I was at the CBC for 50 years, 49 and a half to be exact, and during that almost half century there’s only one on-camera appearance where I hope they’ve lost the tape.It was late December 1979, and the Liberals were leaderless when suddenly the Joe Clark government was defeated on a budget vote. Pierre Trudeau had stepped down a few weeks before, grown a beard and gone canoeing. The chatter was everywhere about who would replace him for the unexpected election campaign soon to start. Would it be Donald MacDonald? John Turner? Or would Trudeau shave, change his mind and come back? Oh, don’t be silly Peter, that could never happen. So, I settled into my chair in the Ottawa Parliament Hill studio for my first full network anchor appearance. The Liberals were set to announce to the nation their leadership plans, I was confident enough in my sources to say on air, “It won’t be Trudeau.” Then within minutes, it was Trudeau, and the rest is history. |