, I was also expected to do a story for the 11 o'clock news. But during the editing of that story, I would be also anchoring CP 24. So during commercial breaks, you'd be running back and forth to the edit bay saying, okay, put that clip in there and I'm going to write this. Like, you literally didn't stop. And we really, really earned our paycheck at the end of the day. But again, it made me so much better and being able to do a lot more with a lot less.

So why did they stop sending you paychecks at CityTV? That's a hard one to explain. I think there had been a bit of a collision in personality. They brought in some consultants from America. Efficiency experts? And I took exception with some of the things they said. I mean, they really tinkered with the language. And I mean, you can't question a consultant. I didn't know that at the time because I don't politic.

Anyone who knows me, I say it like it is. So when I've got some consultants saying, you know, we're going to do these promos and you know what you should know about your lawnmower that could kill you. And I'm like, uh-huh. So we're now like torquing everything. Like I get why they do it, but everything became like over the top and what you need to know. It's the dawn of clickbait, except television porn. Exactly. And you can still hear it today in the programming. What your politicians aren't telling you that's going to end your life.

I mean, it's just so like... No, it'll be funny. It'll be something like, this could kill you right now. We'll tell you more at 11. Exactly. It's like, I need to know this night. It's just 11 o'clock. kill you right now we'll tell you more at 11 like it's like oh wait i need to know this night and so i think because i questioned it and like raised an eyebrow at it i was just not a team player um but things kind of changed after that for me what's that noise yeah i think you can

ignore that the good thing about these mics the good thing about being having to be right on these mics the whole purpose is actually that you cut out the noise. Yeah, you don't hear that stuff. So for me, I think it was a bit of a not playing the team player thing. And it changed. They decided that they wanted to bring Ann Romer in to do nights and be with Mark Daly because she was a better known face. And then she took that and

she didn't like it. So she quit two weeks later, which was like a real kick in the head to me because I was like, really? Because here I had worked so hard. Yeah. And I hadn't done anything wrong other than question something. But they had offered for me to stay on being a reporter. But for me, it was just too hard to go back.

And so I decided to kind of step away. And at that time, I was dating someone and they were overseas doing stuff. And I thought it was a good opportunity for me to travel because at that point, I really dismayed with the industry at that point and so I stepped away a little bit and then when I came back Global came knocking. Right because yeah between City and Sun TV you had a stint at Global. Yeah I mean I was devastated when I left City TV it was really a game changer in my life I really I was set on a path that really interrupted where I was going. And so I think I got caught in politics. It really was a very dark moment for me. And then yeah, Global came knocking and I wasn't sure if I should do it or not, but it was like, come in,

do a contract with us. We need some people, your experience. And what a nice place to work. I mean, Global really is a very nice place to work. It was really coming. It wasn't the cool vibe of city TV, but it was a really nice place. And it, you know, a short contract turned into like four and a half years. Wow.

Yeah. Yeah. And, and they let me pretty much do everything I wanted. I mean, I, I didn't, they never held me back. So,

yeah. And you were, you were essentially, you were a news reporter. I was a news reporter, but I was a weekend anchor. I did all the backup anchoring shifts. They made me their court reporter full time, which I loved.

But I did some work that ended up getting me a couple of awards that I wouldn't have been able to do at any other newsroom. I mean, they really nurtured and cultivated, I think, a good product. And this is the longest title of an award, but are these the Radio Television News Directors Association Awards? That doesn't quite roll off the tongue. I know it doesn't, but I had done an investigative piece on trucking

and went out and said, you know, I'm going to get my license and drive a big rig and show you how easy it is to do. And I did it, and it was really hard. I can't, so you, you got an actual license to drive a big rig. I did. And it was the whole series, which had taken so long to put together, was really hinged upon me getting my license.

Because if I didn't get my license and they had, you know, knocked me off, I would have been like, oh, this whole thing's been done for naught. But I got my license and exposed how many holes there were in the system in Ontario. And it's work that I'm really proud of and it made changes to laws and after the fact, it was just really worth doing. It's pretty cool. It reminds

me of Adam Groh hosted a show called Cash Cab and I remember he had to in order to do the show, it all hinged on him getting his cab license. Yeah, I know. It's like, you have to get your cab license or the whole house of cards falls down.

It was so easy and so hard. And I had to go into it. Like I got trained. I was working with some trucking guys and they were like training me. Here's where the kingpin is. And here's like, Is that a misogynist space?

I can't. You know, they were great. I mean, look i'm a guy i'm a bit of a tomboy but you don't look like a guy but i don't get offended by it i'm at least you can't offend me and i'll probably offend you 10 times worse um so for me to work with these guys because they're they wanted us to expose how dangerous the trucking industry had gotten so i worked with a small team and they were like training me on how to hook up a trailer how to work the 18 gears how to get my air brake license i was like i don't know what the hell i'm

doing like what the fuck how do you do this it's like anyway i was a disaster so i really had to go into the test with two you know modus operandi i was like i'm either gonna really own this and like be very very you very professional about it, or I'm going to flirt my ass off. I just really didn't know. And then when the guy from the Ministry of Transportation came out, he's like, all right, little lady, let's get you licensed. I'm on vacation in three hours.

