Toronto Mike'd: The Official Toronto Mike Podcast - Ann Rohmer: Toronto Mike'd #348

Episode Date: June 13, 2018

Mike chats with Ann Rohmer about her career at CityTV and CP24, her two retirements and returns, and the exciting plunge she might soon take.

Welcome to episode 348 of Toronto Mic'd, a weekly podcast about anything and everything. Proudly brought to you by Great Lakes Brewery, a fiercely independent craft brewery located here in Etobicoke. Did you know that 99% of all Great Lakes beer remains here in Ontario? GLB, brewed for you, Ontario. And propertyinthesix.com, Toronto real estate done right. And Paytm, an app designed to manage all of your bills in one spot. Download the app today from paytm.ca. And Camp Tournesol, the leading French summer camp provider in Ontario. I'm Mike from torontomike.com and joining me is a woman who needs no introduction, but I'm giving her one anyways, broadcasting legend, Anne Romer. That was fantastic. I just watched and listened to you with, I guess, an eager ear.

You're fantastic, Mike. Well done. That's like praise from the heavens. You were articulate. You spoke calmly, smoothly, but there was energy in your voice. Good stuff. I think I butchered the word brewery, which I don't think I've ever done.

Because you had one while you were... I think I realized the weight of this moment and I had a little bit of stage fright there. I said, did I just butcher the word brewery? Screw it, I'm moving on. No, no, no, no. By the way, I love Great Lakes beer. It's so good.

I think they're going to love hearing that. I love them too. I actually worked, we had a grilled cheese challenge on Saturday in this neighborhood, and I worked the Great Lakes beer garden. Oh, that's wonderful. Like pouring beer. Did you do the old one and one, one for you, one for me? I wouldn't have been able to count the change if I had done that.

And everybody's excited to hear from you. I can't believe you're here. I'm playing your theme song. But you've got to eat that microphone like it's an ice cream cone on a hot summer's day. Okay, very good. Because you're going to get so comfy. You're just going to lean back there. You're going to pop open a brewski, and then I'm going to lose you.

I know. And you have a massage therapist on standby. Of course. Future sponsor. Of course, lose you. I know. And you have a massage therapist on standby. Of course. Future sponsor. Of course, of course. Dreamboat. I mean, all morning, I knew you were coming at 1030

and all morning I've been singing Dreamboat Annie. Love it. That's great. Well, my friends call me Annie and on occasion on CP24, some of my on-ear buds

would call me Annie. It's just my nickname and I love this song. It is a great song. I saw these guys open for Def Leppard, of all people. Hart opened for Def Leppard a few years ago. Great. Just fantastic. They don't make music like they used to.

If you go to any movie these days, they've got songs from the 70s, 80s, and a little bit of the 90s. They just don't do it properly today. No offense to today's artists, but those who are young and manufacturing films and commercials seem to go back to the 60s, 70s, 80s, a bit of the 90s. You're right.

Like even like Guardians of the Galaxy, for example, big blockbuster, but those are 70s jams, right? I love that. The first movie was fantastic. And that's what hooked me was the music. Absolutely. And it was on a cassette.

Who has cassettes? You know, I still got some in a box somewhere. I couldn't part with all my cassettes. I don't know how to play them but I have them just in case there's some kind of a nuclear disaster or something

and all we're left with are some analog cassette players. I can still hear my jams. That's it, you know. And I still have VHS tapes. Oh, me too. And there's no place to play them. That's true. That's true. Now, I want to ask you right off the top, how are your parents doing? Very well. The general and missus. Dad was just with the Snowbirds yesterday in Parry Sound. My father is, and I'm proud to say this, he is the most decorated man in the country, most decorated citizen. Can I give this full title here? Because I wrote it down because I

didn't want to screw it up. This is very important, okay? Lieutenant General. But Honorary Lieutenant General. Yes, but I always just say Lieutenant General. I have to say Honorary though, he'll be disappointed. Well, the military may come after you. Honorary Lieutenant General Richard Heath Romer is your father. Yes, that's right. 94 years young. Wow. Still flies an airplane. Wow. Yes, but here's the neat part. Yes, you would think as Lieutenant General that he's the boss of the Romer family, but no, no, no, no. My mother, Mary Olivia, Mary O., we call her the chief of the defense staff. She's the boss. She is the boss. She wears the pants of the family literally and figuratively. So your father, I mean, he wrote many books, but one of them he wrote in 1973. He wrote a book

called Ultimatum. And basically, there's an ultimatum issued by a nameless US president that basically comes to Canada and says, give us your Arctic oil and natural gas resources or else you suffer the consequences. Does that sound familiar to you? That's what I was thinking. I know. At the time, it's like, oh, this is fiction, ha ha. It feels like that feels pretty realistic right now.

It's a real foreshadowing. He also wrote a book called Separation. And, you know, there are ebbs and flows when it comes to what's going on in Quebec. But my father seemed to have a crystal ball. And, you know, he was appreciated when that book came out and the others. But people didn't really take it seriously. Now his books are flying off the shelf.

He saw it coming. Yes, he did. But who saw Trump coming? Oh, my goodness. You know what, though? In hindsight, it's one of those things where even on the night of election, in the US election,

that night, like at 6 p.m., I was uber confident that Hillary was going to win easily. As was I. And then by 8.30, I was like, boarding up the windows. What happened? I know.

But, you know, here's the thing. It gives us something to talk about. And there are days when I will say to my friends, I don't want to talk about Trump. I just have to have a Trump-free day. Right. No, I mean, I hear you. I can't do too much either. But this current tiff between USA and Canada, like if you review everything, we really come off looking good here. We do. Like Trudeau. And I mean, whether you like Trudeau or not, you have to admit he's handling it perfectly. I would argue. Absolutely perfectly, as is Chrystia Freeland.

Right. I think they're doing a bang-up job, and I am non-partisan at this point. Still am, as I had to be for 38 years on television. Right, right. But you know, Donald Trump is, in my humble opinion, he's crazy. Yeah.

And the things that he said about Justin Trudeau were just You can't reason with a madman. You can't reason with him. And I love that we don't participate in Twitter diplomacy. That's not how countries, especially your closest

ally, and it's weird that we're witnessing Donald Trump, he's closer and more glowing about murder as a dictator than us. Did you see one of the quotes was something like, oh, Kim Jong-un is devoted to his country. Oh my god,

I blew up tone deaf. Devoted to starving his people and keeping them in jail. That's what he's devoted to. Say something negative about a supreme ruler and watch what happens to your family in that country. That's so tone deaf. It's so tone deaf.

It's incredible. You know, it's funny you would bring that up. I think about the comedian whose name escapes me, Kathy Griffin, who a while back held up a decapitated, you know, Trump head. Trump head. Got in serious trouble. But now, you know, people are kind of going, well, that is funny. And it isn't quite as devastating as we thought it was initially. It's all so bizarre.

I have to pinch my, is this really happening? But your dad didn't write a book about Trump. No. But he forecast that. I could see Trump, hey, we're taking that water now and Canada, deal with it. And a few light things off the top is, one is, you were a figure skater. I was. And then what happened that ended the figure skating career?

I was hit by a car on Avenue Road, just south of the 401. Oh, no. Yeah. And I survived. Everything was okay. You survived. Oh, good. Yeah. And I survived. Everything was okay. You survived. Oh, good. You have the cliffhanger.

Thank goodness. But it made me rethink my commitment to a physical sport. So I stopped skating competitively. I trained under Sheldon Galbraith. And if you do a little Googling, he was Barbara Ann Scott's coach. Oh, can you stay that close to the mic? Yes, I will. And I could hear the difference too. If people miss a syllable, they'll be at my door, protest signs.

You know, it's funny too, on CP24, we have our microphones, you know, on our lapels, or near our chat. And they always say to me, move it down a little, please. Move it down. Because my voice is so loud. I can't afford those CP24 mics. That's the problem. But these are actually really good microphones. These are fantastic. I didn't cheap out on these things.

Wonderful. So those were glory days. I gave that up and devoted myself to boys and parties. And I smoked as a youngster, as a teenager. Yeah. Because you thought it was cool. Because I thought it was cool. I went to private school, and I didn't want to,

but my parents very generously scraped everything together to do that. So I wanted to be rebellious. Of course. So I hiked my Branksome Hall kilt and had Farrah Fawcett hair, smoked cigarettes, and necked with all the boys. Of course. I know. I got to say, so I mentioned I worked this grilled cheese challenge on Saturday.

Yes. I met a gentleman. He actually, believe it or not, this guy's mayor of Toronto, but this guy John Tory came by. I got a photo of me and John from Saturday. And as I referred to him, I called him Ann Romer's prom date. Yes. Tell me this story. Well, it is what it is, but it's not quite as glamorous as you think. It was a prom. He was going to, I think he was at UTS. I was at Branksome. I was best friends with his sister,

Jennifer, who is now a mucky muck at RBC. She's marvelous. And neither of us had dates, meaning John nor I had dates. And so it was just by, I guess, process of elimination, we ended up going together. And we, you know, didn't really like each other that much. But you did go to the prom together. We did go to the prom together. Which is a fun Toronto fact.

I think everybody likes fun facts. Yeah, and he was such a gentleman. He was just wonderful. We never, to the prom together. Which is a fun Toronto fact. I think everybody likes fun facts. He was such a gentleman. He was just wonderful. We never, there was not a date, too. It was just, the chemistry wasn't there. I'm still stuck on, you didn't have a date? Because I've seen the aerobics photos. Getty Images has a whole bunch of Ann Romer. No?

You were too shy. Well, yeah. I am a little bit shy. But, yeah, it just, and he didn't have a date. He was quite handsome as well. So, you know, he, we ended up together. We did not, um, we shook hands at the end of the night. Oh, that's always a bad sign when you, cause we're going to do more than that at the end of this date. We've already hugged. That's true. He did a bit of the lean in and out came my hand as my parents have taught me, shake hands and look the person straight in the eye. I love John Tory and I love his wife.

We ran into each other at the liquor store, Barb, and she said, oh, I'm so glad you went to the prom with him. That's funny. I think a lot of people are unaware that John Tory and Ann Romer went to a prom together. He's such a cutie pie. Before he was mayor, one of the two times that I left CP24, because I left twice. Well, we're going to get to this. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So the first time, John came on my farewell show.

He was dressed in a tuxedo with a corsage for me, and we danced so that we could recreate the prom date. Well, that's amazing. That's amazing. He was mayor the second time I left, so that didn't happen. There's a Jillian who's a listener of the show. Jillian says, Mike, when Ann Romer comes in, ask her if she misses teaching aerobics classes.

Body alive on Church Street in the 80s. I was there. So one of your students. Oh, I love teaching and I miss it. I miss it. So this is how you, I guess, in your early 20s, you're doing this? I guess in your early 20s you're doing this? I would say, yeah, early 20s to my early 40s.

