Posts with the CJRT-FM tag

Barris Beat

Just short of witnessing history

Written by Ted Barris on . 1 Comment
Classic image from Woodstock Festival in 1969. Smithsonian Magazine.

I happened to be hitchhiking that life-changing afternoon. My parents had purchased a hobby farm outside Bethany, Ont. But with my family away in the late 1960s, suddenly the farm became my responsibility. So, this early August day, not owning a car to get me from Toronto to the farm, I chose to hitchhike my way there. My last ride pulled over at the intersection of Hwys 115 and 35, and I ran toward the car for the lift.

That’s when I tripped off the curb of the road, twisted my ankle really severely. And everything changed. (more…)

Barris Beat

WhatsApp versus what really happened

Written by Ted Barris on . 1 Comment
Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau answers questions from reporter Tim Ralphe on Parliament Hill during the October Crisis, 1970. CBC.

That October, the country was on the verge of civil war. At least that’s what it felt like. A Quebec cabinet minister had been murdered by the FLQ (Le Front de libération du Québec). A British trade official remained kidnapped. The then prime minister had introduced the War Measures Act to ferret out FLQ members and arrest those responsible.

As a senior student of then Ryerson’s Radio and TV Arts program and thinking only about getting the story on the air, I sat down in a radio studio at CJRT FM in Toronto and interviewed four students of Loyola College who’d been questioned in a Montreal dragnet just days before.

“My guests are John Welsh, Alan Saig, Joe Sagantic and John McKay,” I began. “Tell us how all this affected you.”

And they did. It was Oct. 28, 1970, the height of the October Crisis. (more…)

Barris Beat

Fairness or bust

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Statue of Ryerson toppled in Toronto, June 6, 2021. BBCNews

It started with registration and Frosh Week in September 1968. I was so eager to attend the school I even lined up at the bookstore to buy a jacket with his name “Ryerson” arched across the back. Three years later, I reached a milestone there when I received the certificate signifying that I had completed all my courses in broadcast journalism. But I returned a few years later, when Ryerson had become a degree-granting institution, completed the makeup courses, and stood in line again to receive my BA in 1976.

“By virtue of the authority granted by the province of Ontario under the Polytechnical Act, 1962, Ryerson has awarded the degree Bachelor of Applied Arts to Theodore Barris,” the document said. Next to my name, a seal with the bust of Egerton Ryerson embossed on the degree.

I thought of that seal, and that bust, Monday morning, as I learned that demonstrators in front of the main gates of Ryerson University in downtown Toronto had toppled the statue of the institution’s namesake. (more…)

Barris Beat

Rights tested half a century ago

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PM Pierre Trudeau answers questions from reporter Tim Ralphe on Parliament Hill during the October Crisis, 1970.

It was a moment on live television – something considered rare then. The Prime Minister, Justin’s father, moved up the steps to his office on Parliament Hill. Reporters converged and questioned, one of them, Tim Ralphe, more aggressively than the rest. He poked his microphone at Pierre Trudeau and pressed the concern of many in Canada at that moment.

“Sir, what is it with all these men with guns around?” he asked.

The day before, Oct. 12, Trudeau had called for the Canadian Armed Forces to deploy armed troops to protect high-profile locations and individuals in Ottawa and Quebec City.

“Well, there are a lot of bleeding hearts around who just don’t like to see people in helmets and guns,” Trudeau said. “But it is more important to keep law and order in society than to be worried about weak-kneed people.” (more…)

Barris Beat

Freedoms in a crisis

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Royal 22nd Regiment soldier stands guard on a bridge in Montreal following the implementation of the War Measures Act, Oct. 16, 1970 (photo courtesy Canadian Press).
Royal 22nd Regiment soldier stands guard on a bridge in Montreal following the implementation of the War Measures Act, Oct. 16, 1970 (photo courtesy Canadian Press).

The other night, I sent a couple of dozen of my journalism students out into the night. They had to go to one of the municipalities where the public was voting for mayors, councillors and/or aldermen. Their job was to get the perspective of the loser and the reaction of the winner in their chosen ward for the record. The reaction I got from one or two members of my class of practising reporters amazed me.

“Why is it so important to do this?” one student asked.

(more…)