And I was like, uh-huh, okay. And I should not have passed that test. I did everything wrong, but I knew I had it because all he wanted to talk about was sex and how you can... Oh yeah, as this test goes to hike up the skirt a little bit, I don't know. I dressed for the part, but he was having fun. And all I can say is if I had had actually a recording device while we were doing the test, the whole ministry would have been shut down. Wow.

But it wasn't until he pointed up and went, oh, look, there's a helicopter above us. I wonder what they're doing. It wasn't until then I dawned and went, oh my God, Global sent the chopper to get shots from above. And I was like, oh, I have no idea what's going on. But I got the license and we exposed it.

It was good. That's crazy. That's great. And so that's your last stint before Sun TV. Is that right? Sun News. Sun News. Did I say Sun?

Well, Sun News Network, right? Yeah, stint before Sun TV. Is that right? Sun News. Sun News. Did I say Sun? Well, Sun News Network, right? Yeah, people call it Sun TV. I'm going to play a little promo for it, and then we're going to talk about this. Watch Sun News Network for the real news. Hard news headlines to keep you informed. Straight talk to take it to the next level. When you want more than just the same stories on repeat

or the politically correct filter on overdrive, turn to Sun News, Canada's home for hard news and straight talk. Spread the word. Now, you're the very first guest I've had on this program. I think it's 253 episodes, but you're my first Sun News Network person. So basically, we're going to have to please take a deep breath and don't be annoyed. But I need to know about the life and death of Sun News Network. So this is 2011.

And you're a day one employee? Yep. So I'd been hired away from Global. And I mean, at that time time I was doing courts full time, and I was really burning out. I was at that burnout factor. So I wanted to continue growing at Global, but there was nowhere for me to go.

And so when someone comes with a national show that's with your name, hey, I got a ego, and I want to make money. You know, I went, and I also firmly believed, and I still do to this day, that we need and needed a different viewpoint. I still think very strongly that it's okay to have, you know, two different voices. So it was a very intriguing place for me to go. Plus, there were so many like City TV alumni behind the scenes that had gone to work there. And so when they're saying, Alex, come on, let's do a startup because I've been part of a startup. It's a lot of fun. So I went and obviously things didn't play out the way it should. But I

will tell you, I was treated extremely well. I had a lot of fun. And while they broke every rule in the book, and that can be explained as to why it maybe didn't last, I wish it were around today because it was a lot of fun. I learned a ton. A ton. All right. So they seduce you in 2011.

They seduce me and say, it's state of the art. And I was like, oh, what decade? State of the art. Because I just came from state of the art, but this ain't state of the art. Is this a joke? All right. Oh, nice. Okay. So, you have, I know this, you have what I'll call conservative values. Yep. Is that a good term for it? Which is why I'm sweating. Okay. What's a conservative value to you because i i think people assume that all conservatives are the same and we're not like i'm a more a libertarian so you don't uh you don't eat babies for example you don't eat babies okay uh like when it comes to things like i'm i've watched a bunch of your youtube clips lately. So when it comes to something like, let's say sex ed,

the new sex ed curriculum from the liberal provincial government, you are of the belief that they should not be teaching sex ed in schools, but parents should be doing this at home. No, that's not. No. You sound terrible.

I know. No, no, it's okay. What I think is that you have to be, you have to tell parents what you're going to do. It's about trust. I think sex ed is obviously very important. I learned it in school, barely, but there's a way you do it. If you're going to make a curriculum change to something like that, you have to consult with parents. And the whole brouhaha back in that day was that they said they did consult with parents, but they did not consult with parents. And I think there was a level of mistrust created as to, you know, is a certain

agenda being pushed. But for me and for me being a parent, and I say this for any time, I want to know what my child is learning. I just want that respect that if you're going to teach my child, just what's he learning, you know? So I'm not against sex ed, but just if you're going to consult, actually do so. Otherwise, you create a level of mistrust and parents get very, very mad. But I'm not a social conservative at all. So you're okay with things like same-sex marriage?

I've never, okay, so this is the bit. I've never been against same-sex marriage. It's never been discussed in my household. It was never an issue. It has never been a in my household. It was never an issue. It has never been a thought to me. So therefore, I don't care what you do in your bedroom. It's none of my business. And I don't care who you marry. As long as you're not hurting anybody, it's none of my business. So I've never had any other thought process than do what makes you happy. I'm cool with pot. I'm pro-choice, but open to

the conversation. I was going to say, you were allowed on the Sun News Network with all these radical lefty pink open leaves. I know it's weird because Michael Korn used to come on my show as a guest and he'd be talking about, you know, he, at that point he was very pro-life and I was very uncomfortable with him talking about it because it's none of my business to tell you what to do. But you know when I got pregnant with with my son at about eight months I was watching the Gosnell trial down in the United States. He's the abortion doctor who was killing babies at like eight and a half months and now he's one of the most prolific serial killers of our time and I couldn't help at that point.

I mean, here I am, huge. And he's killing babies that are the same age as what mine would have been. And I'm thinking, okay. So I've always been pro-choice. I've never been anything but. But I'm also, I think it's wrong when we, A, criticize others for their beliefs. It's not my business to tell you what to believe. And I think it's wrong to close off the discussion

because I am open to the discussion. And if we have laws that need to be changed, like gendercide or let's say late-term abortion, I think we should be open to that discussion. And I don't like this divisive, if you're pro-life, you're bad, and if you're pro-choice, you're good. I just think it's dangerous to label people like that. So this notion that all conservatives are

evil. Yeah, they're not. It is such a, it is such a mislabel. And I think, you know, obviously with Donald Trump across the border in this, we're so polarized, so polarized in our politics now. And I think it's actually become quite dangerous because you've probably been walking around saying, oh, Alex Pearson's, I'm radical. Like I'm not. And to suggest that all conservatives are the same, it's just not true. It's just not true. I know a lot of gay conservatives. I know a lot of conservatives who smoke dope. I know a lot of conservatives who are pro-choice. I think we need to rebrand these things because you have your social conservatism, which, to be quite honest, makes me feel uneasy.

