Rod McQueen's Blog, page 44

The silence of the lambs

We are living in a bizarre time of mixed morality messages. The National Football League suddenly gets tough on players who are wife-beaters. Campuses are giving wholesome talks on the meaning of 'yes' and 'no' while dating. Both of those feel like good steps. 

Meanwhile, Miley Cyrus and Robin Thicke, who twerked on last year's MTV Video Music Awards have had very different outcomes. Cyrus is widely admired as a rebel; her career has taken off. Thicke is pilloried as philanderer; his career has cratered. Even his "forgive me" album for his wife flopped with sales of less than 50,000. The video of Wrecking Ball, sung by a naked Cyrus, has been viewed more than 700 million times. Women are ascendent, man down. After all these years, maybe that's good, too. 

Then the CBC fired Jian Ghomeshi for sins real and imagined. The one thing all eight women (and counting) have in common who accused Ghomeshi of despicable behaviour, other than being abused, is that they kept silent until now. Some for as much as a decade. Each was embarrassed, worried she wouldn't be believed, or feared public punishment. So much for the advancement of women in Canada. We are little better than India where families of young rape victims are so ashamed they've been known to kill the woman who was assaulted. 

I stopped today at one of those movie sets with a block-long line of trucks on a Toronto street and asked what was being filmed. Man Seeking Woman, I was told, a sweet and absurd look at life. How odd, I thought. That doesn't sound like real life at all. 

 

 

Innocence and experience

The events at the War Memorial and in Centre Block on Wednesday are a reminder that the veneer of civilization is thin. If one individual decides to take a gun and do harm, he can do so with impunity – at least for a few minutes. You'd need dozens of armed guards in the area to stop the death of Cpl. Nathan Cirillo or the crash-through arrival of the gunman on Parliament Hill. No less a well-defended place as the White House also recently had menacing intruders.

Of all the comments on Wednesday's events, surely the most foolish was by Senator Jim Munson who said, "Our days of innocence ended today." The days of innocence, if ever they existed, ended forty-four years ago this month. On October 5, 1970, James Cross, the British Trade Commissioner, was kidnapped from his Montreal home by a cell of the Front de Libération du Québec (FLQ). Five days later, another FLQ cell kidnapped Quebec Labour Minister Pierre Laporte. Ottawa ordered 3,000 troops to guard high-level individuals and government buildings.

I was working on Parliament Hill. Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau was a commanding presence. On October 13, Trudeau was leaving through the west door of the Centre Block when Tim Ralfe of the CBC and Peter Reilly of CJOH stopped him with questions. The banter about troops everywhere turned bruising when Ralfe asked, "How far would you go with that?" "Well, just watch me," Trudeau famously replied.

This was the same west door where my wife would park the car a few feet away at 6:30 p.m. when she came to pick me up. Our son, Mark, who turned five that month, would leave the car, stand near the door, and talk to passing parliamentarians while waiting for me. His interest in politics and public policy began early. After the War Measures Act was declared on October 16, more troops flooded the streets, but even so, Laporte was strangled the next night and found in the trunk of a car. 

Troops were even dispatched to sit in parliamentary offices. I well remember our young private, sitting uncomfortably with his rifle at the ready, in the reception area of 409-S, the office of my boss, Opposition Leader Robert Stanfield. If Stanfield so much as walked the five minutes to the Chateau Laurier, he had to be accompanied by an armed guard. The soldiers were ordered out of the parliamentary precincts after Gordon Aiken (PC-Parry Sound-Muskoka) made the point in the House of Commons that security on the Hill was the domain of the Speaker, not the army.

The high alert only ended when James Cross was released by the FLQ in December. The FLQ never held the same sway again. The future of homegrown Islamic terrorists is unpredictable. But one thing is sure. We may be vulnerable, but we're not innocent, and haven't been for a long time. 

Get a job

I wrote this a while ago, shared it recently with a young job seeker, and thought others might benefit, or have a daughter or son who would. Here are my top ten steps for getting a job.

Step #1: Figure out what you want to do. I can’t tell you what that is, but make it something you enjoy. There’s nothing worse than working with duds, accomplishing little of consequence, and having no fun.

Step #2: If you’re a humanities grad, many will say you’re fit for nothing. I say you’re fit for everything. You can research, write, talk, and analyze. Those are wonderful qualities. People at your new workplace will show you all you need to know to be able to function there.

