Rod McQueen's Blog, page 23

Last of a line

The play, 1979, by Michael Healey, is regularly described as a satire, but it is more than that. It is also a paean to Joe Clark who forty years ago lost a confidence vote and his job as prime minister. At the time, Clark was seen as a bumpkin and a fool. He was neither, as the play that recently finished a Toronto run, reminds us.

The play is also a comedy filled with great lines. “I’ve got Peter Lougheed riding me like a pony and it’s the last day at the Ex,” says Philip Riccio who stars as Clark and is on stage for the full ninety minutes. The other two actors cover off with elan the remaining characters that include Clark cabinet ministers Allan Lawrence, John Crosbie, and Flora MacDonald as well as Brian Mulroney, Stephen Harper, and Pierre Trudeau. At one point, Clark complains to Trudeau, “You don’t even know who I am.” Snaps Trudeau, “Whose fault is that?”

To be sure, if Clark had not been defeated, maybe Trudeau would not have made a comeback and brought home the constitution or Mulroney might not have achieved free trade. Who knows how history would have turned out? But aside from the history and the humour, there is something poignant – even a little depressing – about the play in which Clark is portrayed as a principled politician in a conniving world.

All I know is this: despite his brief nine-month term in office, Clark stands as tall as any of his successors. He was the last prime minister who acted, as Healey’s script has Clark say, “in the interests of the whole country whether they voted for me or not.” Which political leader does that today? None that come to mind.

 

 

Leaders and lessers

There’s an ad running in my morning paper that trumpets a one-day conference next month that’s entitled “Cultivate Leadership Charisma.” The seven speakers listed are unknown to me but that may be my fault. I guess I hang out with the wrong crowd. This bunch promises charisma like Tony Robbins, a more famous name on the lecture circuit, claims he can teach anyone selling skills.

I went to a Robbins performance once, just to see how it all worked. Hundreds of people, many of them real estate agents, had paid big bucks to have their egos rebuilt, techniques burnished, and confidence restored. Attendees were like golf carts being recharged. I can understand people in sales needing a boost. Hearing “no” to your pitch must wear you down after a while. Larry King was among the speakers that day. He couldn’t believe his good luck when the audience howled at the Yogi Berra quips he used for openers. His talk deteriorated into a recitation of Berra one-liners, then he picked up his cheque, and flew home.

So you can sell laughs and even raise a few hopes. And it may be that some requisites of leadership can be learned or at least enhanced: capacity to execute, ability to draw out the best in people, communications skills, experience and expertise. But a leader also needs high energy levels that have to be inherent.

As for charisma, I can think of only a few such leaders who have graced Canada’s legislatures or boardrooms. Among modern-day politicians: Pierre Trudeau, René Lévesque, John Diefenbaker, and Tommy Douglas. Among business leaders: Matt Barrett, Hunter Harrison, Bruce Flatt, and Chief Billy Diamond. Can you teach charisma? I think not. I would argue that leaders are born, not made. And certainly not created at a one-day seminar.

Gotta light?

When we returned from Washington, D.C. in May 1993, Canada was in a shambles. There was a recession, the government of the day was at a nadir, and housing prices had fallen 50 percent. I no longer smoked, but my late wife did, so I was in a corner store to buy cigarettes. Asked the clerk, “How much do you want to pay?” Turns out he had legitimate packages where the taxes had been collected but also gray market items that cost much less. Eventually two cigarette companies were fined $1.15 billion for their part in that contraband market.

I don’t know who is running the shadowy show these days, but cheap cigarettes are back. According to the National Coalition Against Contraband Tobacco, one-third of all the cigarettes bought in Ontario are illegal, costing government $1 billion in foregone revenue. If Doug Ford is looking for “efficiencies,” as he so often talked about during the election campaign, here’s a place to direct police attention.

And while you’re at it, premier, how about the rampant theft from LCBO outlets where staff are instructed not to stop even the most obvious shoplifters. What a foolish system as we all stand politely in line waiting to pay while someone strolls out with two or three bottles for free. I was in the Yorkville branch of the Toronto Public Library recently and even they had a security guard. If every LCBO outlet hired security for $15 an hour it wouldn’t take long to stop the losses and raise profits to an amount that no one can even estimate.