It doesn't make me feel uneasy. If you are religious, that is your business. And you are allowed... This is where I think we go wrong. Except I was raised Catholic. Yep, so was I. Okay, so... And then I converted to Judaism when I married my husband.

But I'm not religious. So did Liza Fromer. Yeah, Fromer. Although then she left the club. I guess you don't let her at the... She left the tribe. But look, I'm not religious. I never have been. I don't have a religious bone really in my body. I'm wearing a cross. I saw the cross, by the way, and I started getting

nervous. I get nervous. It's just jewelry to me. But okay, so the last time I was in a Catholic church was my wife's sister got married in a Catholic church. And I'm in the Catholic church, and there was a huge big sign in the lobby or whatever it's called when you go into a church. And it was about going to this rally, pro-life rally thing.

And there were really graphic images of fetuses and stuff. The funny thing is today I got one at the door. Like today, it graphic images of fetuses and stuff. The funny thing is, today I got one at the door. Today. It's in my recycling bag right now. So, there seems to be a movement to take away rights from people.

What are they rallying for? I think there are people that make it out. There are people looking to take our rights away. I don't feel like any right of mine is being taken away. Because everyone has the right not to get an abortion, right? You have the right. I'm glad. I don't want people to get abortions.

I just want a woman to have the right to get an abortion. I don't really think that's going to go. I really have never. First of all, it's a federal issue. And if the last guy didn't do it, which was Stephen Harper, I mean, he made it very, very clear. I'm not touching it. And Andrew Scheer, I'm not touching it. Okay. Well, look, Stephen Harper could have done it

anytime he wanted. He had a majority government. He didn't do it. We're good. We're fine. I really don't live under this veil of horror. I just think a lot of it's been very torqued up. And I think, again, I go back to it. We can have the discussion. And I don't think it has to get ugly where you're right, I'm wrong. I will not look down at somebody because of their religious views. As long as those views are not a danger to anybody, I won't speak up. I don't care what you believe. That is your right to believe that. And I respect it as long as it's not forced upon me. Oh, I'm with you. Yeah. So that's kind of how I come at it. And I just don't know where in the last few years we've come along that it's become so, so divided.

I think it's coming from our neighbors to the South, I think. I don't think it's going on here for a while. I do. I do think it's going on in Canada. I think we're politer about it. But for sure, what's happened in the US has kind of elevated it. And what I've noticed, and on this show I actually avoid politics

and stuff, because it's almost like arguing about religion, where I'm going to tell you, oh, that's bullshit, phony, baloney, man-made stuff, and you live and die by it. What are we going to accomplish with this conversation? But I noticed some things have been politicized lately that kind of irk me. For example, is it me, or has it, like,

cycling, okay? hear me out. Like, okay, so I do cycle a lot. It's my preferred mode of transportation is to ride a bicycle. There's no motor. I just pedal this bicycle.

You know? A lot of people, and I don't know if it's in jest or as a joke, will refer to you like as a left-wing pinky on your bike,

pinko, if you will, on your bike. You know what I mean? Like, we seem to politicize. I don't understand how that gets politicized. I ride my bike and I ride my bike on the wheel. You're a pinko too. I like on your bike. You know what I mean? Like we seem to politicize. I don't understand how that gets politicized. I ride my bike and I ride my bike on the wheel.

You're a bingo too. I like riding my bike. I hate riding my bike in the city of Toronto because I'm terrified all the time. Here's what bugs me about cyclists

and I say this as someone who is a cyclist. You got to follow the rules. That's all I'm asking. I don't know where... Okay, but you're not saying that as conservative. You're saying that

as a human driver. I'm saying that as a driver I don't know where- Okay, but you're not saying that as conservative. You're saying that as a human driver. I'm saying that as a driver who does not want to kill you because if you're riding a bike and you're hitting my car, I'm going to be just fine, but you're not. And so I'm glad to see the bike lanes. I'm happy to have them around, but you have to follow the rules because I cannot guess what you're going to do.

Some cyclists are great. They follow it. They do what they want. They do what the rules because I cannot guess what you're going to do. Some cyclists are great. They follow it. They do what they want. They, they, they do what the rules of the road are, but then you get these strays who will cross over or they'll go the wrong way. There are bad cyclists, like there's bad drivers. Well, yeah, but you don't have a second chance as a cyclist. I know. That's why, that's why I'm such a, I'm a safe, safe cyclist because I bike to live, not to die. And my kids, well, my two older kids are biking the city streets with me. And forever I've been preaching,

if you feel unsafe, take the entire lane. Like you don't have to, if you feel you're being pushed by the car, take the whole lane or safety first. We're here to survive because yes. When I cycle with my son, who's four now, I go on the sidewalk. And if you yell at me,

I don't do it with large crowds obviously but his safety is paramount to me i'm responsible for his safety so i get very nervous on the busier streets so i'll take a sidewalk and then i'll get yelled at but you know i just think everyone's got to like respect each other because i as a driver i don't know which way you're going to go i'm assuming you're going to follow the bike lanes but a lot of times if you pop out you're going to get hurt but do you agree that it seems to have been politicized somehow? Everything's politicized. Yeah, everything's politicized.

