Thirty-two year-old TTC Chairman and Ward 18 councillor Adam Giambrone.
Okay, so i don’t need to go into detail about what exactly has happened to Toronto’s former political goldenboy Adam Giambrone (or as the critics are now calling him “Giamboner”) in the past few weeks, you already know. But what strikes me as insane is how somehow the blame for a struggling TTC is all of the sudden shifted solely onto his shoulders.
Sure, the TTC has been the subject of a lot of criticism for a while now, after all, the aging system is far from perfect, but it was always labelled more of a systematic failure rather than a matter of personal neglect. Here is a guy whose made some strides in improving the system and done mildly well with the cards he’s been dealt. Back in December I wrote an investigative story on how the TTC fails to come even close to having buses come to campus on time, or in regular intervals. Giambrone did well to diagnose the problem and explain exactly what needed to happen in order to fix it. Was he personally responsible? No. Could he have done better? Sure, but so can everyone at City Hall, Queen’s Park and especially in Ottawa.
I’m not sure whether its the media’s problem or simply a human instinct to build people up, only to tear them down. Even though the TTC Chair made some mistakes and did horrible things on a couch in his office (which I unknowingly sat on by the way), but that doesn’t mean that all of the sudden Giambrone should be a skapegoat for all the transit problems in Toronto. The TTC’s issues are far greater than one man, and he shouldn’t have to shoulder all of the blame just because of his choice to disobey the seventh commandment.
Plant manager Dennis Haggerty exits through the door of an 80-metre high wind turbine near Port Burwell, Ontario. (Photo Credit: TERRY TING)
Yup, I was in Copenhagen last week to shoot part of my upcoming documentary on energy policy in Ontario. The film centres around the four remaining coal-fired power plants in Ontario (Nantocoke, Antikokan, Lambton and Thunder Bay) and the provincial government’s so-far-unsuccessful plans to close them. Essentially, the film is about what’s going to fill the energy gap left by the closures of these plants, and what’s stopping Ontario from using this opportunity to jump into the “green economy” and start creating jobs to replace the ones lost in the manufacturing sector. The film is trying to bring into focus why exactly we haven’t been able to attract the investors to start large-scale manufacturing of things like wind turbines and solar panels.
According to one expert I’ve interviewed for the film — York University’s Mark Winfield — when environmental policy is shaky at best, investors aren’t willing to simply throw money into a less-than-stable market for only a chance to hit the jackpot. Although I think Ontario is the jackpot given that there are so many quality skilled and unskilled Canadians looking for work in a province that has the potential to be among the leaders in renewable energy manufacturing and installation, investors want a sure thing.
The politicians involved have only backed up Winfield’s views. In 2003, Dalton McGuinty’s Liberals promised to shut down the coal plants by 2007. Then 2007 came and they said 2009. This year is nearly finished and only the Lakeview plant in Mississauga has been closed bringing the total to four. They say 2014 is the magic date now, but given McGuinty’s history of promise-keeping no one is holding their breath. To make matters worse, according to Winfield, if we elect Tim Hudak’s Progressive Conservatives to office in the next election, the plans will likely be scrapped altogether. So much for optimism eh?
Our poor showing in Copenhagen didn’t help the situation either. No, I wasn’t in Denmark last week, instead, I was in Copenhagen, Ontario to take a peek at a bright spot in Ontario’s energy grid — the Erie Shores wind farm, that stretches from Copenhagen, all the way over to Clear Creek, Ontario. The nucleus of it all is in Port Burwell where my crew and I met up with the mayor of the Municipality of Bayham Lynn Acre (Note for Torontonians: a ‘municipality’ is essentially a collection of small villages and hamlets too small to govern themselves). Port Burwell is located on the north shore of Lake Erie not too far my birthplace: exotic St. Thomas, Ontario.