I taught for several decades, yeah. And it helped keep me young. It channeled my energy. And it was great. It was just this wonderful little slice of life, body alive. We moved to Yorkville. I still am friends with some of the instructors and occasionally someone will walk up and say, you killed me in class. And I thank you for that. So, but that means if I do the math here, of course, you're in our living rooms on

our televisions and you're teaching a class. Was any of this because you needed some extra coin or was this all for passion? No, it was for passion and pleasure. And it occurred to me... Because you never know if Canadian media stars, you're never sure whether they're hustling to make an extra buck or not. No, this was just pure passion. And it also selfishly to help keep me young. It's worked. Can I tell you that? It helps. It helps.

Now, Basement Dweller, there's a handle for you. Basement dweller wants to know how many times, he worded it like this, exactly how many times was she a sunshine girl? I have to think. 16, fully clothed because it was way before that. Oh, you mean no bikini? No, no, no, no, no.

Oh, I would never do that. So when I was 16, I wore corduroy pants, bell bottoms, madras jacket, little, you know, neck scarf, and I had the Farrah Fawcett hair. I think in my 30s, and then when I turned 40, so I think three times, three times, and the caption for the 40s was fit, fabulous, and 40. And I was very grateful for the two of those three. The 40, no,

but the fit and fabulous. Those are good F words, I think, right? Those are okay. No, I think, I don't know if that's a record or not, but that's...

Three times, yeah. That's great. Yeah, it was fun. Here's the thing. When I was 16, that particular go-round, they printed my last name. And they don't normally do that, or they don't do it now.

So we started getting heavy breathing phone calls. Oh, no. And my parents were livid. You can imagine the general and the chief of the defense staff, their 16-year-old daughter, getting... That's terrible. And this is the day before call display and all that jazz i don't even think there was voicemail box at that point i remember these days i remember these days before atms and fax machines wow that's uh that's already here that but yeah and i'm sure they only

printed your last name because of the general they probably liked the no no i think that's just the way they did it back then. They put people's last names. And they smartened up. They smartened up. Security risk. See, that's more of a security risk. Trump said that Canada was a security risk because of 1812.

What the heck is that? Yeah, I know. That's the Brits. I studied this closely. But he doesn't know what he's talking about. Didn't you burn down the White House? Well, we were a colony of these guys that you went to war to escape back in the 1770s. Who feeds him his information?

I don't. That's the problem. A bunch of yes men who tell him what he wants to hear. And if you don't, he's a bit like, that's why he loves the dick. Yeah, that's why he likes the little dick. And Dennis Rodman. Did you see Dennis's reaction to the meeting? He was crying, right?

Yeah, I saw that. It was embarrassing. He is embarrassing. We live in strange times, Anne was crying, right? Yeah, I saw that. It was embarrassing. He is embarrassing. We live in strange times, Anne. But they're exciting. I mean, imagine. Exciting is one word for them. Yeah, I'm going to try to be positive on this front.

You know, these countries that are wacko, these leaders, they have big weapons at their disposal. I know. And you see, that is in place of their own weapons that are quite small. This is what, yes. Yes, okay. On that note, though, on that note, I have gifts for you. So before we do jump in here. I didn't bring you anything.

Your presence is present. Your presence is present enough. And don't please. You're going to take a photo of me afterwards. Perfect. I told my wife it's being framed and put up above the bed. Is that okay? That doesn't creep you out, does it?

I'm sure she's thrilled about that. Hey, there's, you know, come on. The six-pack in front of you is courtesy of Great Lakes Brewery. Is it very much like what is on your stomach? Oh, the six-pack. I wish. Are you kidding me? I bike a lot, but my six-pack is, I have a flat, my stomach's not fat, but there's no

six-pack that requires, go nuts. Yeah, on mic too. Ready? Yeah. Which one did you open? I opened. Oh, that's a Father's Day special. Oh, isn't that wonderful?

I'll give it to you, daddy. You know what? Fantastic. You know, I have four children. That makes Father's Day, yeah, that makes Father's Day like the, that is the day. I think it should be Mother's Day twice a year instead of you getting a Father's Day, your wife giving birth to four children. Well, this is the day. I think it should be Mother's Day twice a year instead of you getting a Father's Day, your wife giving birth to four children. Well, this is the thing. Two wives.

I know this is getting awkward now. Really? Well, there was a wife who I still love very much and she gave birth to two of my beautiful children and then ten years later, there was another wife. Not at the same time. I want to be clear on this. So you didn't leave one for the other? No, please. Come on.

You know, we're still friends, like I said. And then now I have two more children with wife number two, and then there will be no more wives. I'm going to promise everybody that. And yes, so it wasn't, everyone gave birth to two children, and it makes four. Do the four live here in this house, or are two with your first wife? Two live in both.

They go back and forth. So two go back and forth and two live here obviously all the time because that would be weird if they didn't because mom and dad live here all the time.

That would be weird. How do you manage to stay friends with your ex? A lot of people can't say that. No, I know. Because to me, there's no other option because you share two children

and they're everything. They really are. They're priority one, two, three, four, five, six, seven. So you basically, you need to be civil and friendly in order to make a healthy environment for the children. And you loved her once and she loved you once in that way. That's the thing.

You never, you know, all because you're, we were married 15 years. Like all because you're not going to be in that type of relationship doesn't mean that you don't like the person or you don't love the person. Sometimes life is funny that way. Sometimes you need to make a change. So I'm trying to do the math now and figure out how old you are. All right, I'll take a shot at it.

Well, I would have said by looking at you, you've got that nice salt and pepper hair. One of my friends who was an anchor at CP24, Kyle Christie. Okay, I just talked to him. He's coming in. Oh, he's so great. Somebody told me, although I think he's much more handsome,

but somebody told me he was my doppelganger. Yeah, you do not look dissimilar. How about that for double-nators? Because he's very handsome. He is very handsome, as are you. So I'll take that. And you've got young faces

and that salt-and-pepper hair. I love him. I go to his house in Cambridge once a year for barbecue. Can you tell us why he left his role at CP24? He's starting a business. Yeah.

And he has always had his hands in a whole bunch of different things. But he just, as he put it, this was calling his name. And I don't blame him. He is a marvelous broadcaster. Probably my favorite at CP24. My favorite male broadcaster. He just made a lot of people sad, I think. I know.

And I consider him a dear friend. He listened to my problems and questions and I his. But he also was traveling every night, five nights a week, from Cambridge on the highway to be at the office for 9 o'clock and would anchor from 10 until 11.30 and then drive back in snowstorms, in you name it. And that's not the reason why he left. It's just this business. And it has to do with drones and real estate, but he'll tell you more.

He is coming on. He's confirmed he's coming on. We didn't have to book it. Great. I'll send him a note when I leave today just saying, you're going to have a good time. And now I'll extract this audio to play for him. Okay.

You can hear you glow about him because that was a rave review. He's going to want to hear that. He is the best. We actually worked together. I think we did a couple of New Year's Eve broadcasts together. And it was the pleasure of my life. He was such a professional and just so neat. I'm honored to be his doppelganger.

He sounds like a great guy. So don't cut your hair between now and when he comes because his is a little longer. Okay, I can do that. I'll do that. Now, when you're at home and you're drinking your Great Lakes beer, you're going to want to pour it into your brand new pint glass. There it is.

Oh, look, there's something inside. What's inside? Brian Gerstein. Brian Gerstein from propertyinthesix.com is giving you that pint glass. Oh, that's wonderful. Thank you, Brian. You know what he's going to do?

He's going to edit that he's cute part and make it his ringtone. Yeah, why not? He's cute. What were you going to say? You were going to call him, buy a couple of homes?

Hello, Brian, you're cute. He is fabulous. And if I were to buy or sell, I would go to him. He has a question for you. Okay. So let's hear from the heavens above. Let's hear.

He's still with us. Don't worry. But here's Brian. Brian. Property in the six dot com. Hi, Anne. Brian Gerstein here. Sales representative with PSR Brokerage and proud sponsor of Toronto Night.

Anne, with all of the hype and you finally here, I'm actually a bit nervous. And this is after asking Stephen Brunt and Brian Williams questions, who are two of my idols. 416-873-0292 is a number to call or text me for any real estate needs you have in the next six months. And the real estate show on CP24 is just not the same without you hosting it, as you put your own stamp on it and made it your own. As a realtor, I thoroughly enjoyed your moderating of it, and you always ask smart questions which your viewers wanted to hear answered. My question is, do you still follow the real estate market as closely as you did back then? And are you concerned about the

affordability factor for our kids to rent our own real estate in the six? Well, that was such a treat. Brian, thank you. And he has a couple of great questions. Yes, I still follow the real estate market very closely and in Collingwood as well, which is where my family lives. And they're similar in some ways and very different in others. And I am very able to afford to do anything in this city? Or will they have to move out to the Burbs and even beyond in order to rent? Timbuktu, maybe. Yeah, Timbuktu. Well, it's probably Timbuktu 6 by now, just inflation plus. That's right. Yeah, I'm very concerned. And I'd love to know specifically what Doug Ford thinks he can do about this.

Come on. I want to know. I want to know as well. I think we all want to know. I want to know as well. I think we all want to know. But my concern is like, I bought this home we're in right now. I bought it almost five years ago. How much did you pay?

$605. Okay. Five years ago. Yep. I could not afford to buy this same house I'm in now. I could not afford it today. But if you sold this house... Well, yes.

But in some bizarro universe where, you know what I mean? What do you think it's worth now? Closer to nine? I'm going to say about closer to nine. Well, yes, but in some bizarro universe where, you know what I mean? What do you think it's worth now? I'm going to say about closer to nine. Yeah, yeah. But if you were to sell it, where would you go? You would have to go to Timbuktu in order to buy something. And then you got the two land transfer taxes.

Yep. Which is just crazy. And I hosted Hot Property for 14 years. Wow. And the changes that I saw through that, you know, we looked at a recession, we looked at a downturn in the market, we looked at an upswing that continued until I left for the final time at the end of 2015. And things really changed in 2016, 2017. Did you say for the final time? We're going to get to that end. Hold on.

Although I shouldn't even say that because they called me back to fill in for a year and a half. Well, okay, listen. I have taken notes. I have people who literally report back to me when they see you on CB24, and they'll be like, Anne's back. She's back.

And then I'll be like, again? And then I take meticulous notes, and with all love and respect, because I think you're amazing, I have questions on this. But wait. You have to get there. So I want to start.

And I, yes, I want to start with global television in 1979. Is this your first foray into media? It was 1980, actually. 79, I was with Hutcham Productions, and I hosted a show called Showbiz. Showbiz, right. Yeah, so that was 1979. That was my first time on television, and I got to interview people like Donald Sutherland, James Brolin. That's all I can remember. But those are great legends. They were great. It was so much fun. And there wasn't pressure and there wasn't a lot of competition. There weren't a whole bunch of channels.