Like when did science get politicized? Like with climate change? I'll tell you when. Tell me. When someone realized they could make a lot of money off of it. That's when everything's politicized because there's... Alex, that's what I guess it turns me on. Everything's politicized.

Yes, I know. And it's like you have almost like I almost envision like a a table and you have your check boxes like if you are right wing these are the check boxes you must like it's not here it to me it's insane like if you're a conservative you are like pro car and anti bicycle like to me i don't understand how that has anything to do with your political leanings well it shouldn't but it does And a lot of generalizations are made. I mean, look, it's cost me. It's come at a great cost to me. I mean, I have been labeled.

Sun News erased everything I did beforehand. I mean, it's as if I didn't work at any other newsroom or do any other. I didn't apparently cover Walkerton. I didn't apparently cover the blackout of 2003 or the SARS or any of these big stories. Because they wanted to write in you? Well, it was just like, well, you worked

for Sun News, of course. I mean, it's like I did work at other newsrooms, but because there were people that had such disdain for Sun because they hated Ezra LeVant. Because it got branded as Fox News North. Sure, but okay, but now look what we have.

Now that Sun is gone, we have much further extreme right wing outlets. Are you talking about like the rebel? Yeah. I mean, they're much further right than Sun.

Oh yeah, no doubt. I have no bones to pick with rebel. I like Ezra Levant. I think he's, you know, I think he does some things very well.

I think he does some things not well. But I welcome his voice. I think it's important to have that voice. Okay, I was going to ask you. So one of my questions was about these, I call it the new generation of right-wing YouTubers, I want to call it. But basically, Ezra's on that list for sure.

Lauren Southern, Jill Colton, I want to ask you about Jill Colton too, because she was on CP24 when it was owned by Bell. I need to look at my whiteboard here. And she was let go. And she seemed to suggest that it was because on Twitter, for example, she was very, very

right wing and very pro-Trump and all these different things. So what do you think of the new generation of like right wing YouTubers that have kind of emerged? Well, they're no different than the left wing YouTubers who have been around forever. I mean, the bottom line is I think those on the right are finally catching up to those on the left. I mean, we've never really had a voice on the right to counter what's being said. And I think it's really naive to suggest that the left are any better. I've seen real ugliness on both sides. You know, I could have gone the YouTube route. I did not. I could have gone to rebel. I did not. That was okay. Yeah. So did they ever,

I was going to ask because you seem like a prime candidate, a big face from Sun News Network. Uh, yeah. They must've reached out and you took a pass. I did take a pass because at that point I was trying to rebuild, um, a little bit of, of, of what I had. And, and I was also trying my hand in radio. Um, and I didn't want to go necessarily, I didn't like being labeled because at the end of the day, my, my, you know, I was a news person and I took real pride in that and I did a lot of good work. um I you know I didn't want to necessarily be pegged as as just one thing because I'm not the uh and kind of just get back to Sun News Network so uh 2011 I know everyone wants to know about Sun News you're only you're 253 episodes though and you're my first opportunity. You're my first opportunity. Yeah. And I think it's because

I think the guests I invite on are people I watched and I must confess to you, I like your work, okay, love your work but I did not spend a second watch.

I'm not even sure. I think it was channel 15. Yep. We got bumped and then we went way up the dial. Somehow Vice got that channel and never had to fight for it but we were on the second

tier, which really killed us. But, you know, Sun was run by political people, not necessarily TV people. And I think that hurt because politicians don't really do TV well. And there's a lot that goes into making a good television quality production. Like it costs money to make something look state of the art. It, you have to look at the long-term gain. And when you're doing the kind of, of journalism or stories that, that Sun was doing, it was, you know, a lot of them were damaging. And there's only so much of a shelf life that you can have that if you run it as a political kind of body that you're going to burn bridges and no one will come back on.

I think if they had done it with a long-term goal in mind, that they wanted to build, you know, a different voice, I think it could have been successful. I'm sad to have seen it go because it was a positive experience. And you were there till the very end.

And I did not, yes, I was. And I did not disagree, I did not agree with everything they did. There were a lot of cringeworthy moments for me while I was there that I would never have done. But yeah, I was there. And, you know, finding out from a Robert Fife tweet at 11 o'clock at night that I had no job the next day, it was a real, like, jarring experience. It was a devastating experience. Let's hear, this is, I think it's breakfast television actually, but let's hear a very brief news report on the Sun News Network going off the air. The network dubbed Fox News North by its critics is officially no more. The money-losing Sun News

Network has officially shut down overnight. It went off the air for good at around two o'clock Pacific time this morning. The right-leaning network, which is owned by Quebecor, started up almost four years ago. The screen went blank at 2 a.m. for about 20 seconds, followed by the Sun News logo. The network's ratings were extremely low, and it's something the network blames on the CRTC's refusal to order cable companies to carry it on basic packages. No bias at all on that report, I don't think.