Acre, along with Plant Manager Dennis Haggerty shed some light on what it took to get the 66 turbines there in the first place, and the economic and environmental impact of the huge white turbines that litter the farms and cliffs in the area. I also got their take on whether there is the political will at Queen’s Park to make Ontario in a green economic powerhouse. Some of the residents of the area were also able to dispel any notions of noisy turbines that cause headaches, kill birds or ruin perfectly good landscapes. Farmers who chose to allow the turbines onto their land make approx: $7-8,000 per year, per turbine in commission. Not too shabby for farmers recently bought out of the tobacco farming industry.
Anyways, the project is being shot by Alexandra Byers, edited by Mary Wallace and the sound will be recorded by Andrew Hunter. Here are some photos taken by the project’s still photographer, Terry Ting.
Enjoy!
Alex loves her Blackberry almost as much as I love mine.
Alex and Andrew had to fight the fiercely cold winds while setting up their equipment.
This is where the power generated by the turbines is collected before it's sent to the grid via Tillsonburg, Ontario.
Interviewing Municipality of Bayham Mayor Lynn Acre inside the Erie Shores interpretive centre.
Images like this one are tough to swallow for Jays fans everywhere.
Ever since the day I donned a yellow “Maxwell’s Camera” jersey and a red trucker-style St. Thomas minor baseball hat and stepped up to the plate in my first game of T-ball, I’ve been a baseball fan. In fact, it was around that same time that the Toronto Blue Jays won back-to-back World Series titles. I was hooked. Although my interest in the game has varied froms season to season, the team I’ve always chosen to support has remained unchanged. I’ve attended more Jays games than I could possible remember, chirped more left-fielders than could possibly be healthy (or funny for those sitting around me), and at times the team has even served as a source of national pride.
So I was a bit taken aback when my little brother Luke told me he didn’t want a Jays hat for Christmas, he wanted a Philadelphia Phillies one. It didn’t take me long to figure out why.
It was no surprise when the Jays dealt their ace Roy Halladay last week. the entire world knew he had to go not only because he was going to be a free agent after next season anyways, but because the Jays are rebuilding and trading him frees up a lot of money. I’ll always cheer for Roy Halladay, and even though I’ll be bringing my best material to chirp the Phillies outfielders when they come to town next summer, I’ll be on my feet cheering when the doctor tips his hat to the crowd.
What troubles me is what the Jays got in return. First, they got three players that aren’t even ready for major league action, and for all we know, may never be! Sure these could be franchise players, but BJ Ryan was supposed to be a franchise player as well (I still haven’t forgiven you for sucking BJ). There’s no J.A. Happ, nor is there a Phillipe Aumont, instead the Jays get three minor league prayers and are still stuck paying Halladay $6 million next year to come to Toronto and dummy the 2010 Jays.
I thought new GM Alex Anthopolous would be a step in the right direction, but the way it looks now, I want JP Ricciardi back!
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On an unrelated note, I’m glad that the Leafs are starting to come around, but I think the Leafs fans who haven’t already done so, should disown Brian Burke for his recent endorsement of Gary Bettman on the Phoenix Coyotes file.
…but I probably should have. After all, it’s not everyday that I get to sit down with the chair of the biggest transit system in Canada, the youngest Toronto City Councillor and maybe even the next mayor of our city.
No, I didn’t ask TTC Chair and Ward 18 (Davenport) councillor Adam Giambrone if he was going to run for mayor. Why? I know politicians well enough to know the answer would be ambigious at best, and besides, I had bigger fish to fry that day (Tuesday).
So far, TTC Chair Adam Giambrone has been mum on whether or not he'll run for the mayor's chair. (Photo by PIPPIN LEE)
I wanted to know what’s so wrong with the Toronto Transit Commission that busses leaving York University are routinely early or late, and some don’t even come at all. Guess what? He didn’t have all of the answers. Can I blame him? Not really. He’s not a bus driver, or a route supervisor and has little to do with the day-to-day operations of the transit system Torontonians seem to have a love/hate relationship with.