Step#3: Get three people to act as referees. They don’t need to write a letter, just let you use their name. If a letter or a phone call is required, you can arrange that later. And, while you’re asking for that backing, see if they’ve heard of any jobs for which you might be suited.

Step#4: Use every avenue to get the word out. Join LinkedIn. Fire off tweets. Do blogs. Make a list of people you know who have jobs at places you’d like to work and contact them. Think about family members, friends or the man in the bar last week, and ask for help. You’ll be surprised how often they will help.

Step#5: Make a list of places where you’d like to work or people you’d like to work for. Then parcel them out to yourself at the rate of three or four a day and do serious research on each. You can’t just show up and hope for the best. The key in any job interview is to talk about how you will use your skills to accomplish their goals. The interview is not about you – it’s about them.

Step#6: Cast the widest possible net. Don’t assume you can just send resumes then wait for job offers. No one will reply. Knock on doors; ask to meet specific people. It’s easy for potential employers to hide behind voicemail or delete an email. Dealing with an actual body on the premises is far more difficult. You may spend a lot of time in reception areas, but if you can get a one-on-one meeting with a decision-maker or find someone who will advocate for you, then you’re way ahead of all those folks whose resume is buried in some forgotten pile.

Step#7: If you have an interview that’s a dead end, before you hang up or leave that room, ask, “Who can you recommend I can talk to about a job?” Most people will offer names just to get rid of you. Then you can say to that new contact, “So-and-so said you might have a job for me.”

Step#8: Dress for success. I know it sounds hokey, but it’s true. You don’t have to buy new outfits, but wear your best. You don’t get a second chance to make a good first impression.

Step#9: Be prepared to negotiate. I’m not a fan of unpaid internships, but what if you’re with a potential employer who says, “I want to hire you, but I just don’t have the budget right now.” If this is the place you really want to be, then say, “I’ll work free for three months. Then, if you don’t like what I’ve done, I’ll walk out the door.” If the interviewer agrees, nine times out of ten you’ll be on the payroll after one month.

Step#10: Persistence and hard work pay off. People who hire for a living pay the most attention to those who demonstrate both qualities because that individual is the most likely to be successful in life. Good luck!

 

The people are speaking

There was some confusion at the advance poll where I voted. Like a lot of people, I hadn't received my "vote at" card in the mail so we were all lined up to go through the ID process and be verified. The wee woman behind me had white hair. She said to no one in particular: "We've got to get rid of the F boys." The way she said "F boys" made the phrase sound like an expletive.

Once we got sorted away, each of us was handed a ballot the size of a kitchen-cupboard door. The ballot was further enlarged by being slid into a cardboard baffle so that when it was completed, every secret ballot would be hidden from view. I took my giant package to a seat in front of a box and looked for my candidate. Did you know there are 65 on the ballot running for mayor? 

There were way more people surging around my Ward 5 poll than I usually see on election day. I was not surprised to read later that the 28,046 voters on the first day of the advance polls was a record. I'll tell you what that means ... someone's going to be thrown out of office. The "F boys" will not be mayor. John Tory will have a bigger majority than any of the opinion polls have so far shown.

Thumper launch

Last night was the official launch of Thumper: The Memoirs of Donald S. Macdonald (McGill-Queen's University Press). Of all the cabinet ministers in the Pierre Trudeau government, Don was the most powerful. His portfolios included House Leader when the rules changed, Defence during the War Measures Act, Energy when oil costs quadrupled, and Finance when he imposed wage and price controls.

After leaving government, he chaired the Royal Commission that led to free trade, was High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, and served on a number of corporate boards including Scotiabank and Sun Life. Don and his wife Adrian both spoke, as did Rob Prichard, former president of the University of Toronto, and now chairman of Bank of Montreal. Emcee was Janice Stein, director of the Munk School of Global Affairs. The Toronto event was held in one of the Munk buildings, the Observatory, and was sponsored by the Trudeau Centre for Peace, Conflict and Justice. 

The more than 125 attendees included Hal Jackman, former Ontario lieutenant governor; former Liberal cabinet ministers David Collenette and Roy MacLaren; former Ontario Treasurer Darcy McKeough and his wife Joyce; media heavyweights Andrew Coyne, Steve Paikin, Stephen LeDrew and and Alan Fotheringam; authors John English, Joe Martin, Susan Papp and Mary Janigan; friends who helped Don with the book at earlier stages including Peter Rehak and Robert Lewis; and business leaders Gordon Eberts, Don Johnston and Jim Fleck. 