Well, look, it was no secret that a lot of people were very excited when we closed down, but I think you have to look at it in the bigger picture. It's not good when companies fail. It's just not good for anybody. And it's certainly not good for our industry when a voice is silenced. And so that's how I looked at it. We fought upstream the whole time. And, you know, people say, do you regret going there? I learned so much when I was there. I learned a ton when I was there. You did a lot there.

I mean, you'd be better to tell me, but you were co-host of the Roundtable. Yeah, so I had a talk show in the morning that was really straight up and down political news. But after I came back from my mat leave, they had changed the format to really more of a talk radio style. And so they said, you know, we would like you to go into more of an editorial position. And I did. And, you know, that really kind of took me out of news.

I'd crossed over into editorial. So right there, that decision kind of limited me moving forward in Canada. Were these all legit opinions or did you feel any pressure to adopt a certain opinion to align yourself with the viewers? There was definitely a brand. Look, let's make no bones about it. A lot of conservatives would never have said I was conservative. I mean, you know, as much as lefties love to attack someone like me, I was attacked on both sides because they're like, that's not right wing.

And I'm like, if y'all stop labeling each other, you'd actually be a lot better. Thank you. I'm sick of the labels, Alex. I'm sick of the labels. Sick of labels. I think you should be able to appreciate someone's opinion, even if you don't agree with it. And so what I did, though, is I learned to get a much thicker skin. Yeah, because you're right.

You're right. I can see it. You're going to get hit from the label. I'm going to label now. I hate labels, because you're right. I can see it. You're going to get hit from the... I'm going to label now, okay? I hate labels, but here we go. The left is going to attack you because you're on Fox News North as they've decided to label Sun News Network. And you're not conservative.

You just said yourself you're okay with legalizing marijuana. You're okay with two men getting married, legal marriage, civil ceremony. You're okay with this. Therefore, you're a little bit too socially liberal for a lot of these staunch conservatives. I'm a fiscal conservative.

I just want the government to respect my money and I don't want them interfering with my life. And for whatever else you do, do what you want. As long as you're not hurting someone, I really don't get myself my panties in. I just don't get my knickers in. Your panties and knickers.

I'm going to play a happier clip because you mentioned you took a mat leave during your Sun News Network tour of duty, if you will. I believe this is how you revealed you were pregnant on air. Let's hear this

oh goodness sorry pat you're not helping you have to know folks we're gonna go to the next story we told you we're gonna watch a budweiser commercial in the break and we watched the Budweiser commercial in the break with very heart rendering and she starts to cry. I did, it was sad. Anyway. And I started to laugh at her so I apologize for not keeping it together. Apparently the whole floor crew and everyone else thought the ad was funny and I'm the only one who cried.

No, no, no, you were funny. Getting so emotionally wrapped up in in a horror story i'm hormonal for god's sake i'm pregnant okay nonetheless yes by the way i'm pregnant um yes that's why we were laughing crying and not getting through that segment yes exactly so nowadays morning shows would do a big elaborate like reveal right this would be like a thing they would do but you just slip it out there. By the way, I'm pregnant. I was eight and a half months pregnant. I was... No one

knew. I mean, I was big. I was in my last couple of weeks. But I was... During the commercial, they played this Budweiser commercial with a puppy and a horse. And I just started bawling. But my colleagues, we all started laughing. I could not control myself. So we kind of had to explain it. And everyone's like, you're pregnant?

That was a cute moment. It was really funny. A real moment. I like that. Those happened all the time there. And that was Pat Boland, right? That was Pat Boland, who I loved working with. It was a really fun experience outside of being in a really weird world. But you mentioned the low budget stuff. So is this where you tell me it was a broom closet

and they just hung a thing there. Yeah. I gotta be honest. I think it was sun that kind of changed the rules of, of crowdfunding and, and, and helped facilitate podcasting and that kind of stuff. Because we have very,

very loyal audience and they would, if we asked for money and Hey, we want to do this initiative. We really, they would, they would say, I'll put five bucks in for that. If you investigate that, we want to do this initiative, we really, they would, they would say, I'll put five bucks in for that. If you investigate that, we'll put in 10 bucks. They really wanted certain issues covered and were willing to pay for it. And I think that's

fascinating in a business that, you know, like we're hearing about the CRTC decisions. I mean, they're going to be out of business in the next 10 years. Who's going to need the CRTC? Because really you don't need to do that route anymore. If I want to do TV, I can do Alex Pearson TV. I can do it just like you, Mike. I can have Mike set up in my basement and I can, you know, go and get a camera and I can put something on YouTube. And if people want to watch it, they will. And, you know, I just think we're in for some very fascinating times. Earlier, I mentioned Jill Colton and forgot to finish that thought. But Jill Colton claimed, as I recall,

she claimed Bell Media was against conservatives. I think this was her thing. And I know now she's got like a Jerry Agar panel gig like after months of making that claim. So do you think the Canadian media is biased against conservatives

or at least perceived conservatives like yourself? Well, I do think there are two sets of rules, for sure. I mean, Prime Minister Harper would not get away with the stuff that Mr. Trudeau gets away with. Come on. We call him JT on this show. Yeah, I know.