He summed it up into a few things: 1) Its the operation staff’s fault (employees aren’t doing their jobs), 2) Uncle Dalton didn’t give him enough money to hire enough route supervisors 3) On-land transit is doomed to be tardy because its impossible to predict traffic, accidents, etc. 4) Drivers attempts to stick to the schedule actually make gaps/bunching worse.
Essentially he said they need to change the system to one that relies less on the schedule and more on what he called, “headway management,” which is essentially when buses are kept evenly spaced by running realtive to one another rather than attempting to run according to the schedule.
My full investigation into the issue can be found here.
All in all, though I only interviewed the 32 year-old mayoral prospect for a half-hour, he comes across really smart and self-confident. He didn’t put on an “everythings ok” face, when I showed him the dismal bus scheduling stats – instead he discussed the issue rather than glossing things over. I think he’s passionate and would make a good candiate to represent the “NDP” ticket in next year’s election.
They’re saying its going to be a John Tory/George Smitherman showdown. Tory won’t win, he doesn’t have the killer instinct ( see exhibit A, B and C), and as Royson james writes, Giambrone might just sneak up the middle and steal the show.
If it looks as if I haven't slept for three days in this photo... it's probably because I hadn't. (photo by PIPPIN LEE)
Somewhere along those lines is how the National Post rated “I Hope they Serve Beer in Hell” the movie. I suppose there’s something to be said for any publicity is good publicity, although this may only be true for building up Tucker Max’s fame, and not for boosting the popularity of this movie. Read my published review of the movie, and my interview with Tucker Max here. The story ran in the Excalibur this week.
These are just a few of the terms that Tucker Max uses to describe…himself! To be perfectly honest, I didn’t have a clue who Tucker Max was until a few weeks ago when the phone in my office rang. It was a publicist (yes, I love publicists) who asked if I would be interested in doing an interview with him. I said, ‘yes’ intending to Google him, find out he’s a nobody and then pass it along to someone else to do. Turns out, he’s kind of a big deal in the literary world. In fact, he’s such a big deal that he got one of my friends who probably hasn’t read a book since high school to read his book…. AND finish it. Trust me, this is a no small feat.
In fact, after a quick survey of a few friends and colleagues, it turns out that I was living under a rock. Tucker Max has sold over 350,000 copies of his book entitled, “I Hope they Serve Beer in Hell,” was on the New York Times best-seller list multiple times, and the book was recently adapted into a film.
Now, I don’t want anyone to get the wrong idea here. Tucker Max is not a literary giant because he can put words together like Linden MacIntyre, or Margaret Atwood, nope Tucker Max is popular becuase he writes about getting drunk, ‘wheeling broads’ and generally being as irresponsible as possible. As it turns out, this type of writing has a big audience who can relate…sort of. I think most people will make it through college or university without having sex with literally HUNDREDS of women (including a little person, a deaf girl, and Miss Vermont 2001), waking up in a random park with no wallet or cell phone, vomit caked to your face, and dog feces in your hair, or perhaps accidentally pooping in an upscale hotel lobby and then running naked to your room.
I don’t do interviews unless I feel absolutely qualified and prepared to do an interview, and that means a lot of research. I mean, if I researched for my school work as much as I researched Tucker Max prior to interviewing him, I would have straight A’s. I read his book, I read his website, I watched his movie at a press screening, I read his blog, and I watched previous interviews he’s done. I got really into the book not only because I was laughing out loud like a crazy person while I was reading it on the subway, but because I knew that I would get to pick his brain at the end of the tunnel.