Meanwhile, I can only hope the premier knows what he’s doing about “efficiencies.” He promised a 4 percent reduction in government spending. That’s an interesting number because it’s the same as consulting firm McKinsey & Co. uses to win business clients. But achieving such across-the-board cost reductions in the corporate sector usually includes laying off employees, something that the premier has said he will not do. Maybe all those fired public servants could form vigilante gangs to clean up the flagrant wrongdoing in the cigarette and booze businesses. No one else seems capable.

Celebrating a celebrity

One of the fluffiest puff pieces ever written is floating on page one of today’s Globe and Mail. The focus is Timothy Caulfield, Edmonton author and academic at the University of Alberta. In the first few paragraphs we learn he can’t sleep for fretting about his projects, by day he is pensive, and in the evening he worries about the health and welfare of the world.

Even the professor can’t fully explain why he is so wired, saying, “I can honestly say I don’t know why I care so much.” For a best-selling author, star of a new Netflix show, and someone with a high social media profile he seems possessed with far too little self-knowledge. And what exactly ranks among his riveting concerns? Why, products like those fronted by actress Gwyneth Paltrow such as jade eggs that women put in their vaginas.

As a self-proclaimed debunker Caulfield’s perorations haven’t achieved much. Paltrow is still proselytizing at a great clip. Yet the so-called story continues inside to a two-page spread with two large photos of Caulfield looking pretty happy for a guy who purports to be so grumpy about pseudoscience. We’re told that “Caulfield (really) likes evidence” and how he “works to keep his own assumptions in check” as proof that he’s no skimmer of a skeptic. The writer describes him by saying “his square jaw, heavy framed glasses and glossy curl of hair recall Clark Kent.” Even his tattoo receives a rave review.

Isn’t all of this is a tad too much for someone who does nothing more than sidle into a spotlight already shining on someone else to see if in so doing he can cast at least a small shadow himself? Professor Caulfield, now that you have an audience, would you kindly tackle a cause that’s a little more worthy? Forget about jade eggs, colonics, and vaginal steaming. Even beauty pageant contestants care about world peace.

Let there be light

On a Tuesday afternoon, the Ontario legislature is brightly lit by massive chandeliers. That’s what the debate is all about: light and the electricity to run the province. MPPs have gathered to debate Bill C-67 that will prevent the 6,000 members of the Power Workers Union from going on strike. Without this bill, there could be rolling blackouts as workers shut down nuclear and hydro facilities.

But there is also a strict legislative process that must be followed. With unanimous consent, the bill could pass immediately. The NDP has refused such consent saying it would never halt collective bargaining. As a result, even with a special sitting last night, debate could run all week. And so bill C-67 is introduced by Labour Minister Laurie Scott who shares her one-hour allotted time with Energy Minister Greg Rickford and Premier Doug Ford. Ford opens on an odd note, saying that afternoon sittings are far different from those in the morning because the afternoon is “silly season” when interventions by MPPs go off track.

But the premier soon rights the ship and lists those who would be impacted by brownouts such as community centres, hockey rinks and long-term care residences. Who could be in favour of hurting them? He concludes by wishing season’s greetings to all MPPs, including the opposition, saying that he hopes they all return healthy after the holidays since good health is what matters most in life, perhaps a reference to the death by cancer at a young age of his bother, Rob.

You never know exactly what kind of speech Premier Ford will deliver when he rises in his place. Today’s effort opened with derision but ended with a non-partisan, even kindly, homily. He made an effort to appeal to everyone’s better angels. If an election were held today, the Conservatives would likely win another majority because even while Ford’s base might fret about his tone from time to time, they sure support what he’s doing.

Retail retrogression

The Runnymede Theatre started life in 1927 offering vaudeville in a 1,400-seat auditorium and then adopted various guises that reflected the changing times: a bingo hall, movies in a twin-screen format, a Chapters bookstore, and now – ta-da – a Shoppers Drug Mart.

