Off the Record Quotes

“As we sat together in the back seat, I suddenly realized we were wearing similar suits and the same tie. The exact same tie. A grey-blue Hugo Boss. We looked like teammates, just what the conspiracy theorists who are convinced there's some kind of deal between the Liberals and the CBC want to believe. (If you believe that, then as the various Liberals who have had to resign over the years because of CBC journalism exposing their wrongdoing just how true they think it is.) But it was too late now on the tie. Let's just say it was a good day for Hugo Boss.
Then we arrived. I was going to have to get out fast or some viewers watching on television might be misled into believing I was going to be sworn into the cabinet. It wished the prime minister luck, grabbed the door handle, and started lifting it up and down.
Nothing.
I tried again.
Nothing.
The prime minister just sat there, not making a move.
"Oh," I said. "I guess I have to wait until they open it..."
Without turning to look at me, he said quietly, hands folded in his lap, "Yep."
It was the prime minister to be, calmly explaining to the guy who thought he was a political veteran that the doors to the prime ministerial limo don't unlock until the RCMP is convinced the outside area is secure.”
― Peter Mansbridge, Off the Record

“My political reporting career has been bookended by the Trudeaus. First Trudeau the elder, then Trudeau the younger. Two very different politicians: one who often acted aloof and above the rest of us, the other who seems to love being with the people. One considered an intellectual, the other thought to have more street smarts.”
― Peter Mansbridge, Off the Record

“The orange wave was real. Layton and the NDP won 103 seats on May 2, 2011, and for the first and only time in its history, the party formed the official opposition with Layton at the helm. It was a huge accomplishment for the NDP, but for Jack Layton there was very little time to celebrate. The cancer had returned. It was about to race through his body.
Just one hundred and twelve days after election night, the battle against it ended.
On August 22, just before five in the morning, my phone rang. I've been around long enough to know that when the phone rings in the middle of the night the odds are it's not good news. It wasn't.
"Jack just passed away. We will be announcing it publicly in a few hours. Perhaps you could make it known before then."
I got up, showered, and dressed. I drove into Toronto from our home in Stratford thinking about those last conversations we'd had during the campaign. In St. John's after that interview had ended, I'd thanked him for being so frank about his health and his hopes in the few days we'd just spent together. Standing on the dock I'd told him that while he and I had done many interviews in the years before, all my questions in those past years had been so predictable.
Before I could say anything, he smiled and looked at me. "And all my answers were so predictable too." We both laughed. It was so true. But 2011 had been different.
I parked my car and walked into the studio where Heather Hiscox was hosting her morning show and, to her surprise, I sat down, unannounced, beside her. She could tell something wasn't right and, on air, she asked me what was up.
"Jack Layton has just died."
Heather's face said it all. She was shocked and saddened, just like so many Canadians of all political stripes were, as they found out in that same moment. A person's life have been stolen from them at the pinnacle of their professional career. The country was instantly in mourning.
Two weeks later, Layton's widow, Olivia Chow, returned with me to the spot on Toronto Island where they had been married twenty-three years before and talked about what the final moments had been like.
"It was very difficult, but he had no fear. He had no fear. He was ready, so I thought, okay. So we held him.”
― Peter Mansbridge, Off the Record

“Barack Obama visited Canada two days after our interview, and his rock star status was solidified in our country. Crowds were large, the welcome was five stars, and even Stephen Harper admitted to me he was caught up in the whole Obama "thing.”
― Peter Mansbridge, Off the Record

“I turned to Samira, who had been sitting on the floor beside us just out of camera range. She had been there to take notes during the interview.
"So, Samira, how did it go?" I asked.
Now, keep in mind, Samira, like Leslie, was one of our best. Both were smart journalists who would go far in the business. Award winners in journalism school and destined for the same results on the job.
"I didn't hear a word he said," she replied.
"What? You were sitting right there!"
"He's so gorgeous."
Everyone in the room - and there were a lot of them still hanging about - laughed. Samira wasn't the slightest bit embarrassed. She, like most of the rest of the world in those early Obama days, was hooked.
And then there was a noise in the doorway. Obama was back with his handlers and a very tall man at his side. Obama himself is at least six foot two, so this chap must have been six five or more.
"Peter, I have someone you have to meet," he said.
I was taken aback. You have to understand what those words sound like. The president of the United States coming back to see you because he has determined he has someone that you, the one-time baggage handler from Churchill, have to meet.”
― Peter Mansbridge, Off the Record

“When it was over, he suggested I come across to 24 Sussex and join him for an informal, off-the-record chat. These sessions happen occasionally, and I'd had them with other prime ministers in the past and some since. They can be useful and often lead to stories. So, I thought, let's see what happens.
I joined the PM in the living room. He opened up the conversation by saying he had something for me, and an aide appeared with two glasses and what was obviously a bottle of liquor.
"One of my Caribbean fellow prime ministers gave me this," he said. "It's the best rum in the world."
He poured two glasses. And I mean poured.
"But, Prime Minister," I said. "It's ten a.m., not my normal drinking time. Plus, I have to get back to Toronto to do The National tonight."
He wasn't buying it. He wanted me to drink his rum.
So, I sipped. I'm sure it could have started a car, it was so strong.
He encouraged me to stop sipping and instead finish things off. I did.
I don't remember anything else after that. It might have taken a few years, but revenge had been had.”
― Peter Mansbridge, Off the Record

“He was passionate about democracy, always looking at me and reminding me that democracy doesn't happen automatically, that you have to participate, and that participation means public service.”
― Peter Mansbridge, Off the Record

“He often told me the story that Trudeau called him on Christmas Eve 1971 and asked if John and his wife, Geills, would take Margaret and him to a midnight mass, something the Turners always attended at Christmas. They agreed and drove there together. Turner said it was a wonderful evening of friendship and prayer. He never forgot it because of what else happened just a few hours later. Not long after they dropped the Trudeaus off at 24 Sussex, Margaret and Pierre headed to the hospital where Justin was born on Christmas Day.”
― Peter Mansbridge, Off the Record

“It was one of those broadcasts where we didn't really need to say much. The pictures were gripping, none more so than the two young princes, William and Harry, walking behind their mother's horse-drawn funeral cortege. Atop her coffin, in plain view of the cameras, was an envelope - Alison read out what it said, simply, "Mummy".
For everyone watching, in person or at home, it was a moment of high emotion.
As for me, so was our location in front of Buckingham Palace. It was, almost to the very spot, where I had stood sixteen years before, watching along with the world as she passed by on the way to her wedding. Now there I was, watching her casket pass by on the way to her funeral.”
― Peter Mansbridge, Off the Record

“Finally, it was approaching airtime. In our election-night studio, the floor director called out, "Sixty seconds."
My heart was pounding a bit, so I looked at Bill to help calm myself down. Instead, I was surprised. From the desk up, Bill appeared fine, but from my vantage point beside him, I could see his hands in his lap just below. They were shaking. A lot.
"Bill, you're not nervous, are you?" I asked.
His response was words I would live by. "Son, the day you're not nervous on a show like this is the day you've been in the business too long."
And with that, we were off.
"Good evening, Manitoba, and welcome to Election '72. I'm Bill Guest and with me is Peter Mansbridge.”
― Peter Mansbridge, Off the Record