Members of Don and Adrian's extended family who were there included, from Adrian's side: Elisabeth, Amanda, Adrian, Gregory and Andrew; from Donald's: Sonya, Leigh and Althea; plus about half of their 15 grandchildren. Also on hand were my own daughter Dr. Alison McQueen and her partner Dr. Ken Cruikshank as well as my son Mark, his wife Andrea, and their two children.

Book launches of memoirs are a particular celebration, because they cover an entire life. Don had been writing his memoirs for half a dozen years before I was asked to help. And it then took another two years to go through archival material and finalize everything. Sonya told me that she'd started reading the book while flying from Ottawa and had to stop at page 56 because she'd been laughing and crying so much. Certainly, the book was popular last night. The U of T Bookstore table sold 131 copies.

 

Just asking

Why can't baseball players who win a big game or a best-of-something series devise some other celebration rather than dance in a circle with heads down and arms around each other's shoulders? 

Why are we sending CF-18s to battle ISIS when the humanitarian aid we promised in August has yet to arrive and the last I heard we've welcomed less than 100 of the 1,000 refugees we promised to take from Syria. Why are we not accepting thousands of refugees as we have done ever since the Hungarian Revolution in 1956 through Uganda and Vietnam to Somali and Sri Lanka. What has happened to our generous civility?

Whatever became of novelty songs? You know, like Bryan Hyland's "Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini" or  "The Little Nash Rambler" by The Playmates?

What is it with Dracula and the many and various Vampires? There seems to be an insatiable appetite (pun intended) for movies and books about the bloody minded monsters. Is it a sexual thing?

Mozart was touring Europe at the age of seven. Schubert composed his first symphony at sixteen. Their work is played and honoured today. What child prodigy of this era will be enjoyed two hundred years from now?

Just asking.

 

Feel the heat

With only one game left in the regular season, it's time to look ahead at the 2015 Blue Jays. Who to keep, who to dump and who to go after.

First, the easy part, who to let go: Colby Rasmus, who should be playing wherever they sell barbecue; Juan Francisco, a happy presence in the dugout, but a lug on the field; and R. A. Dickey, whose future is behind him. And if Dickey goes, catcher Josh Thole is sure to follow. Get rid of Casey Janssen. Aaron Sanchez or Brandon Morrow could be the closer. Or, either of them could be a starter. Whatever happens, both stay.

Let's offer to trade Adam Lind and/or Jose Reyes and see what we can get. Let's top any offer in order to keep Melky Cabrera. Anyway, he owes us one for giving him a chance for retribution. 

Rookie outfielder Kevin Pillar could be a superstar. Anthony Gose, John Mayberry Jr., Ryan Goins, and Dalton Pompey should play winter ball and come for a try-out in spring training.

As for pitching, Mark Buehrle will want to go to a winner and the Blue Jays aren't that. Keep Happ, Cecil, McGowan, Hutchison and Stroman. This year we had five 10-game winners. We need a 20-game winner. Go get Jon Lester. 

We keep Bautista, Navarro, Encarnacion, Lawrie, Kawasaki and take a look in the spring at the health of Maicer Izturis. 

And, as for Gibby, I hope he goes. He's no team leader, neither is he a strategist. He was just a guy looking for a job. We need a force in the locker room and an owner (or the owner's representative) who instills the same feeling in the team that Andy Pettitte was talking about on ESPN a few days ago. The retired Yankee pitcher said everyone knew that owner George Steinbrenner would replace any member of the team who did not perform because there were lots of players waiting to take their place. The Jays of 2015 need to feel a bit of that heat every time they take the field.

Talking heads

Two weeks of hearings by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) called Let's Talk TV are over. With the exception of a contretemps with a Netflix official, the proceedings were predictable. Everyone from the Harper government to consumers is in favour of pick-and-pay rather than the lump-and-allow preferred by the cable companies but we have to put up with months of delay before any CRTC decision, let alone action.

Cable television is the last great monopoly in Canada. If you move into a neighbourhood and want cable, you only have one choice. Ridiculous. What if you were told you could only shop at Loblaws? And when you sign up with a cable company you have to buy their unwieldy packages. I'm a Rogers customer, pay about $125 a month and can summon 300 channels, only a dozen of which I ever watch.