And I had really fine people supporting me and helping me to learn. And this was a syndicated show. It was a syndicated show across the country. Yeah, showbiz. Then there was an all-out call for a show called PM Magazine. Okay. And I auditioned for it. And the producer called me at the end of the audition process and said,

you were the dark horse going into this. You've just turned light. And the show, they changed the name. They moved away from the syndication part of it. And they called it That's Life. And this is a global television network. And this won awards, right? This was an award-winning...

We weren't, but Peter Finiak, who is one of my best friends... Take credit for it. Nobody will know. It was the incredible production staff that won awards. Not the hosts, but that's okay. I have a little clip from That's Life, a little promo, so let's hear this.

Hi, I'm Ann Romer. And I'm Peter Finiak, and we want to invite you to join us for That's Life, a little promo. So let's hear this. Hi, I'm Anne Romer. And I'm Peter Finiak. And we want to invite you to join us for That's Life. Global television, daily human journal, weeknights at 7. There you go, That's Life. I just had lunch with Peter yesterday. We brought sandwiches to his backyard

to celebrate his birthday. And his voice is a little different. It's a little lower than. Oh, lower? Yeah, lower. It's a little lower than. Oh, lower? Yeah, lower. It's a little. How do I get that? I don't know.

Is it a secret? Do I have to start smoking or something? Do you remember John Derrick, who was married to a woman? Bo Derrick. Yeah, but the wife before that, or one of them, he made her scream every day. Scream, scream, scream, scream to lower her voice. And I can't remember which wife it was. I mean, I'm not going to, yes.

Here's what I remember. I remember he would make movies just so we could see his beautiful wife Bo naked. Like these movies existed just to have these That's called pornography. Almost, almost. But I mean, as a young man, I was appreciative of this, but now I realize how creepy

that all was. Totally creepy. So I don't know if he's a great guy or not. I digress. But Bo, yes, I have fond memories of Bo. I want to say that it's the, I can't think of her name, but she was in the television series Dallas. She played Crystal, a blonde. Cheryl?

Linda? Linda Evans? No. Linda Evans was in Dynasty, I think.. Linda Evans? No. Linda Evans was in Dynasty, I think. We'll figure that out. But one of his wives, he made her shout and scream. Because she wanted, maybe that's for the Kathleen Turner effect. Yeah.

Right? Yeah. Because that voice was, yes. And she still has that I smoke too much voice. Well, now it's, now it's, yeah, it's really deep now. But I remember like in Romancing the Stone, for example. Yes. Or Body Heat. Do you remember that? That is great, sexy movie making.

You know, and it wasn't, it was subtle. Right. Well, they don't make movies like that anymore. They show everything. Like Sharon Stone. What was her big one? Oh, Basic Instinct. Yeah, Basic Instinct was in the same vein like later, obviously.

Yeah, I think so. And then there are the movies that I've never seen. Fifty Shades of Grey. Yeah, I've never seen them either. Fifty Shades of... No, yeah, I don't know, man. That was an erotic fiction kind of phase. What do you call that?

Fad? I don't know if it's going to stick, and I don't know how popular those movies were, but I guess if you're having a girls' night out, maybe people go out and have a good time

and watch Fifty Shades of Grey. I don't think so. You were never invited? I would never do that. The girlfriends didn't invite you out to see Fifty Shades of Grey? No, my girlfriends wouldn't do that. They'd rather go to a hockey game.

I know she's the daughter of Don Johnson and Melanie Griffith. Yes. Which is interesting. And she looks more like Don Johnson before he had his eyes done. Oh. Yeah, he's got that sort of Kenny Rogers eyes look, but he's still handsome. Do you know there's a Kenny Rogers CD right here?

I've never listened to Kenny Rogers. You're right. You're absolutely right. That would be a great placemat, you know, drink holder. My mom is, was, and is a massive Kenny Rogers fan, and that was the mix CD I made for her, and I keep it here because it's like, growing up, all I heard was Kenny Rogers' greatest hits.

That's all I heard. I hate to disappoint her. Has she seen him lately? Probably not. I know. But he's an older gentleman. Yeah, but I'm a great believer in aging gracefully and not changing the way you look. Oh, yeah, I know. But that's just my opinion. I'm with you. I'm a great believer in aging gracefully and not changing the way you look.

Oh, yeah, I know. But that's just my opinion. I'm with you. I'm with you. Now, you're on That's Life. Yes. So it's 80 to 84. 80 to 84. But you end up at Canada AM for a spell? That was after That's Life was cancelled.

That's Life was cancelled to make room for a show called Pizazz. I remember Pizazz. And they took some of our taped pieces and cut us out and used those they sort of moved them around and had other hosts introducing

the stories with Peter and with me cut out. Interesting, huh? Huh. Yeah, but that's okay. But yes, I did a turn at Canada AM for a couple of years. Like a features reporter. Yeah, so I got to travel the world and interview people like Mel Gibson and Tina Turner. Mel Gibson before he went crazy.

Yeah, you know, I remember he put his hand out to shake mine because we like to shake hands, and it was slippery. And I said, wow, you seem nervous. He said, I am. I thought that was endearing. I feel the same way as Mel right now, talking to you. And do you speak French in these travels? Un petit peu.

I used to work for Air Canada as a flight attendant, and so I had to speak French. They sent me to a place called Jean-Clare, Quebec for an immersion course, six weeks. So I can say Bonjour, Mesdames et Messieurs. Bienvenue à votre 456 à destination de Montréal. So good! But that's it! That's it. But hey,

that's more French than I have. And it sounds like you went to sort of a French camp there. And it's funny because one of the proud sponsors of this program is Camp Tournesol. And you were probably too old to attend Camp Tournesol. And they weren't around until 2001. But if you have a child or grandchild between the ages of 4 and 14, they have a French camp for your child or grandchild. They're the largest French camps in Ontario.

It doesn't matter if your child is francophone or in French immersion or has no French experience. They have a day camp or an overnight experience for them. So go to, here's the call to action, go to campt.ca I would say go to campturnasol.com but you won't be able to spell it.

So go to campt.ca check out the great day camps and overnight programs they have and when you sign your child up make sure you use the promo code Mike because you get 20 bucks off and they'll know that you learned about them from Toronto Mike

and the wonderful, what episode is this again? 348 with Anne Romer. So go to campt.ca. And don't forget and say it with me Mike, are you ready? Don't forget to say Merci. Merci beaucoup. Merci beaucoup. That's all I have.

A bientôt. I wish I had taken a flight with you as the back then you could call them stewardess, right? They were just transitioning to flight attendant and it was the time of my life. It was without a doubt my favorite job. And when did you start, like, did the media stuff take, like, when did you leave?

When did they take off? Take off. What part of your life are we talking about here? The flight attendant was from 76 until 79. So I left university after the first year, University of Toronto. I must be honest, and I'm sorry that I did that, but at the time it seemed the right thing to do. I had to follow my heart. And I was a flight attendant, so I learned

through the University of Life. School of Hard Knocks? Oh yeah, it was tough, and I was very shy. I've told you this, that I'm a little bit shy. I haven't noticed it. But I'm comfortable with you. You know why? Because we've been emailing for years now.

I know, I know. We're like pen pals. Yeah, I know. I think it's great. And we finally see each other. But I flew for three years and learned how to speak with people and how to be comfortable and communicate. And this was the time of your life.

It was the time of my life. Any regrets that you ever quit that job? Nope, not one. I have no regrets, period. No regrets. None whatsoever. My decisions are always well thought out, and they are my decisions.

We're going to get to these decisions soon. Oh, we're building. You can cut the anticipation with a knife, I think. That's all you can cut. Leaving on a jet plane. That's not bad for a quick, quick song I pulled up here. This is the John Denver. Oh, no, that's terrible because he died in a plane crash.

Now I regret picking the John Denver version. I should have gone with Peter, Paul, and Mary. But what was I thinking here? That's okay. The effort is noticed. I need to ask you about, I mean, you tell me what you want to tell me, but the crazy Canuck, Steve Podborski. Oh, Steve Podborski, my first husband. Your first husband.

Yeah. Because this was, and for the younger listeners, this was like a, this was a big deal, like a royal wedding. Kind of, yeah. Can I call it that? Yeah, 1984. We met on the set of That's Life. I interviewed him. He was an up-and-coming, not quite yet a world champion. Right, because he wins a bronze medal in 1980.

I hadn't met him yet at that point. And he won the World Cup, I think it was 84, and that was the year that he retired. But we met through work, and he asked me for lunch. I was dating someone else at the time, and he was as well. But not John Tory. Not John Tory. And he was as well. But, you know, when there's an attraction, you just go with it, I think. Oh, I know.

I'm feeling it right now, Anne. I know. And so we set a date for our lunch, and he called me two days prior and said, I've just been doored. He was bicycling, and somebody opened a door. Still a problem out there. Yeah, it is huge. And it was in, you know, 1982.

Well, less bike lanes even back then. I know, I know. Fewer. I'm the grammar queen. It's fewer, not less. I feel shame. No, it's okay. You know, I'm an English major, too, from U of T, and I feel great shame. No, fewer. I'm the grammar queen. It's fewer, not less. I feel shame. No, it's okay. You know, I'm an English major, too, from U of T, and I feel great shame.

No, don't. And I shouldn't have said anything. No, that's okay. We're close enough. Do it. Keep doing it. So we had to postpone. We finally got together.

We had lunch Friday at noon up in the Yonge and Davisville area, and we said goodbye on Monday. It was a two and a half day lunch. Oh my God. I know. Wow. It was great. Those are the best lunches. Yeah. You know, you don't forget those lunches. That's for sure. And there's a great lunches, but they say, you know, a spooning leads to forking. That's what I heard. And it sounds like this ended up with bells ringing in a church and the... Yeah, we got married and I didn't want to, about a month before the wedding, I got severe, not even cold feet, I had frozen feet. And all of my friends and my family

said, you know, you'll be fine. It's just cold feet. Go through with it. It's probably because there's such a spotlight put on him and on the two of you. Just go for it. So I did, and I shouldn't have. Six months later, I told him I was leaving, and we discussed trying to work it out. We went for another six months, and I said at the end of the first year of marriage, I can't do this because it's just not authentic. Well, you have to be true to yourself.

That's a big commitment. And there were no children. And then it's just like, we're both young. Returning something to Costco or something. I know. I mean, I do sound heartless. No, no, I agree with you.

But if it's not working, why would you, and we tried, we really tried. So I hold no ill feelings toward him. He has come around and seems to be a little, well, I mean,

we don't see each other, but I don't think he gives two hoots now. Well, here's the quote. We want to hear the Steve Piborski quote. Oh, I read that somewhere. Well, I think that the confusing part was that we started with the notion of what good would look like, but when we got married, we couldn't fulfill those roles. So we basically, I have to say, changed who we were when we got married and that ended up not working at all. Marriage changed us. Bad idea. That's Steve's quote on it.