The latest incarnation of this West Toronto location is an ignominious pratfall from what once was known as “Canada’s Theatre Beautiful.” Oh, the walls and mouldings have been restored, but the entire ground floor is foodstuffs and beauty products with at least 100 running feet of freezers, soft drinks and cold-food displays. There’s countless kinds of chocolates, canned fish galore, and cereal for every taste (or lack thereof).

But nowhere is there a tube of toothpaste, first aid item or headache pill to be found. Up the escalator to the second floor and finally the prescription counter hoves into view almost hidden amid more seasonal flotsam and jetsam. Is Shoppers trying to become Walmart? And to think that we were always told food had such thin margins. If profits are so slim, why is Shoppers avidly promoting packaged goods?

Such copycat merchandising is everywhere. The Cineplex VIP auditoriums now sell beer, wine, and dinner delivered to your $25 seat so you can smell poutine being eaten beside you just as if you were watching A Star is Born at The Keg. Every burger and donut franchise is offering all-day-breakfast; as a result none of them varies much from the other. At this rate, soon you won’t need to spend much time shopping around. All your needs will be under one roof and every place will look – and smell – the very same. We’ve gone all the way back to the days of the general store. Hope there’s a cracker barrel and a few chairs to reflect on what’s been lost.

Donald J. Matthews 1926-2018

If ever there were a man in love with life and country, it was Don Matthews: entrepreneur, president of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada, and one of the very few who took on Ottawa and won. If he were in a room down the hall you could always hear his “har-har-har” laugh. If you were in that room, trying to avoid some contentious issue – and there were a few such issues in the PC Party – Matthews would declare: “Let’s put the codfish on the table and see how it smells.”

Matthews signed up for the Air Force at seventeen but by the time he was ready to fly Lancasters in bombing raids over Germany, the Second World War was over. He obtained his engineering degree from Queen’s on a vets program and launched his own construction firm in 1953 after rounding up $25,000 from friends and family. Forty years later, he headed an international giant with $500 million in revenue.

Throughout his business career, politics beckoned. He twice ran unsuccessfully for Parliament. He became president of the PC Party but the higher-ups couldn’t abide his forthright manner. When his term came up for renewal, the elites ran one of their own against him. Supporters of Matthews at the convention wore yellow construction hats. Ontario Premier Bill Davis walked the halls of Ottawa’s Chateau Laurier, telling any Matthews backer he saw, “No one important in the province of Ontario is wearing one of those.” Matthews lost, but only by sixteen votes, 635-619.

Matthews had enemies among Liberals, too. A consortium Matthews created won the contract to renew and expand two terminals at Toronto’s Pearson airport. After Jean Chrétien was elected prime minister in 1993, the deal was cancelled. His bankers promptly put Matthews’s companies into receivership. Matthews fought back through the courts and a Senate hearing. In 1997 the government agreed to pay $60 million in damages and legals divided among the members of the consortium. Matthews had won, but at 71, he was never able to rebuild anything near his previous net worth.

His spirit, however, remained undiminished. I visited him last year at the Sunnybrook Veterans Hospital during the Conservative leadership race. I said if he were still active, he’d have formed a group to back a candidate. “Who would be in the group?” he asked. I rattled off some names and we moved on to other topics. As the visit ended, he asked for my business card. Odd, I thought, given we’d been friends for forty-five years. “This is a contract,” he said. “For what?” I asked. “To put my group together,” said Matthews, irrepressible activist to the end.

 

The fourth estate as third world

After spending five years in politics, I wanted to get back into journalism, but no one would have me. I was seen as potentially too partisan. I might taint my stories with party propaganda. So I joined the Bank of Nova Scotia as director of public affairs. After two years, I was dry-cleaned and became business editor at Maclean’s just as the newsmagazine was going weekly in 1978. Ottawa had passed Bill C-58 which meant that the cost of advertising in the Canadian edition of Time was no longer tax deductible.