Justin. I mean, look, there are two sets of rules, for sure. I know Jill. I like Jill a lot, and I like what she's doing because, again, she's putting out content. She's not calling names. She's illustrating points. So she's not a nut job. Not at all. Not at all. I don't know Lauren Southern. She's got a huge audience following. You know, good on her. But, you know, there is no question when you're working at a network,

unless you've got a talk radio program where you're expected to be opinionated, they don't want, it's like puppies and kittens, just puppies, kittens, you know, babies, that's all good. They just don't want to open up to other opinions. It's almost like they're scared of that. Well, like with Michael Jordan, he never had a political opinion during his playing career. And his quote, which I'm not even sure it's real, by the way, but the quote attributed to him is that conservatives, Republicans buy shoes too. Like you don't want to alienate anyone. I have a lot of friends in the United States who are in the acting or entertainment business and they will privately, we talk privately because they cannot speak out. Because if it gets out in their circle or within the industry, they will not get roles. And that, that to me is deeply troubling. It's deeply troubling that we've gotten to the point where you can't have an opinion. I mean, that is why Donald Trump won. I, to this day, everyone thinks I love Donald Trump. I never said I liked Donald Trump. I said on the day that he announced his candidacy,

I said he'd win. I never strayed from that. My husband thought I was nuts. I said, it's not that I like him. I said, will win, just like Rob Ford. He will win. And I wasn't surprised. Even on the night that Donald Trump did win, I was on 6.43. So at 6 p.m. that night, you still believed he would win. Yes. And I was doing a panel, I think, with Oakley, and they all looked at me like I was nuts. Like, it was so in the bag for Hillary. I said, no, he will win. It was so obvious to me of the anger that you, you know, you could sense within the vote. And still to this day, people, oh, you like Donald. No, I don't. I don't like Donald Trump. I think he's a buffoon. I just said he'd

win. You predicted he would win based on what you were observing. That doesn't make you a reporter. But it does make me, I think it's sad that, that we are, there's a disconnect. You can see it with Omar Cotter, where people are angry about this. It is a bipartisan issue. Put the debate aside about Omar Cotter. The point is 71% of Canadians, liberal, socialist, Democrat, and conservatives agree that it was the wrong deal. It shouldn't have happened. It should have been left to the courts to decide. that it was the wrong deal. It shouldn't have happened. It should have been left to the courts to decide.

And, you know, you can't ignore that kind of noise. And I think the media has. And I think that tells you right there that we are out of touch with what everyday people are saying. And I think you've got to get back to that. Who are we fighting for? I like to think that I'm fighting for the little guy. So the Canadian media is biased against conservatives like yourself, but...

I wouldn't say biased, but there are definitely... You can't dispute that there are two sets of rules. You just can't. I don't dispute that. I mean, I've covered enough elections that I know how, when you're in a newsroom, how they go about doing story and editorial decision to know what's going to get play and what's not.

Speaking though of radio gigs, we mentioned, we mentioned Jill Colton could be heard on 1010, which is a Bell Media station. You can be heard, you can be heard on 1010, News Talk 1010. So after Sun, I was doing some work with News Talk, which was great. I was doing backup work and kind of getting into the talk radio world. I did a lot of Ryan Doyle's show. I started backing up for all of them, which was an amazing learning curve for me because anyone thinking that talk radio is easy, it's not. I learned really quickly, you absolutely have to have something to say. And you have to enunciate.

You have to do a whole bunch of things. And it was a really good learning curve. And then I did a lot of work for AM900CHML in Hamilton. And I love radio. It's just this craft that I wish I had discovered much, much earlier. But I've stepped away from that for what I'm doing right now. And are you able to share with us what you stepped away to do? Yeah. I have taken a media advisory role with Patrick Brown's PC party. So I'm doing work with them. And and this is a personal choice for me. I mean, look, I need

to work. And there are no broadcasting jobs right now. So when the opportunity came that I could utilize my skills and bring it into that world, I jumped at it. I've always wanted to learn the other side of politics. And I'm so glad I've had that opportunity because it doesn't work any way that the media thinks at all. It's a totally different world. So it's been a really, really good learning curve for me. And on a personal level, I didn't care how I got involved. I wanted to be part of the solution of getting rid of the Liberals. I'm disgusted with what has happened to this province. Disgusted. And I take that personally because I really worry about the future of what this province is going to stand for in the future for my kids. And I'm not a good predictor. I'm usually wrong, so this might be bad here,

but I predict a cow or a cat or a dog could run for the PC party and probably win the next election based on how unpopular a win appears to be. Yeah, I mean, look, we're very far out from an election and no one assumes it's in the bag. I mean, you just don't do that in politics. No. And the electorate can change.

Hillary might have done that recently. Yeah, and again, she lost touch. No one takes for granted that this is going to be a very tough election. I think this election will go down as one for the ages. I think it's going to be a very, very tough campaign. And all you can do is stay really focused. And people always ask me, you know, what's Patrick Brown like? Who is he?

All I say is don't underestimate his ground game. It's quite something to watch. But I do think that people have to ask themselves. And I'm just, you have to ask yourself a couple of questions. Are you better off than you were 14 years ago? And the bigger question for me is, do they deserve the honor of running this province after everything that has been leveled against them?

You know, like there are three other parties people can vote for, but I think people have to really kind of say, is it okay with all the scandals and the allegations and the investigations? And for me, the big one is the waste. I think, what could we have done with that money for healthcare? I just watched my stepfather die on a waiting list. And I mean, I look at elder care and hospitals and I say, we are not serious about this. And then I think of all the money we've wasted in this province on nothing. And I find that to be really troubling.