Yeah. And you know, it is what it is. He went on to marry someone else, and I think they have divorced. I went on to marry again, and common law third time. And you know, it's a journey, and it's a fun one. You buy your ticket, you sit down, fasten your seatbelt, let's go. Another airline reference. Now, which wedding was John Gallagher at? John Gallagher, because, oh, he tells a story. So I'm going to let you know. I didn't, I didn't pull the clip, but he tells a story of how he tells a story. He was at your wedding and you look, you said to him that you were making a huge mistake, and then you walked down the aisle. I doubt it.

Is this a John Gallagher? He's known for his hyperbole. I didn't invite him. So if he was there, it would have been through Steve. He's a wedding crasher. It would have been through Steve. So I have no recollection of John Gallagher being at my wedding. He couldn't have been at the second wedding because it was an elopement,

and the third was signing papers in a lawyer's office. So it must have been Steve who interviewed him, which would, or brought him in because he probably interviewed Steve. Very interesting. Yeah, but no. And why would I say to a perfect stranger? You know, I don't even know. I have to check. You got to check if that ended up in Gallagher's book. He wrote this book. I don't know if I made it in there or not. I'll have to take a look. But I have no recollection of that, and I'm not sure that he's got his facts straight, but there you go. So, I doubt that I would

have told a complete stranger that I was making a mistake. I'm so glad you're here to set the record straight. Now, in 1986, I'm going to play a promo that aired on City TV. Okay, so let's hear this. I'm not waiting around here. Here, welcome back.

How are you doing? Come on. There's a new player on the sports team at City TV. I don't think Martina has anything to worry about. We've got Ann Romer, an ace reporter whose energy is going to keep City Pulse on top. It's shaping up to be a great threesome. You're doing it city style. That's how it's done.

The city sports team, Salzburg, Romer, and McKinney, every night on City Pulse, the eyes of Toronto. There you go. Oh, that is adorable. And you know, it would not stand the test of anything today because there's so much innuendo in that. But that's fun and cheeky. To me, that stuff's okay.

I think we've gone a little, we're swinging, the pendulum has to swing back and forth and maybe it's swung too far because to me that's innocent, cheeky, fun. And if I recall, there's a shot of Jim McKinney watching me as I run away.

Oh my God. I know. Talk about cheeky. Tell me, can you tell me anything about, because I grew up watching, that was my station, City TV, in those days. And I loved City TV back then because it had character.

It had personality. You had Mark Daly. You had Jim McKinney. Gord Martineau. Ann Broskowski. Just really cool people. Even behind the scenes, the camera people were incredible.

And the writers, the staff, everyone was just, they were rock stars. Right. Yeah. And I don't get that same feeling today. Well, it feels a bit more corporatized now. Well, I couldn't even tell you who works there at this point. So, unfortunately.

Yeah. Roger Peterson. Yeah, he's still there. Kevin Frank has just left. Right. I have a clip from him too. That's kind of Dina Pugliese. That's kind of all I know.

Cynthia Mulligan. She was a writer at City. Yeah, she's been there a long time, right? Yeah, she's a good from him too. That's kind of all I know. Cynthia Mulligan, she was a writer at City. Yeah, she's been there a long time, right? Yeah, she's a good girl. How long has she been there? We're going back. Well, she was a writer

when, I don't know, probably 25 years? She might be the longest serving City TV on-air person maybe? I'm not sure about that because her days behind the scenes

may be longer than on-air, but she's great and she beat breast cancer with a vengeance. Good for her. And I just, yeah, I'm in awe of her. No, very good for her. Now, can you say a few words about Jim McKinney? Because I thought he was a former Leaf, and he was doing the sports,

and I just thought he had oodles of personality. Tons. And what can you share with me about Jim? Well, he was my knight in shining armor. There was a little bit of resistance in the sports department to my being hired. Even though I was replacing Debbie Van Kiekebel, they didn't want another woman in the sports department. good friend, Greg Manzik, teamed up and somehow arranged that on my weekend shift, no one would be there to help me write and cut and put the whole thing together. And they wanted me to quit. Oh, because of your gender.

Jim McKinney and John Whaley came together and put their time in with me over that weekend. They helped me put the sports cast together. It went to air. Everything was fine. But they did this out of the goodness of their hearts. That's amazing and good to hear. And I'm glad. And I probably should have reported this,

but I just didn't think that that was the right way to go about it. And also different times. I think maybe that was par for the course? Is that a sports analogy I can use here? Yeah, you know, trial by fire. But it was disappointing. And again, Greg Manzik has turned out to be a great guy, and we're great

friends. Russ Salzberg, bye-bye, so long, farewell. That was what he used to say. That's his catchphrase. But he would do it with his Bronx accent. I can't remember. I'm having I can't. I'm having trouble remembering him. Well, just Google him. I think he's still on air

but back in New York. So he had a thick Bronx accent and a little, you know, a little bit short, a little bit rough around the edges

but they liked him up until a certain point and then I think they got rid of him. Because Jimmy Kenny, he had a long tenure there and I know I was disappointed when he was pushed out the door. Was he pushed out? I don't know.

He was pushed out the door. That's too bad. They did that to a couple of people, I think. Just, I don't understand why that happens, but he is fantastic. I always assume they just, when you've been around a long time and you're good at what you do,

maybe your salary gets to a point where they see you as a number as opposed to, no, you don't think it's bottom line shareholders and stuff. No, I think somebody up in an ivory tower says, you know, um,

we need to bring in younger blood because that's the audience we're trying to attract now, which I don't think is right. But, um, I'm sorry to hear that he was, uh, led out the door. I don't think he'd be pushed, but, hope he's doing well because, of course, he did have that heart attack

on vacation. And his daughter was killed in a car crash in Australia. So he and Christine, his lovely wife, have had their share of disappointments. He's a great guy. And he's so humble and so kind. And just as I say, he helped me out immensely and showed me his support and love. Here's a fun fact about you at City Pulse. Uh-oh. You were the first Canadian female sports reporter allowed to interview

athletes in their changing rooms. That's huge. So was Boria Salming. You got to interview Borge in the dressing room. Yep. If you could take it and swing it over your shoulder, that was Boria. I was trying to read between the lines here, but okay. And this is why he started an underwear company in Sweden. For certain men who need more space. Package underwear. So here's what happened.

Terry O'Keefe, who is doing something different now, he was my cameraman. We went on the road for the playoffs, and I was brought into the dressing room, and the guys were all naked, and they were

hoping that I would be flustered, and I was. Yeah, they were trying to shock you. But I was shocked at Boreas Alming. Wow. Use your hands. No one can see you right now. What are we talking?

Wow. Like an elephant's trunk. Yeah. But my eyes remained locked on his, but I have peripheral vision. Oh, man. That's amazing. They wanted to see me sweat.

You know, of all the rumors that get out there and things, I don't think he'd be upset at this one. But they did that. That's amazing. They wanted to see me sweat. Yeah. So. You know, of all the rumors that get out there and things, I don't think he'd be upset at this one. No. This is all right. And at that same weekend, we were there for a few days, John Brophy, I had to hide behind pillars to try to avoid him. You know, he was a bit older and decided that I was going to be his next conquest. Oh, no. Yeah. I'm sure he wouldn't even remember who I was.

I believe he was an inspiration for Slapshot. Was he? I believe so. The Paul Newman character. I've never seen that movie. Really? The greatest hockey movie of all time. Paul Newman.

He's got eyes like us, Paul Newman. He's in our club. He's got the light eyes. Anyway, John Brophy, we would hide. And Terry would say, he's there. Quick, hide. Nice, nice guy. But, you know, he's there. Oh, quick, hide. Nice, nice guy. But, you know, and I may have been single at that point and he may have found that out.

So it was very flattering, but it just wasn't for me. I just had a bunch. So Brophy, I just recently had Gord Stelic on this program. Oh, nice guy, huh? Yeah, great guy. And we just talked for two and a half hours about like stories like about that, like John Brophy and these guys. It was a crazy time

with Harold Ballard and the Leafs in the 80s. What a crazy time. And remember his girlfriend, Yolanda? Of course. Of course. I mean, it really is.

She's still alive. She's in Florida, I believe. But yeah, she's still living. And he rolls in his grave every once in a while. At Park Lawn Cemetery.

Is that where he is? I've been to the grave to take photos. So when you feel tremors, it's him rolling in his grave. In other words, every once in a while, it's not too far from here and I'll bike over and I'll say, oh, here's Harold Ballard's grave. I've been to the grave to take photos. So when you feel tremors, it's him rolling in his grave. In other words, every once in a while, it's not too far from here, and I'll bike over and I'll say, oh, here's Harold Ballard's grave. I always get somebody

on Twitter be like, take a piss on it, man. I'm like, holy fuck. That's terrible. That's blasphemous. That's awful. I mean, you can have your opinions, but you would never do that. You're too nice a guy. No, I'm not gonna. I would never pee on his grave. Can you tell me a little bit

about Moses? What was it like working for Moses? His last name I struggle with, can I say it? Znimer. Znimer. Yeah, so even tighten the Z and the N a little more. Znimer. Znimer. Znimer. Znimer. Znimer. Znimer. Znimer. Znimer. Nope. Znimer.

How about Moses? Moses Z?imer. How about Moses? Moses Zed? Can I call him that? You can do that, yes. Okay. You tell me a bit about Moses. Let me preface it with this.

I've been told by very good sources that a, I believe, a Globe and Mail introspective tied to the Me Too movement about Moses has been in development for six months now. Really? Is it still coming out? Is it still to come out? I actually thought, they thought it might drop before Christmas. the Me Too movement about Moses has been in development for six months now. And they were talking to... Is it still coming out? Is it still to come out? I actually thought... They thought it might drop

before Christmas. I believe it's still coming out. And I had Steve Anthony on the show. We'll get to him in a minute. But Steve Anthony... And I asked Steve if he had heard from them yet

because they were contacting everybody who worked with Moses. And I've never been contacted. And Steve hadn't either. But then whoever... I believe maybe they heard that show because he got contacted right away after. You might hear from somebody now. I'm going to say

for the record, he never was inappropriate with me ever. You never got told there's a, because he had a bed in the 299 Queen. There was a bed, right? Never. And I'm proud of it and proud to know him. He was nothing but respectful toward me. Okay, good. And obviously didn't find me attractive, but that's okay. Please. His eyes can't be that bad, man. Come on. But I know he was wonderful. And he gave me my break.

One of my best friends is David Onley, the now former lieutenant governor. What's his full title? Okay, former. Former lieutenant governor. Gotcha. David Onley. And he gave David his break as well. So I have nothing but gratitude.

Well, he's the architect of this city TV world that I totally loved. Yes, and think about all the people that went through that system that have ended up in various places, like J.D. Roberts is now John Roberts down in the States. Speaking of Trump, yeah. Yeah, and all sorts of people have made their way to other situations. And they have Moses to thank for that. I do. I have nothing but good things to say about him.

I've had, yeah, I had Ziggy on the show. Oh, how's she doing? She's still working with Zoomer. Oh, that's great. She's got a radio show on Zoomer. So she's still very close with Moses and the gang. Yeah. And Joel Goldberg, too.