Best-selling author Tucker Max and I. Max is a polarizing character, and a legend among American college fraternity members. (Photo Credit: TERRY TING)
I’m not sure what the proper journalistic ettiquette is for being a fan of someone you interview. I had a colleague tell me that he would ‘never’ get an interview subject to sign a copy of their book, movie, etc. Agree to disagree. After the interview, I was so caught up in the fact that he was shooting the shit with me and the camera crew that I forgot to have him sign my copy of the book. So, I left it with one of the publicists with these instructions on what to write: ”To Scott, something innapropriate, Tucker Max.” Here’s what he wrote, word for word: “To Scott, I don’t remember you, but I think your [sic] gay. T Max.” Classy. Wouldn’t expect anything less.
The thing about interviewing a guy like Tucker Max is that everyone tries to incriminate him for all the above adjectives he uses to describe himself. Turns out, thats not that original, and you’re not really telling us anything we didn’t aready know. For instance, check out this piece on him from Eye Weekly.
My goal wasn’t to get him to confess to being a dickhead — he’s pretty much already done that — I wanted to know what made him tick, and what has influenced him to be the way he is, and whether the movie, for him, was a chance for him to reach a new audience or perhaps modify the message or the delivery.
I thought he was a pretty cool guy, he never came across as rude, or snotty, he’s just a guy who happened to write down all of his stories — that aren’t that uncommon amongst people my age — and gained some success from that. I was a bit nervous about how he would be in person, but I guess its sort of like how he views women: if you let him walk all over you, he will, and he won’t respect you, but if you command respect, then he’ll give it (or just leave in the case of women).
In terms of the film, perhaps going the independant route wasn’t his best choice, because its been HORRIBLY marketed. It only has a limited release in three Canadian cities, and most people in this city don’t know what the film or the book is all about. The film itself is Ok (although it was ripped to shreds by the critics). I’m not a film critic or anything, I thought it definately had its funnier moments, it had a message, but it suffered with a weak performance from Jesse Bradford who plays Drew (‘Slingblade’ for those of you who have read the book), and a few other characters. All in all its a funny take on the teen movie that those who have read the book will enjoy a bit, and those who haven’t read the book will enjoy a little less.
An edited version of my interview with Tucker can be seen below. It’s for the Excaliburwebsite. My print story will be published in the Arts section of the Excalibur on Wednesday. Some of you said you want to see the uncut 17 minute interview, and I might try and get that up sooner or later if some of you are interested.
York student Mariana Valente is the second York student to represent Canada in the Miss Universe pageant. (Photo by Pippin Lee, Excalibur Publications)
A few weeks back, I had a chance to interview Miss Universe Canada 2009, Mariana Valente. Valente is a York student, and I thought it would make a good feature piece in the paper. Valente competed in the Miss Universe competition in the Bahamas this year, and although she didn’t win, she has an interesting story nonetheless. From what I gathered in my research for the piece, there is lots of bits and pieces written about her, but nothing substantial. She was on ET Canada, she did a segment of eTalk Daily, and there were a few small articles here and there around the time of the pageant.
A few days ago, the Toronto Sun ran a similar piece on Valente. I think the author must be a close relative of hers (I hope), because it’s the only way I can possibly think of accounting for gems like these:
“Our little miss is an angel of mercy for the kids of Brazil.”
“You could sink a rainforest in those big, brown eyes.”
“Much more than a pretty face is our Mariana.”
Here’s the link to The Sunarticle, entitled “Our little miss is an angel”
Here’s the Excaliburversion, printed a few weeks earlier than The Sun story.
According to CBC’s vice-president of English services Richard Stursberg, placing your bets everywhere is the best thing to do when you’re not sure where the market is going. That’s exactly what the CBC is doing with their new format, hoping to eventually find the way. You can read more on the new CBC, including my interview with Stursberg in my feature story this week found here. The Excalibur website is a dinosaur though so the cutlines, and the pull quotes and the decks don’t quite go where they’re supposed to.
Also, my interview with Peter Mansbridge will be printed in (nearly) its entirity in next week’s paper. I didn’t have space for it this week. I’ll try and upload a clip from it as well. So, in the mean time, enjoy this week’s article, and I’ll post my interview with Peter as soon as I can.