I'm sorry to hear about your stepfather there. Are you behind, I have a question about Patrick Brown. Are you behind the stuttering commercial that I've seen a hundred times? I'm not. No, but I think, you know, you know, for him to be able to come out and I think, you know, for him, he, he, he came out and said, this is, this is to come out. And I think, you know, for him, he came out and said, this is who I am. And I think you have to be able to divulge those things of what you've overcome.

No, I only kid because I see it. I don't know what it's airing. I don't even watch that much TV, but I must watch something that airs that ad. No, you're ruining my reputation. My mother really likes that commercial. I have seen that commercial.

And so it's like i always you know when he comes on it's a close-up and he talks about he had a stuttering problem so i have no no problem the ad whatever it's fine yeah just i can't believe how many times i've seen that i know well you're gonna i think you're gonna see a lot of i think you know the next nine months ten months you're going to see a lot so here you sort of you're kind of in politics here on some level and steve leggett on Twitter wants to know if you have any plans to run for office yourself any political aspirations Alex never say never I never you know it's not I won't say no to anything at this point in my life because

I've had to redesign who I am and I think you can relate you know if you're in the broadcast industry a lot of us have had to completely redefine who we are. And it's a scary world. I'm going to be working for the rest of my life. I enjoy work, but I do need to work. Well, you could be a trucker if you still got that license. I could. Yeah, I would never close the door on that ever. He also, and I don't understand the context here, but maybe you can help me. He wants to know if you've ever taken an Uber. I know exactly where that's coming from. Yes, I have. I did a spokesperson campaign after Sun closed for the taxi industry. And that was a tough one

for me because I'm a free market thinker. I like free market. I like Uber. I like Uber. I mean, I'm like, yeah, free market, let the market decide. But I was able to jump into that campaign speaking, you know, almost against it. Because there was such a, it was so obvious that there's no rules for one and rules forever. I say, let them all go and see who the consumer decides on. You know what? I don't like a lot of these government rules. Like take a look at the, um, the debate going on. You know what? I don't like a lot of these government rules. Like, take a look at the debate going on about the poor guy, probably just around the corner from here, who built stairs.

He had the audacity to build stairs because, you know, no one in the city was doing it. People could fall and hurt themselves, Alex. They could. We could be liable. I look at it and I shake my head at all the government bureaucracy, all that red tape stopping,

you know, something from simply happening. What I like, okay, so the stairs thing, I don't think that's the solution, okay, but I like the fact that he's made a statement, right? Like, I'm hearing it everywhere. Big statement. And, you know, people at the Toronto Sun can jump on this, and they have like a, they have something they can kind of latch on to. So he made an interesting statement. That was not the solution, but it sure got us talking about it. Well, it did. It talks to it talks to waste and you know the steps that we have to go through to get things done but more i hope it wakes up you know everyone in the government to say we have to respect the taxpayers and do things that make sense at a good price yeah this the city though is still recovering

from the rob ford era so i think there's a sense like i noticed it with the rubber ducky okay so uh i don't have i try to avoid conservative friends but i do have a few okay and one of my conservative friends il duche uh was uh that's what we call him it's he gave himself that nickname uh he uh was very angry about the rubber duck because it's a whole bread not circuses thing or whatever sure Sure. But, uh, when you drill beneath it and look at the facts, it wasn't nearly as expensive as he thought it was. It was 200 grand and they could have got it for free.

But there's a Toronto portion and how it was covered. It's, I mean, all I'm saying is when all is said and done, I believe most Torontonians are going to look back and think that was money well spent on the rubber ducky. Well, I mean, we won't know until we see the receipts from how much extra business actually got injected into the local economy. So that's still, we still wait for that. I think what people look at it is, it's just wasteful. They could have gotten it from free

if they'd made a few more phone calls to the actual artist who did the initial duck. But I think the overwhelming issue is that, you know, you've got all this money to spend on everything else, but you've got people who are, you know, increased food bank usage. You got people who are breaking their back trying to pay hydro bills and you're out buying novelty items. I mean, as a whole, how much did we spend at the federal and provincial level on a birthday party that was pretty much forgettable. I mean, I would factor that we've probably spent billions. And that to me is absolutely a missed opportunity because I think we have to have a serious conversation about healthcare and where we're going to put the money in, making sure that there are social programs left for our kids. Like,

I think about what it's going to be like for my son when he's 20, 25, is he going to be paying user fees for everything making up for our past mistakes? That's kind of how my brain works. We'll have a robot prime minister by then. I think that's the plan. Speaking of prime ministers.

Okay. So, uh, as we segue over to your jam, we're going to kick soon. Are you excited? Yes. Good.

Justin Trudeau, uh, Justin JT, um, king of the selfies, very, uh, we're going to kick soon. Are you excited? Yes. Good. Justin Trudeau. Justin, JT, king of the selfies, very handsome fit man, kayaks to talk. Sock puppet. Kayaks to speak with his constituents.

Okay. Justin Trudeau, he recently put out his Spotify playlist. Did you, Alex Pearson, ever look at any of his songs on his Spotify playlist? I have no interest in things that are

not done with any kind of real true with any truth behind it. His staffers did that. It's just everything so orchestrated. I was going to say because he's got some melancholic songs on there. Tunes I like

because they're kind of sad. I find there's a comfort in feeling sad. That's a line from airvana song but i think it's true like everybody hurts by rem like that's a sad song right but it's a great i find it a great song but that's honest that's these guys the gary jewels cover of mad world that's the other one kind of in the same vein it's like you know what i mean i'll take the original but look yeah it's just so disingenuous to me like you got my playlist it going to be like the damned and the stranglers and, you know, like. Well, that's because next time you come back on the show, if I'm lucky enough to get you back into my basement, which sounds sinister, but it's not. If I don't come out, you know where I am.