Does that name mean anything to you? Yes, that name. It does ring a bell, I think, from Much Music. Well, it depends how you define Electric Circus. Okay. And I always get confused, too. Is Electric Circus a city thing or a Much or both? I think it's both.

I think it was both. Because he's like one of the creators of Electric Circus. Imagine that on your resume. Well, he directed the Maestro, I'm pointing to Maestro Fresh West. He directed those early Maestro Fresh West videos. So he's with Zoomer now? Oh, that's wonderful.

And Libby is there, Libby's Nimer. Right, which is his sister. It is his younger sister. Younger sister. And she too beat various cancers. And so she is on my hero and hero pedestal. No, good for her. That's good to hear. so i'm happy to hear you don't have any uh your moses stories are positive they're all positive yeah i was just overlooked and if indeed he was um lecherous with some i never knew it and

i never heard it and steve anthony's quote that i uh did pull, but it was something like, a lot of shit's going to go down. Oh, you mean with this article? Yeah. Wow. So I don't know. I'd feel very badly for him. I don't know. Maybe it'll never drop because you know how it is with the laws in Canada are much more strict than other countries.

I know nothing. And again, I thank him. He's the one who brought me into city, which brought me to breakfast television, which brought me to CP 24. He's a visionary. He is. And he doesn't mind that you're not perfect. And he doesn't mind that you don't have a boring name. Like you're a roamer,

but Ann Marskowski doesn't have to be. And I told him, she came on and I said, you didn't have to be like Ann Malone or something like that. You could be an Ann Marskowski. Absolutely. And again, not perfect.

Jojo Chinto. I love Jojo. Yeah. And like I said, nobody looks perfect and no one is perfect because we're just regular people. And he gave us a voice. And you mentioned David Onley. And we're going to get to breakfast television in a moment. But maybe we'll do it right now.

So you're at City TV. Yeah. You're doing sports and stuff. Yeah. How do you end up hosting breakfast television? You're the first TV. Yeah. You're doing sports and stuff. Yeah. How do you end up hosting Breakfast Television? You're the first host of Breakfast Television. Yes, the very first host. Wow.

Yeah. And it was a long time ago. So you had to wake up at like five or something earlier, maybe? It was a little bit earlier because we weren't live until seven. And those were the days. It's like sleeping in. I was going to say, five sounds a little late to be waking up for this BT gig. But how did they approach you for breakfast television?

How did breakfast television come to be? Well, it was an idea that Moses had, and that was for radio on television. And that was the premise on which BT was first launched. I had started to fill in host a show called City... I can't remember what it was called. Deanie Petty was doing it. Not City Line, but it was an evening show, like 5, 6 o'clock,

where we were out and about and very live and very active. Are you still in touch with Deanie? No, I've lost touch with her. I never was really close with her. There's quite an age difference. Our circles didn't really match. She's a great girl. So I was filling in for whatever the name of that show was.

And by the end of this, I'll remember. So it was live from sort of five until six before the news. And I guess Moses saw something in me that he thought would translate well on a morning show. Again, just like the woman you've married or the daughter you've raised or your next door neighbor, that's me. And so they talked to me about it and I said, sounds interesting. And they put together a team. They brought David Onley in to read the news. Great guy. Steve Anthony, who was fired after I think a year because he never showed up for work. Is that right?

Yes. He just was going through that maybe withdrawal stage. I'm not sure. Well, he's been very frank about this on this show, that there was a period where he was doing drugs. And that was, I think,

that first year of breakfast television. Long hair. And really good when he was at work. But he just didn't show up half the time. So they had to make that decision to let him go. He pulled himself together with the help of his wife and found his way back to CP24 Breakfast, which was neat. Until super recently.

Yeah. And he's got a new Coke habit. It's called Coke Zero. And he downs like six bottles a day or something funny when there is i guess it's a type a personality when you're addicted to something and i guess if that's the addiction it's not as harmful i'd say that's a good one to have like it beats the alternatives i think i guess you should talk to coke about you know doing some advertising for them i'm pretty sure they might have even been a sponsor of that cp show. I don't even remember. Maybe. But he's not there anymore.

But I found him. So he's been here twice. So he sat down twice. And I found him to be refreshingly honest and likable. I wasn't sure what to expect of Steve Anthony. And he was a delight. Well, I think that has a lot to do with you. Is that all me?

Can I take credit for this? You can take credit for that. He isn't that way with everyone. The shield comes up and he talks very quickly and makes jokes and hides his true self. And the true self is just a little cream puff. He's easily hurt and he's incredibly brilliant and he loves animals. Who could ask for anything more? Well, do we know what he... Because he quit. There's two types of ways...

He decided to step down. He stepped down. That's kind of like quitting. I guess so, yeah. Resigning, stepping down. Bottom line is you're jumping. You're not being pushed. I think that's the key here.

And I don't think that he was pushed. I don't think so either. And here's the thing. And I've said this to you before. If you're being pushed, you are walked out the door with your little box of stuff. Not always. Well, that's been my experience. Okay, because Christine Bentley was on this show.

Yes. And she told us all this story. That's her recollection. But now Stephen LeDrew, one of my favorite people on this earth, he was fired and he was escorted out of the building. And that was that. Thanks to you. He was recently on the show. I'm so happy he said yes.

He was great. You know, he had a great time and he was great. He pulled up in a Rolls Royce. Yes. I think it's the first Rolls Royce I've had in my driveway. And if I'm not mistaken, that was in the will of one of his friends who passed away. Right, right.

But it was impressive. Isn't that neat? And he is sensational. He too, like Steve Anthony, is really squishy inside. But they put on this armor because people do hurtful things. But inside, and he's incredibly intelligent, and I'm sorry that he has not found a new big voice, and that will come, I'm sure.

He's doing some stuff with the National Post. Well, that's why I'm saying a big voice. He mentioned he's looking at doing something, hopefully something with Citi or Global or something. Which would be great. They'd be very wise to take a look at him because he has a huge following and it just didn't work at Bell Media for him. And you were at Breakfast Television for 12 years?

Yes. And maybe gush a little more about David Onley. I don't want to brush that one by because you're still very close with David. Very close with him. We go to church every Sunday in Pickering, a place called Safe Haven. Oh, wow. Yeah. So David and I were co-anchors at CP24.

This is after the City Days and Breakfast Television. And I walked into the station. Our desks faced one another. And I said to him, you know, James Bartleman's time as LG is up in about 18 months. Have you ever thought about maybe, you know, being the next lieutenant governor? And he said, no, I've never thought of it. And I said, well, it's a federal appointment, so we need to talk to somebody of the federal level that's close to Harper. And I said, the only person I know is Jim Flaherty.

And David said, I know him, too. So I called Jim's office and left a message for him to please call me at his convenience. He called me that night at home. My phone rings and it's, hi, it's Jim. I was like, Jim, am I dating a Jim? I don't think so. So I explained to Jim what we were thinking of

and he said, off the record, I think he has a really good chance. Here's what you have to do. And I reported back to David and the rest is history. Wow. And quite the history too. Isn't that, well, it was all his hard work that got him to that point. But I mean, that's amazing you did that. Just like a little thunderbolt in my brain that I thought he would be fantastic. And he was,

they extended his time. I think he was seven fantastic. And he was. They extended his time. I think he was seven years instead of the usual five. And he was a brilliant lieutenant governor. Yeah, absolutely. That's great that you could, you know, put some contacts at play. Well, just, you know, just kind of putting a few little pieces together.

And every May, I think it's May 12th-ish, he will text me and say, it was 12 years ago today that you came up with the idea. It was, you know. I like that. So, okay, so we talked about Steve Anthony. We talked about David Onley now. And tell me about your time with Kevin Frankish.

Interesting. It was an interesting time. He began as Breakfast Television's overnight sort of early morning assignment fellow. He was young. He was fellow. He was young. He was energetic. He was kind. He was all those great things. And he kind of grew into his role as news anchor once David left and then kind of just took over the show.

Let me play a clip of him. I think it's him and Hugh talking about Hugh Burrell. Yes. Let's hear this here. It's very short. We had the big retirement party for her and breakfast television. And we were about half an hour away from the end of the show. And I said to Hugh, I said, did you get her anything?

And Hugh says, I thought you did. So Hugh and I, and Anne, I'm sorry. Hugh and I went across the street to St. Patrick's Variety Store, and we spent $2.49 on some flowers. That was a long time ago. Found a vase in someone's desk, stuck them in it. When she returned to the airwaves, you must have been relieved you didn't break the bank on that, right?

You have to do it again. So he called that a retirement. I actually think he's misspeaking. You weren't retiring at that point. Weren't you just leaving? Well, I was leaving the show. I think he misspoke there. Yeah, in order to go to CB24 to be their lead anchor

because the stations were splitting. Right. Because, yes, the whole Rogers-Bell thing. Yeah, and it was a long time ago. And then Bell took CB24 and Rogers kept City. Yes. So, of course, you can't be the same anymore. And Marilyn Dennis had to make the same decision.

A lot of decisions, I guess, had to be made at that time. Yeah, and I think smart decisions on her part, and I like to think that my happiest years in television were spent at CP24, for sure. I loved Breakfast Television. he was an interesting, sometimes challenging person to work with, um, because it was either his way or no way at all. And, you know, that was tough because we also had a very strong producer. So I just minded my own business and did what I was supposed to do and was very happy to move to CB24 to be their chief anchor. And, oh, so great. Okay, great. So that's like October 2001, I think, is when you become anchor for CP24 and hosted City Online.

Yes, and it was right around 9-11. Oh, yeah. Yeah. And in fact, the transition was the person that they hired to replace me, Liza Fromer, there were questions at that point, can she handle stuff like 9-11 because Anne

used to do that I will say this, someone who's seen you on the show you have a good combination I think why people like Moses saw this in you is that you're passionate you're a great communicator but you're also trustworthy I think comfort, when we see you

this is why, we're going to get to this in a minute, we're almost there all this build up is to find out what's going on with this retirement system. But seeing you on the TV, it adds instant integrity and comfort and weight. And I think that's why you're invaluable. That was said on the day that our city started burning during the G20. Do you remember that? Of course. And I was live. I was live for 12 hours that first of the two days and behind me on Queen Street, uh, over my shoulder. And I actually said to camera, I look over my shoulder and I turned around and we took a shot. There was a police car on fire and somebody jumping on it. And I, I'm, I'm sure that the then police chief,

um, Bill Blair would have been Bill Blair. I said, where are police? Where are they? Where are they? You know, I was critical, but that's the way it goes. But I think that at that point, my strategy always, and my comfort has always been, and again, it's back to flying. It's sit, come sit beside please, audience, come and just sit beside me. Let's fasten our seatbelts. We'll go through this together. And that has always been my way. Excellent. No, that's great. And so you're at CP24. I'm going to just list some of the shows that you hosted, okay? There's a long list here, but Hot Property. For 14 years.