Go through your channels sometime. Do I really need every CTV outlet in seven cities, six Global, three City stations and more shopping channels than Winners has buggies? Nor does the availability make any sense. I get CNBC but not MSNBC, BNN but not Bloomberg. And of course I receive the ever useful Fireplace Channel, Aquarium Channel and Sunset Channel where the sun never seems to set. I can order Al Jazeera as a one-off, but if I want HBO (which I do) I have to take all the schlock on The Movie Network as well. 

The cable companies claim that they will go bust if viewers are allowed pick-and-pay. Yet they rank among the most profitable firms in Canada. Share prices over the last ten years have risen by 178% for Shaw, 196% for Cogeco and 275% for Rogers. Over the same period, the TSX 60 was up 93%, Royal Bank 177%.

Oh, and let's fret about Netflix. (Declaration: I'm a subscriber.) Netflix has an estimated annual revenue in Canada of $300 million, money Canadian TV executives think they should have. Rogers just paid $5 billion for hockey rights. Why should anyone worry about cable viability?

Finally, how much excellent Canadian programming is created by these giants? This week, PBS ran a terrific seven-part fourteen-hour documentary on the Roosevelts. The last time I can recall anything similar here was CBC's Canada: A People's History. That was in 2006, eight years ago. Let's stop talking and start picking.

 

The rebound of Rob Ford

The news that Rob Ford has an abdominal problem changes everything about the Toronto mayoralty race. There he was, a confessed addict, vituperative night owl and bad-assed coach, yet one-quarter of the population was still behind him. Imagine the bump in the polls this recent diagnosis will bring him. It could be a sympathy vote, but any politician would happily accept such an outpouring.

In his biography of Thomas D'Arcy McGee, the father of Confederation who was assassinated in 1868, author David Wilson says that McGee's death was his best career move. Before that, McGee had been in poor health and was almost bankrupt. His death rendered him mythic. Rob Ford's illness has conferred a similar status upon him. Opponents are falling all over themselves wishing their former foe well. Even Marcus Gee, not previously a fan of Ford, was all but calling in his Globe and Mail column for readers to pray for Ford's speedy recovery. 

If Ford chooses to stay on the ballot, whatever the final diagnosis, he might win in a walk. He can do meet-and-greets in his hospital gown, add Lourdes to his campaign stops and replace transit maps with x-rays of his innards. Who could refuse to vote for a man seeking not just redemption from his history but also the restoration of his health?

 

 

Books for life

Someone has written to say how tough it is to find good business biographies. He's reading Driven to Succeed, the book about Frank Hasenfratz I co-authored with Susan M. Papp. He's enjoying it and wondered if I could recommend others. Here are six of my favourites: Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson; Harrison McCain by Donald Savoie; The Reichmanns by Anthony Bianco; A Gentleman of the Press by Floyd Chalmers; Titan, Ron Chernow on John D. Rockefeller; and Iacocca, the 1984 book by William Novak that set the standard for ghost-written business memoirs.

Books have deep meaning in my life. I was lucky enough to have a father who taught me how to read before I went to kindergarten. He'd sit with me at bedtime and listen to my early struggles pronouncing words like "gnaw" as guh-naw in The Adventures of Danny Meadow Mouse by Thornton W. Burgess. I can still recall his patient explanation about how the "g" was silent. I was four at the time. Among others, I went through all the Burgess books, the Hardy Boys, Freddy the Pig, the brave heroes of G. A. Henty and the twenty-volume-set of the Book of Knowledge in the half dozen years that followed.

By the time I was ten, I'd read everything in the children's section of the Guelph Public Library and was allowed to get an adult card. But not all adult books. I was maybe fourteen when I tried to check out By Love Possessed by James Gould Cozzens. Said the librarian as she put it on a shelf behind her, "I don't think your mother would want you reading that." Ah, the merits and demerits of living in a small town.

Even buying books can be memorable. There was a time it could take months to track down a title. I vividly remember finally finding Peter C. Newman's first book, Flame of Power, in a used bookshop in Elora, Ontario, and Memory's Wall, by Lady Eaton, on Harbord Street in Toronto. It's way easier now, but there's no thrill of the hunt buying online from Abebooks or Alibris.

My six favourite books of all time are Goodbye, Darkness by William Manchester, any one of Robert Caro's series on Lyndon Johnson, Surfacing by Margaret Atwood (her only readable book), A Child's Christmas in Wales by Dylan Thomas, Gentlemen, Players & Politicians by Dalton Camp, and Jane Leavy's book on Mickey Mantle, The Last Boy. 

And if you asked for my one hundred favourites, I could rattle off that list, too.