Suddenly, that ad revenue became available for Canadian publications, thereby making possible more journalism jobs in Canada and more Canadian content. I was among twenty new employees added at Maclean’s, bringing the editorial staff to seventy. According to Editor Peter C. Newman, because of the increased frequency, annual distribution of subscribers’ copies jumped from nine million when he’d arrived to thirty-three million when the magazine went weekly. That step by the federal government did not cost the Canadian taxpayer anything.

Today, the state of print journalism is parlous: layoffs and buyouts seem to occur daily. The current government’s answer is not as imaginative as in the past nor does it come as cheap. Instead, Ottawa wants to set up a $595 million fund to hire journalists for the same outfits that pay executive bonuses while populating newsrooms with interns. Or sell dozens of local papers to each other and immediately close some of their new holdings. Such behaviour does not deserve special treatment,

There is more merit in the novel approach being taken by La Presse and the Globe and Mail where deep-pocket owners have established charitable foundations so tax-deductible donations from the general public can help pay reporters’ salaries. At the Globe, the Thomson family has recently invested $20 million in a newsroom that must rank with the best equipped (and offer the best views) of any in the world. As for the government slushfund, no thank you. Is the free press really free if millions of dollars in aid flows from the very government about which it writes?

When right is wrong

After two years in office, what do we know about Donald Trump? We know he cheats on his wife. We know he cheats at golf. We know he tells lies at a prodigious rate. We know he’s a bully, a narcissist, and a demagogue. We know he supports and prefers other demagogues in Russia, North Korea, and Saudi Arabia, all of whom think nothing of killing their own people.

We know Trump’s impossible to work for as cabinet members and White House staffers get dumped almost daily. To date there has been no retribution for any of this. Yes, Trump lost the House in the midterms, but so did Bush II and Clinton, and still they recovered and were reelected at the next opportunity. So we can’t expect the mid-terms to be predictive of failure and the end of Trump.

Recently we were in New York and talked to a denizen of that city where there is a majority of Democrats. When she learned we were from Canada, she said, “I hear you’re building a wall.” That way, she opined, the toxin that is Trump would not flow north. At another recent occasion, someone declared the evening was “a Trump-free zone.” I think everyone was relieved we wouldn’t be discussing that day’s idiocies emanating from Washington, D.C.

The rightward tilt in the world today has been a long time coming. In the early 1980s, everyone with a profile was a small-l liberal. Barbara Amiel, who wrote a column in Maclean’s, was just about the only right-winger in the land. Now, it’s hard to find anyone in the media who’s on the left, the pendulum has swung so far. Waiting for it to swing back could take a long, long while. Meanwhile, hubris, that failing identified by the Bible as the pride that goeth before a fall, is our only hope. I can’t wait for that to play out.

War and peace

On this one hundredth anniversary of the end of the First World War, the signs are everywhere that while the people might remember the horrors and heroics of the past, some leaders seem to be forgetting. How else to explain the actions of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan who is fighting the Kurds, Russian President Vladimir Putin who overran Crimea and portions of Ukraine, and U.S. President Donald Trump who is at war with everyone. In Paris this weekend, only French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel showed any sign of good grace. Their meeting – in the same rail car used to sign the documents that ended the First World War as well as the fall of France during the Second World War – was more than just symbolic.

As a proud son of Scotland, my ancestors fought a few times against their English rulers. Every time the Scots rose up, the result was always the same. The clans could not remain united, the Scottish rebels eventually lost, and remained under England’s heel. The most recent film to attest to those repetitive uprisings is Outlaw King. The movie, which has just begun streaming on Netflix, tells of Robert the Bruce who followed William Wallace whose story was told in Braveheart.

At least the players in Outlaw King did not wear the kilt, as they did in Braveheart, a form of dress not used until several centuries later. But Mel Gibson’s speech to his men was better by far than Chris Pine’s in Outlaw King. Where Pine spoke of fighting for whatever reason, Gibson waxed about how the English “may take our lives but they’ll never take our freedom.”

Still, after the Scots played out their last rebellion under Bonnie Prince Charlie, they did lose their freedom. That’s why war will always be with us. There will forever be someone who is power hungry, vengeful, or seeking to eliminate some minority in their midst. So, while we might remember the past, we must also be ready for the future.