And that's the show that Brian alluded to in his question, right? Yes, yes. I'm going to call him, by the way, when we're done. Do it. He would honestly, forget make his day, forget make his week. That would make his life. He would just drop the mic and shut it down if he did that. Animal House Calls. 12 years, and it went off the air just before I left for the last time.

So, 12 wonderful years. Because you legit, sincerely, you love animals. I love animals. I love animals. I love them. And we became the voice for animals. And we had thousands and thousands and thousands of successful adoptions because of the show. That's amazing. Yeah.

I'm just so grateful to have been able to do that. It was the joy of my life. You can't have so many joys of your lives. Because if being a flight attendant was the joy of your life. No, that was the best time in my life. That was the best time in my life. You can't have so many joys of your lives because if being a flight attendant was the joy of your life. No, that was the best time in my life. Oh, that was the best time in your life. But the joy of your life was hosting in my hotel.

Yeah, well, it was like going to work and not having to be paid. Just seeing those little cutie pies was enough payment right there. Yeah. And then a show called Homepage. No, that was David Onley's show. David Onley?

I'm giving you credit for David. Oh, no. I probably filled in here and there, but no. I did a show called On the Quarter with Patricia Lovett-Reed, who is now the chief financial advisor at CTV. And that was every three months on the quarter. And it was a phone-in, your personal finances show. I just hosted it.

She was the brilliant part of it. What about Perfect Fit? Nope. That was Tanya Rose, it. What about Perfect Fit? Nope. That was Tanya Rouse, who is now Tanya Hildebrand. Tanya Rouse. And they had me co-host with her for the first few shows

just to help her find her way. I think that'll be the loophole I'll use to justify this. That's okay. Yeah, yeah. That's okay. Yeah. But no, I didn't host it.

More on CP24. I don't even know what that is. I've never even heard of it. Live at noon. Yes, I did that. CP24 live at noon. Thank goodness. Yes, and I did City Online,

but I think that was City TV, so that wouldn't count. I'm going to have a frank discussion with my research staff. I'm very, I'm serious. People are going to lose their jobs today. No, don't.

I'm going to let my research team go. No, no. Is that you? That's me. Me, myself, and I. Here, have a serious. People are going to lose their jobs today. I'm going to let my research team go. No, no. Is that you? That's me. Me, myself, and I. Here, have a beer. That's right. I'm going to be a heart of myself later.

And of course, now CP, sorry, CP24 breakfast. Yes. And I was a part of that as well. The strategy was that they would bring a little piece of me in because there was that natural, you know, sort of connection to television. Well, let's be honest here. Let's be honest here. Let's be frank here.

There must have been a strategy to, I'm not going to use the word fool people, but because we were used to the simulcast, like we were used to City TV being on CP24 before they went their separate ways. Having you on CP24. Just in a small way. In a big way.

Weedy, weedy, weedy way. Now, Steve, the first time Steve visited, this factoid that people sometimes would confuse the show upset him because he thought people would fill in ratings diaries and say they were watching breakfast television when they were really watching CP24 Breakfast. This is his first visit. But his second visit, in which I know now that he was leaving,

but he didn't tell me he was leaving. He was basically just there to brag that CP24 Breakfast had way more viewers now than Breakfast Television. And back to ratings and so on, that's something I've never concerned myself with. It's not my business. I just do the best I can until they don't want me anymore. And so far, that's never happened. So I don't know that I would have been concerned about people misunderstanding what they were watching. You know, the mucky mucks would be concerned about that.

And people like Steve Anthony, who... Yeah, he was concerned about that. Yeah, he's more of a numbers guy than I am. I'm just like, you know, whatever. You're going to do your best work. Do the best I can. Content is king. And if you do good work, then let them worry about the reins.

And we just did tiny little inserts initially. We didn't actually go the full two or three hours. Oh, interesting. Yeah, and I was the news anchor, you know, just a small role, and Melissa Grello, who is the queen of all queens, and honestly, the kindest,

smartest woman I have ever met. And she's so genuine, and success has not changed her. And she's on the social now. Yeah, it's her show. She actually pitched that show to CTV and it took years for them to say yes. So that's her baby. Yeah.

And Matt Babel. Yes. I have nothing to say about Matt. Okay, well. Because I don't really know him. I actually completely forgot till right now. I totally forgot about Matt Babel. All right.

Now, this is a fun fact before we talk about a couple that people I want to ask you about. But in 1999, the Toronto Sun voted you as one of the 10 sexiest women in Toronto. How lucky was I? But only 99? What about 2000, 2001? Well, I don't know. I don't even know how I ended up on that list at all. I certainly never put myself there. The people have spoken, okay? This is democracy in action. Yeah, it's great. It was really nice. It was a surprise. Did you get a plaque? No, I think I just got my name in the paper, which was really fun.

So it ended up with a lining a birdcage later. I'm going to just ask a few people really briefly here that are CP24 people really quick. Stephanie Smythe. Love her. She is the whole real deal. And I think she's been on your show before. She has been on my show.

She moved her way up through the television system and she had some chaotic moments. I think she was fired from something. 680 maybe? I'm not sure. Because I don't dwell on stuff like that. I don't like the negative. She landed at CP24.

She has slowly but surely, but don't call me Shirley, found her way. And I'm not there anymore. So she pretty much is the sort of face or the lead anchor at CP24. She's also managing editor. And she is a hoot and a hauler. We text every once in a while through live at 5 and live at 5.30. She'll actually respond to me in commercial breaks,

and we're just like, this, this, this, this, this. So I love her, and she is the strength that that station needs and needed after I left. She's, yes, okay, I'll put her as a B. You're the A, she's the B. Oh, no, she's A. Well, remember, I had a great time with her, big fan, but she's no Ann Romer. She's terrific. It's, no. She's A. Well, remember, I had a great time with her. Big fan. But she's no Ann Romer.

She's terrific. It's like the old Ronald Reagan line. Lance Chilton? I don't remember much about him. He was, I think he was in entertainment, wasn't he? At City TV. Yeah, okay. And now he's a real estate agent, I think.

He somewhere transitioned to the Barrie station. You're right. And now I think he's a real estate agent to the Barrie station. You're right. And now I think he's a real estate agent. What about George Laguganis? Oh, Lord. Did I say it wrong? No, no.

I just said it wrong. I called him Lord. Lord Laguganis. Lord. So it's George Laguganis. Laguganis. Nope. Laguganis.

Laguganis. Laguganis. Yeah. See, I wanted to keep saying Lord. Oh, my Lord. Real quick aside. Yep. David Marsden was on this show

and he's the architect of CFNY back in the 80s The Spirit of Radio What a radio legend He was telling me about the time he confused George Strombolopoulos with George Lagajanis Or you could confuse George Strombolopoulos with George Stephanopoulos

When he had that CNN show for a little bit It happened all the time. I know. And what happened? I wonder why it didn't go anywhere. Listen to episode 103. Really? Which I asked George Strombolopoulos all about this

in great, great detail. 103. Was it as simple as he didn't want to do it, or they didn't, or they both wanted to go? He only signed up for a certain number of episodes. Okay. And that's what they did And he had another show

That really got cancelled quick Which was like a reality show On ABC I think or something Called The One I think it was called And it was going to be like an American Idol type show And it has to run a whole season But I think they pulled the plug after one episode That's got to be tough

Boy when you cross the border And you go into those landmines Did you ever think about crossing the border? Yes, it crossed my mind, but I'm truly Canadian. And, you know, I preferred, if you must be totally honest, and I will be, I liked being a medium fish in a small pond as opposed to a, you know, minnow in Lake Huron, the American half of it. Well, we're glad you stayed. You're sort of like the female Peter Mansbridge. We'll keep you here on this side of the... There was a freak snowstorm.

Well, it was December, so it wasn't that freaky, but it was so heavy. When I was anchoring CP24, I went outside and did the newscast in the snow, shoveling, and someone, I think it was in the Star or the Sun, had a little picture of it and a little caption saying,

the Edward R. Murrow. And I thought, I don't know who that is. That's way back. That made me feel so old, but I guess just because there's a willingness to just get in there. At least the Walter Cronkite or something. That's still too old. At least I remember seeing that guy when he was alive. Okay, so George Lagajanis, he takes over now.

I think he's taken over at CP24 Breakfast. Who's he taking over? Steve Anthony, right? He took the Steve Anthony role. I don't even know that that was a... George filled in on the news and on the couch, if you will. And so I think when Steve left, they needed somebody on the couch who is loved by many. And he too had struggles when he was younger and he's been very honest with them.

I need to get him on the show. You would love him. Do you have any, would you hook me up with George? Absolutely. I will. You did so well with Stephen LeDrew. Yeah. No, he's wonderful. And here's a cute story. Across the street is a Scotiabank, and a wonderful financial advisor decided that he was it for her, Mary. And she sent a note saying, if you'd like any help with your finances or whatever.

And so at some point, he was like, yeah, yeah, yeah. They met. They fell in love. They've been married for years now. I love that story. By the way, I just realized now this comes full circle because he was the electric circus guy with Monica Dior. Yeah. Yeah. And I think they were together for a while. That's interesting. And Monica, uh, who lives in Vancouver, uh, promises me that when she has some

time in Toronto, next time she comes through, she's coming over here. I hope she does. I think she is very sweet when she was doing entertainment. Um, she had a little bit of an issue with stuttering. This was way back when I was doing weekend sports and she was doing weekend entertainment. And she overcame it and put her best face and best voice forward, but with some help and some courage. Good. I remember she did Rapid Facts is what it was called. This is a much music news thing. I don't know that I watched much music a lot. And there's quite an age difference between you and me. I don't know. I have to see some ID after this. Like I got my SmartServe certificate. I'll need to make sure. It lasts forever, you know. I needed it to pour the beer at this beer garden. Same here at doing charity events. I needed it. And you're right. I called them and said, okay, it's been like three years. Do needed it. And you're right. I called them and said,

okay, it's been like three years. Do I need to take the test again? Which was not always the easiest. Did you, it took me four hours. Yeah, me too. Yeah, I thought, oh, I'm so stupid.

You can't fast forward the videos. That's the problem. Yeah, I know. And some of the questions were vague. And, you know, anyway. How long, because I just did this. And there was a guy on, through webcam, a man watching me.

And I had to show him no one else was in the room. And he looked at everything. He went on my computer. He took control of my mouse and saw nothing else could be open. Isn't that interesting? Me too. And it was a little creepy. But here's the thing.

There was math. Because, you know, the blood alcohol content, there's some math involved. Yeah, I know. Like if you had four standard drinks and this guy had three and who's drunk or whatever. And it's a woman or it's a man. Right, right. And he's a small woman, a big man.

And I'm, it helped me to say the question out loud. So I would just say it out loud. Right. Read it out loud and you know what he said to me? You're not allowed to talk.

What? Because apparently, I guess if you say it out loud, maybe somebody's in another room and is going to, I don't know, text you an answer. Or you've got a microphone on.