You will bring me your 10 jams and we'll hear your sincere, legit, too legit to quit 10 jams. But OK, so let me play your. 10 jams and we'll hear your sincere, legit, too legit to quit 10 jams. But, um, okay. So let me play your, you know, this was tough for you. But at the moment I asked the question, this was possibly your favorite song of all time.

Is that fair? Top three. How come you didn't send me a top one? Well, because it depends on, on, I've got like a lot of classic rock that I really like. But this one takes me to a very special place.

All right, Alex, let's hear this and then let's talk about what you love about it. Your love feels Like trumpets sound I said your love feels Like trumpets sound Your life is like a mountain, yes your life is like a mountain

and your heart is like a church with wide open doors and to be with you I see you tapping your toes there. The Waterboys, Trumpets. I see you tapping your toes there. The Waterboys, trumpets. Tell me why you love The Waterboys. Oh my God.

Where do I start? I mean, come on. Have you ever heard a saxophone sound that good? It's not a trumpet. It's a saxophone. But anything with piano, I'm a sucker. But The Waterboys for me is like that group that took me through all my teen years. My dad and I listened to it. Like, my dad loved the Waterboys.

I mean, Mike Scott writes so beautifully, so romantically, and yet he's so bloody cool. I've seen them a bunch of times. I saw the Fisherman Blues tour. I saw them in Toronto two years ago with my husband. And there's something about their music that just takes me to a totally different orbit. I just can't say enough about them. This is the most underrated group I think out there. I'm glad you mentioned that because they are flying slightly below the radar. They aren't referenced a lot and

i'm going to share a funny story that we are exchanged so when i asked you your favorite song you said something by the water this is what you wrote okay water boros boros water boros the water b-o-r-o and i'm like oh shit mike you don't know that band. You've been exposed. I was like, oh my god, who are the Waterboros? And I Google them. Is this an obscure Hamilton band I should know? Some punk band I'd never heard of? I couldn't find anything on the Waterboros.

So I wrote you back and it took a lot of courage from this pinko, this lefty. I'm afraid I haven't heard of the Waterboros. Could you link me to a YouTube video or something? I had my glasses on and a spell check happened. No, at first you didn't realize the typo. I did. So originally you said something like,

now you feel old because I never heard of the, you thought I hadn't heard of the Waterboys. Yeah, I know. And then I realized, and it came to me suddenly like, oh my God, was that a spell check or something? And she meant Waterboys? Yeah, no. And it's funny because when you asked me what my favorite, you know, song was,

I really was, like, racking my brain. And then I was up in Muskoka for the first time in ages. And bang, the drum came on while we were out in the boat. And I went, of course, it's the Waterboys. Like, it just doesn't even come close. Like, I love a lot of classic rock, like Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, you know, Supertramp. I love that kind of music. But I also, I have a really wide variety of music.

But for me, if you haven't picked up This Is The Sea or Fisherman Blues or anything that Mike Scott does, you are totally, completely being robbed of just the simplest of pleasures. And it also, I was very close to my dad. And it was just one of those groups that he loved. Loved. And so it was something we shared together. And when did you lose your dad? I lost my dad eight years ago, very suddenly.

And he was the support system for my career. Like, honestly, my dad was like that guy that when you know when bill o'reilly stepped down he would have been on the phone going alex you know there's an opening at fox and i think you could probably get it like i'd be like your advocate it ain't ever gonna have a dad you've got far too much confidence or like anyone like diane diane sawyer you know there's an opening you could probably get that like dad you have far too much faith in me. Oh, I like that.

So he was a big fan. No, that's great. If your dad doesn't believe in you, then how can you believe in yourself? It's fantastic. And plus, he had the best taste in music

and that he really brought us up on, on like, on the importance of rock and roll and why you must love certain albums. No, that's great. No sex talk in our house.

It was, you've got to own this white album and you've got to own this, you know, you've got to own these certain albums. No, that's great. No sex talk in our house. It was, you've got to own this white album and you've got to own this, you know, you've got to own these certain albums. You have to come back at some point to kick out the jams. This is a series I'm doing where you can't do it on your first visit though.

You had to pay me a visit so we could talk about Sun News Network. That's right. And more. The City TV stuff I love too. A lot of great stuff. And I thoroughly enjoyed this. It was fun.

Thank you for having me. Enjoy your beer. Enjoy your pint glass. And you're going to come back with some Teenage Head in the jams kit. That's right. And that brings us to the end of our 253rd show. You can follow me on Twitter at Toronto Mike. Alex is at Alex Pearson AMP.

Our friends at Great Lakes Brewery are at Great Lakes Beer and propertyinthesix.com is at Brian Gerstein. See you all next week. Cause my UI check has just come in Ah, where you been? Because everything is kind of rosy and gray Yeah, the wind is cold But the smell of snow Wants me to dance

And your smile is fine And it's just like mine And it won't go away Cause everything is rosy and green Well you've been under my skin for more than eight years It's been eight years of laughter and eight years of tears And I don't know what the future can hold or do