I have to admit the title is a bit misleading. It should actually read, “McLean one-on-one”. That’s because on Wednesday I had the chance to have a chat with the Canadian journalism icon himself, Peter Mansbridge. Of course, I’m not important enough to have him interview me, so I picked his brain instead.
Peter Mansbridge has been a fixture on Canadian television for decades.
You’re probably asking how I managed to score an interview with a Canadian A-lister? Well, its the same way that any talk show host manages to land most of their interviews: everyone wants to promote themselves (their new movie, their new book, their new show, how cool they are… you get the point). It seems these days the CBC is in the business of promoting themselves – their image more specifically. What bettter way to do that then to allow journalists from all across the city to interview their talent in order to provide a bit of publicity for their re-launch.
Here’s the problem, I was at the Excalibur office in North York until 1am trying to get that week’s issue of the paper finished, and still had to go home and prepare questions for my 11am phone interview the next day. So, I stayed up til 3am diligently putting thoughts on the page, that would become my questions. After all, if there’s one interview in your life where you want to sound competant it’s with Peter. Here’s a guy who knows a thing or two about conducting an interview. Over his 40-year career at the CBC he’s chatted with the likes of world leaders, pro athletes, the most influential musicians, authors you name it he’s talked to them. He even managed to score an interview with Barack Obama earlier this year. All the while he makes his interviews sound as if he’s just having a casual chat in his living room.
I had to be down at Queen’s Park that morning to interview a politician following Question Period in the legislature, so I had to do my interview with Peter there as well. So there I was, sitting at the top of a quiet staricase on the fourth floor, reading over my notes, and sweating profusely in my suit, worrying that I’d get sweat puddles through my blazer.
Something that’s important to understand is that usually when you interview important people over the phone they have PR people coming out the wazoo, so you have to get transferred a hundred times before you actually reach the person you want to talk to, and then your time is extremely limited. This often happens with politicians, and sadly enough it even happens with the York UniversityPresident (who I guess must be kind of a big deal).
So, when the phone rang at exactly 11:07am on Wednesday morning I picked it up expecting to be speaking with his publicist. I pressed the green button to answer the call hardly before even waiting for it to ring once, “Scott McLean”, I said.
And as if he were jumping out of the TV screen at me and into my ear, Peter’s unmistakably calm, smooth, barritone voice said, “Hi Scott, it’s Peter Mansbridge.”
And here’s where it all becomes a blur. I had rehearsed the beginning phone call in my mind a hundred times over so as to sound as calm and professional as I could. After all, I wanted to leave a good impression on the most famous person working for the broadcasting corporation I hope will one day be my employer.
I didn’t record the first few seconds of our conversation, and it’s probably better that I didn’t, because then I would have to remember even more vividly how I probably sounded like a 12 year-old schoolgirl who had just run into Zac Efron. After I told him how big of a fan I was, and he explained that he’s not such a big shot that he can’t dial his own phone numbers I settled down and asked my questions.
I wasn’t surprised that a guy who has interviewed so many knows a thing or two about being interviewed himself. The first thing that struck me is that he’s not a politician. He never once sounded like he was in a rush at all, and he sounded nothing but genuine the entire way through. I didn’t have a watch to gauge my ten-minute time limit, and when I got off the phone with him, I looked and saw 16:51 flashing on the screen of my Blackberry.
The CBC's Nancy Wilson hosts CBC News: Today
I spent the rest of the day attending the CBC launch presentation, and was lucky enough to interview Harry Forestell, Nancy Wilson, Evan Solomon and CBC’s vice-president Richard Stursburg. I wish I had of had more time with each of them – especially Solomon because I sort of got cut short on my time with him.
You can pick up Wednesday’s Excalibur for a transcription of my interview with Peter Mansbridge, as well as a story on CBC’s new look that will feature quotes from all of the talent I mentioned above.