Well, because they look at your computer but you could have a smartphone open. Of course. Like, I don't know, text you an answer? Or you've got a microphone on? Well, because they look at your computer, but you could have a smartphone open. Of course. I don't know. Someone could be on the phone feeding you answers. It's not that serious. And also the fact that you don't have to renew it. You don't have to keep taking the test. I don't know.

Anyway. Well, good for us that we have our certificate here. Woo, sponsor, woo. I have it on my resume. Oh, I'm going to put it on my resume. That's a good idea. I think I put it under, not talents. Hobbies?

Hobbies, along with CPR and first aid. Okay, good for you. Good for you. But when you're Ann Romer, you don't need a resume. Yes, you do. You do? Okay. Now, Travis.

Dan Raj. Right. He left for another gig at Global. He's going to be their bureau chief at Queens Park. And he called me before he made the decision. We're close. You know, I have a little, I like to think mother hen and these are my chicks. And there are a few of them.

You have favorites. Is that right? Well, no, they're just youngins who think it's okay to, you know, to ask an old person like me. And I'm so happy that they do because I have a bit of experience. Of course you do. And I like them and admire them so much, Travis being one of them. And he called and said, okay, here's the da-da-da-da and here's the da-da-da-da. And so we talked it through, the pros, the cons.

And I said, ultimately, it's your decision. But I also said, why not? Honestly, it sounds like a great opportunity for the guy and I'm happy for him. Yeah, he loved CP24 and we loved him. Um, but you know, sometimes you just have to take a leap of faith. Like what you're doing in your future,

you just have to, you've just got to. Official PR rep for Ann Romo. Yes. I love that. If I run for city council, will you lead my campaign? Uh,

you couldn't stop me. Okay. Thanks. All right. Let's, let's cut to, I got to get to something important. People are waiting for this.

In June 2010, you announced on CP24 that you were, I believe you called it retirement. No, I never used that word. It's other people, because I'm not young like the other ones. But no, I was resigning

and I was going to join Porter as a flight attendant to start at the, not the bottom, because that's not the way I look at being a flight attendant, but to get into that amazing company, do something that I was really comfortable with, and then move through the company if there were opportunities and if they wanted me. I'm relieved. Actually, this is a big moment for the show because I believed that to be the case. But until right now, I've never heard you say it. Yeah. And so here's what happened.

They kept delaying the start date for the training course. And they finally sent me the start date. I was up at the cottage with my parents. My parents had rented a place at Bruce Beach where we grew up. And I looked at the computer. And I'm so sorry to say this, but it is the standard with airlines. And I didn't realize it. They told me what my salary was going to be, which is something that I foolishly had not talked with them about. Um, and it was so important detail.

Yeah. But you know, I've never been that I've never been financially oriented. I just wanted to do this. And when I looked at the salary, I thought, I can't make this work. I cannot make this work as much as I want to. So I said no to the next class. And I sent then head of CP24, Bob McLaughlin, a note saying, I was still working for CP24. He wanted me to still host the two shows while I was flying, Hot Property and Animal House Calls. So I sent him a note saying,

I want you to know this before anyone else. I'm not taking the job at Porter, but I'm happy just doing the two talk shows. And thank you. He sent a note back to me saying, let's have lunch. That was the next day. And I swear to you, because he's a bit of a chameleon,

he had tears in his eyes. We were across the street from city having Asian food. He had tears in his eyes and it was either the hot sauce or the situation. And he said, please come back full time. And I said, okay. You said I would love to. Yeah, I did. And I thought, you know, why not? And here's a man who sincerely wants me to come back. And, you know, that's great. Even though I left and they gave me a nice party. Okay, let's unpack this. So first of all, you've already told us on the show,

you've told us the happiest moments of your professional life. Being a flight attendant. Or being a flight attendant. So is there some regression here? Not regression, that's the wrong word. Oh, sure. But you wanted to recapture that happiness.

That was maybe a slice of it, but I also wanted to work for that company. Bob DeLuce, who is Lindsay DeLuce's... Well, I was going to ask you, if Lindsay DeLuce was working at CP24...

Yeah, she is the niece of Bob DeLuce, who is the head of Porter. Right. I admire that company. I love flying because it's in my blood. It's in my family blood.

But I thought, this is a perfect way to get into that company and continue to do the things that I loved doing, you know, 35 years ago, forgetting that I was 35 years older. I totally get it. By the way, again, like I've been doing white. What year is this? 2018. So since the late 90s, I've been doing like in front of a computer

white collar stuff like that's what i've been doing for living and on saturday for eight hours i was pouring beer and sharing tips with a bunch of people and honestly can i tell you i was like and i got home that i was late night because my daughter had a dance recital i got home like 10 30 that night and i was zonked and i said to my wife I said that's the first time I've done any work it's forever where I the work stays there like none of that work came home with me totally I was so happy I know but the money wasn't enough to have four children in a mortgage and you see and that and I'm the single sole earner in my family it's just me and I was so disappointed and I was I felt foolish that I hadn't really gone down

that financial path. But you're a passionate person and you act on the heart. This is going to happen and I'm going to do it. And I've saved a little money and it's going to be fine. But I couldn't live on after tax. It was about $1,800 a month. That might be what I'd make at beer festivals. I'd realize, oh no, I have to do something else. I have to live with family and I didn't have any family in Toronto. And I just, I thought, I just, I can't do this. So, um, I went back to CP24 and spent another, uh, five years there. And I had always, oh, sorry, you finished that sentence. I'd always said to my new boss, Joanne McDonald, I'd always said to her,

I'm going to stay until the end of the federal election, the next federal election, which was 2015. And she knew that. I just felt that was the perfect time to go. So November 2015 is your retirement too. But first back to retirement one. Yeah. I saw the photos.

So there was a huge and i i mean i won't i have there's a clip on the cp24 website still we're announcing this and uh saying farewell to you there were i'm sure there were parties with i uh please tell me if i'm wrong but there were people would give you like gift uh sorry keg gift cards and there was cake but there was there was there were gifts right like the only gift that I was given was, in my name, contributions to Toronto Humane Society and to other organizations. Okay, so you didn't come home with a pile of keg gift cards. No, nothing like that.

But there was cake. I saw the photo of cake. And my parents were there too, which was nice. But someone compiled a beautiful book with photographs from my career at CP24 and with comments from viewers and signed by everybody at CP24. No one asked me to sign that book. We didn't know each other then. That was my gift. So no one gave, it wasn't like a wedding. So you didn't have to, you didn't have to moment where, oh, should I return these gifts? I'm coming back. And I told you before we even

sat down that I don't accept gifts. I never have in my entire career. I encourage that it's given to somebody who really needs something. So it's good Kevin Frankish and Hugh Burrell spent only $250 on those flowers. Yeah, I know. $279. $279. Good for you. All right.

Now, when you come back, this was, I found this strange. I found it strange that you were back on CP24 after your very public retirement. Yeah. No acknowledgement at all that you were back or the reason you your very public retirement, no acknowledgement at all that you were back or the reason you're back or that you would even like that you were just back on the anchor desk. Was this what was the reasoning behind that strategy? Well, it was not my decision.

It was Bob McLaughlin's. He just said, well, have you've only been gone for a couple of months. You're just back in. We'll just, you know, whatever people say, we'll just say this is what we've you know, she's she's back. Well, I know you were clearly back know, she's, she's back. Oh yeah. I know you were clearly back and I was happy to see you back, but it was, it is strange not to acknowledge the, uh, gorilla in the room.

Is that what I am? It was. What a public, what a public retirement. I know. And then you're back on earth. I know. And I remember at the time, like, you know, I have before the podcast, even I had a blog called TorontoMike.com and I'd be like, they not, like, Anne's just back, which is great.

Except don't the viewers need some kind of like, oh, Anne's back? I would have thought so. And it would have been my choice to have done that. And I said it to Bob McLaughlin, but he would hear nothing of it. See, I think you can get away with that once. Now, let's talk about this. Well, the second time. Right.

November 2015. Yes. I actually left in December. I stopped being on air in early December. I, you know, trundled off to Collingwood to do things. I just, at this point... Because you were cryptic. This time you were more cryptic about why you were leaving. You were going back to Collingwood and the next chapter of your life. And I was at the age, at that point, I was 59. And I just wanted to enjoy life. I wanted to wake up in the morning and not worry that my phone was full of texts saying, get to work, hurry up. There's been a disaster. There's been a shooting. There's been a murder. There's been an airplane crash. And I wanted to be closer to my parents who were at that point in their late

80s. And I love them. They are the center of my universe. And I thought this was the right time. And I'd always said, you know, let's find a marker for me. And that was the end of the election season because we'd had... Trudeau won the majority. Right. But before that, I think we had just had a municipal and maybe even before that, provincial. There was a whole bunch of... Oh, yeah, your prom date won an election.

Yes. I was so happy. I actually had tears in my eyes when I got to announce it. But they were looking at him, thank goodness, because I was like, oh. You're not supposed to show such bias there. I know, exactly. I cannot do that. You're a professional.

Although people knew that we had gone to the prom together. Right. So off I went and did this and that. And my phone rang. I was in Collingwood in May of 2016. Phone rang and it said unknown. I thought, uh-oh. And it was Joanne McDonald, my boss, and she's the head of news everywhere. And she's a powerful woman and a very forward-thinking person. She said, how would you feel if we asked you to come back just to fill in? Because we're a little bit short

this summer and you can hit the ground running if you don't mind taking the midnight shifts and the, you know, the gross shifts and the pay is this. And it was far less than what I was making. And I said, absolutely. So I went back just to help them out, just to lend a hand. And that hand lasted for another, I guess it was a year altogether. Until people started coming back.

We joked about how you came so the first retirement and then you have your cake and oh farewell Anne and then you're back pretty quick. For us anyways viewers, it might not have seemed quickly to you but it does seem quickly that you're back on the TV no acknowledgement that you left in the first place but then you had and there was another

again I saw the Instagram photo. It's a beautiful photo. All the CP24 people in you. And it's like, Anne's retiring. Yes. Farewell. Because I really wanted to go. Right.

It was time. And I have a question about a rumor I heard. So, but you're gone for very, very quickly. You're gone for a few months and very. Six months. Six months. Yeah. Which is blur for a viewer, right?

And then you're back again, but again, no acknowledgement that you ever left in the first place, but you did it twice and so it became, to me, it became that you did it once was interesting and strange but doing it twice, now that's almost comedic. Well, here's the thing.

If a company that you loved and a job that you loved, you had left and you'd said, you know, I'm, I'm off to climb mountains and to bicycle and to have great meals and be with my family and so on an hour and a half from Toronto. If they called you and said,

we need your help, you know, just a little bit. And that's all it was. Uh, and I said, of course, you know what,

why would I say no? I'm with you. Yeah. I'm with you. I don't even, uh, disparage you for coming back. It's just interesting

that twice you came back without acknowledging you left in the first, it's unique. I don't think, I think it's unprecedented. I know. And in both cases,

Bob McLaughlin asked me to come back full time and Joanne McDonald asked me to come back fill in. So, you know, and I'm not going to say no. And there was a lot of filling in to do that summer

because you were, people would tweet me photos because they'd go to pizza shop or whatever And there was a lot of filling in to do that summer. Oh my gosh. People would tweet me photos because they'd go to Pizza Shop or whatever and there's CP24 and Anne's on. And she's still on. Yeah, you were all over the place. At some stage, some weekends, I was anchoring eight hours

with a one hour break at six o'clock. Oh, you're on workhorse. It was really, well, and that's maybe been what I have hung my hat on over the years. You know, I'm not the best. I'm not the prett's maybe been what I have hung my hat on over the years. You know, I'm not the best. I'm not the prettiest. I'm not the youngest.

I'm not the smartest. But I'm the one who works hard. And if you ask for my help, I will do it. Oh, it's inspiring. Now, is there any truth to this rumor? Okay. Well, rumors should never be passed along. There was a good source on this.

I won't reveal the source, but there was a good source on this story. But I've never heard it from you, and it doesn't sound like it's true because you haven't mentioned it. Did you, the second time, in the fall of 2015, is it possible you had your sights set on another role,

something like Attorney General of Ontario? No, and I saw that online as well. No, I think that... Some fool is spreading lies. I think that they've mixed up me helping David Onley become lieutenant governor. Maybe. I've never, ever, ever.

So that's that part. Okay. So. And that, you can't become attorney general. You have to be, you know, a politician. And then. Well, usually, yeah. Usually it's a lawyer, right?

Yeah. Oh, heavens no. No. Wait. Okay. Maybe attorney general. I saw that too. I also saw that I was married to someone named Marshall, somebody or other, in that same...

Okay. That one's not me. No. I can't take that. I didn't spread that one. That's why I Googled... Marshall Mathers. No.

I have no idea. I Googled that person, and he doesn't even exist. It's like, people are crazy. No. I had no aspirations to do anything like that. I do not aspire to do things like that at all. You weren't trying to follow David Onley's lead and try to... No.

And that is a totally different job. And it's a totally different way of getting there. And even if I thought I wanted to be Lieutenant Governor, they would never take another broadcaster. But this was... I don't even understand. I didn't Google this. But Attorney General of Ontario, that's an appointed position, right?

Well, I believe so. And if you recall, Michael Bryant was Attorney General, but he was also a member of the Liberal Party. So you have to be a certain... But your dad's, you know, maybe that tie in there. But I mean, it's your life.

You've told me this isn't true. So we can dispose of this. Oh, it's not true. I don't even know how you become Attorney General. And why would I want that? There could be some nice perks. You should probably Google that. How do you become attorney general? I believe it's a position that is appointed within your cabinet. Yes, I think maybe you're right. I have to look into it.

That would be so stupid to think that you want to be attorney general without even running for office. And then, you know, winning and being with a winning... Bad intel. We'll call that one bad intelligence. Oh, bad intel. So you return, another return, you're back. And that's just to fill in. Just to fill in. We saw a lot of you though, because you had eight hour shifts and you were all over the

place, a lot of you. And then this time when you left, there was no cake. No. No, my time for filling in was up. They had enough staff back, and people had come back from mat leave. It's interesting, Joanne, when she asked me, May of 2016, she said, it will help people have their vacations. And I thought, that's great. You know, I love these people. And so if my being there will let them go on vacation, because they're, you know,

it's a really, I don't know much about management, but if you've got people on mat leave, it's hard to find somebody who's willing to come in just for four months. Um, or are they available? And I was, and I was happy to help out. And some weeks I didn't work at all. And some weeks I worked seven days and, and, you know, midnights and so on. Now, you and I have been emailing for years. I know. And with your permission. Yes.

Because a lot of people are like, where's Anne? Is Anne okay? Where's Anne? I get a lot of that. And I felt the same way. So with permission, I shared something about your voice. Yes. Can you share what happened with your voice?

Near the end of my time of filling in, thank goodness, Jackie Crandalls, who was it that came back from leave? I think it was Pooja Honda had taken about four months off. So Jackie Crandalls ended up filling in for Pooja on the morning show and I took Jackie's spot. So May 1st, Pooja came back, Jackie went back to her spot, so I didn't have to do anything more. The night that Donald Trump launched missiles into Syria,

I remember this distinctly, I lost my voice completely. And it was from overuse, from overuse, from overuse, and off air and on air. So I ended up with something diagnosed as muscle tension dysphonia. And it's just a tightening of the muscles in, but nothing wrong with my vocal cords. They've been checked. There are no nodes, no polyps, nothing like that. But I had to be silent for several months. So they kept asking, you know, can you come and do this? Can you come and do that? With the odd person that summer,

that next summer, the 16, 2016, and I couldn't do it. Because you couldn't speak. Well, I shouldn't at that point. Or you weren't supposed to speak. I wasn't supposed to speak.

The doctor didn't want you to speak, right? Yeah. That's tough to be a news anchor when you're not allowed to speak. Especially when you're doing eight hours. You know,

not just an hour. So it was the only, I don't care, the only way to fix this was for you to give it time? It just needed time the only, I don't care. The only way to fix this, it was for you to give it time. It just needed time. I needed time. And they were all great with that.

And by the time my, my voice is much better now. You actually sound, I was going to say, I would never know, knowing you had a voice. No, it's,

it's perfect now. Um, but they don't need a fill in help because they, they have replaced. And people have come back. The question is when do we get to see you back on CP24? Well, you probably won't

because I have other plans and I already tickled it. I got to start. Oh, no. I'm not as sharp as I should be. You teased something? I teased something already. You're going to get your pilot's license. Nope. Try again. Okay. You're going to get your pilot's license. Try again.

Okay, you're going to run for council. Oh, I have to tell the people that you did a face that looked like maybe I got it right there. You're going to run for Toronto Council maybe. I'm just shrugging my shoulders. This is exciting because it's happening now. I was just hearing somebody, Janet Davis, somebody just said they're not going to run again.

Yes. And I actually know somebody who wants to run in that ward. And you have to make your decision by July 27th. So I am mulling it over. Oh, my God. This would be amazing. And honestly, you would be great because you're a great communicator. You're kind and warm.

People already like, you know, people would come to you if you have problems. You would work on their behalf because you're already, we already know you're a workhorse. You can get people vacation time. Imagine what you would do

for your constituents. It would be fantastic. Can you please run in Mammaliti's riding and get him out of here? The guy doesn't want to start biking on the streets. I don't think that's going to be one of the options.

But so I'm mulling it over. I don't think that's going to be one of the options. So I'm mulling it over. I have a wonderful team that is very supportive and encouraging. Oh, wow. So I haven't discussed it. I haven't made this public. Wait, Anne, hold on here. Breaking news.

Anne is mulling, potentially, not announcing your candidacy, but you are thinking about it. Running for Toronto City Council. And that's coming up. In fact, what did you say? What's the deadline for putting in your name? July 27th. And the election day is October 22nd. And it will likely be working with the current mayor, John Tory.

Who you know quite well from a wonderful handshake one day in the late 70s. I'm just mulling it over. That's all. That's exciting to me because you did tease it and I didn't pick it up at the time. Well, I asked if you would lead my campaign if I ran for council. I think that's a binding offer. I think that's legally binding. So I'm just thinking about it.

You know, it's a huge commitment and there are many steps to it. You make your decision. You raise money. You know, it's a huge commitment. And there are many steps to it. You make your decision. You raise money. You try to get support. Then you have to, you hope, win. And then you do the best you can for the people in your ward. You would be so good at this. Because I already know from our 90 minutes of chatting here, and we're about to wrap up here.

But I can tell that you're sincere. Like, your agenda is to serve the people. And that's what you want on city council. And make a difference, you know, and I know that's so cliche, but it really, really is important to me to feel that I am making just a tiny little bit of a difference. And I don't need the spotlight and I don't want the spotlight. This job comes with a bit of a spotlight.

But it seems, you know, John's really happy as mayor. And I, the councillors that I do know that are running again, they love the challenge of their job. And I love my city. I love Toronto. That sounds like your campaign pitch right there. And I would love to be a part of the team, get Ann Romer on city council. That's me. Now I'm looking back at my notes here. I have to do a really quick sponsor mention that I forgot to do, and I was about to play you out, and I was like, what an amazing episode. I'm like, oh, no, the poor people at Paytm Canada.

So all I'll say is very briefly here is go to paytm.ca. This is a free app to manage all of your bills in one place. You pay every bill you have to pay. You pay it via Paytm, and I use it to pay all my bills and you can put the bill on your MasterCard or you can pay from your bank account or you can use your Paytm cash.

It's super convenient. There's alerts and it's super gamified in that when you make a bill payment, you actually earn points that you can redeem for gifts and things and it's amazing. But what I love is that I can pay all my bills on my MasterCard and make the points I get on my MasterCard, my President's Choice MasterCard. I get free groceries. It's like double dipping. It's wonderful. But here's what I want to tell everybody listening. If you use the promo

code TorontoMike when you make your first bill payment, these guys, these wonderful people at Paytm will give you $10 towards your next bill. So it's just free money sitting there. Pick it up. Free money. And you want 10 bucks? Oh, you don't accept gifts. No, but it can go toward my campaign. How's that? And I'm not, I don't say this to all 348 guests. I'm telling you what a delight. This was everything I hoped it would be. And more for me, I'll tell you. You are fantastic.

I am a huge fan of yours. Say it slower. I am a huge fan of yours. I'm a huge fan of yours. This is a mutual loving. We can take a photo before you drive away. Because I told you, I've got to get a frame to put it above my bed. That's huge.

I want to meet your wife. Well, at the campaign rallies, you can meet her. We're going to get you elected. That's amazing. That's big news. I'm excited. Just mulling it over. Of course.

But when you do make your final decision, do I get a heads up? Yes, 100%. Magic Mike gets a heads up? Yeah. In fact, maybe we'll have a quick discussion. I would love it. Okay. And that brings us to the end of our 348th show.

You can follow me on Twitter. I'm at Toronto Mike. And you know, when you run for city council, if you run, sorry, you will need a Twitter presence. So do you have a handle yet? Nothing. Not Twitter, no Instagram, no Facebook. You need my help.

That's what I do. TMDS. That's exactly what you do. And I will ask for your help. That's what I do. TMDS. Exactly what you do and I will ask for your help and I'll pay you as well. Win-win. So Great Lakes Brewery, they are on Twitter. They're at Great Lakes Beer. Propertyinthe6.com is at Raptors

Devotee. Brian, Anne's going to give you a call. PayTM is at PayTM Canada and Camp Turnasol at Camp Turnasol. See you tomorrow when my guest is Sean Cullen, who's very funny. He's a funny comedian. He's no Ann Romer, but somebody has to follow

Ann Romer. It's been eight years of laughter and eight years of tears.