Too much?

[Frank Moher]

In my latest post to backofthebook.ca's Media section, I lambaste the CBC's "At Issue" panel for being too Toronto. What do you think? Does where a journalist comes from affect what she/he writes? Or am I way over the top? Is Toronto-bashing passé?

[bill miner]

i have a couple of complaints regarding the "at issue" panel at cbc; (frank check my punctuation will you?) the cloying homogeneity of their collective observances; the prosaic responses; the lack of new panel members and new ideas; and yes frank, i believe including similar "lifestyle" gurus from a variety of urban and rural locales might increase listening interest.

[Frank Moher]

Not that there's anything wrong with your punctuation -- your capitalization is another matter ;-) -- but I couldn't fix it if I wanted to. I'm not in charge of anything that gets posted on bobalicious; that's the beauty of a social network. No editors!

[Eric Pettifor]

"Is Toronto-bashing passé? "

No, not at all. Ok, maybe a bit, but in a soothing sort of way, like being a kid on a mild summer day bouncing a ball against the wall of an old school. Generations of kids before you have done the same , and none has thought, "Am I making a difference to the wall?" No, the wall remains the same as the kids come and go, participating in what seems a casual exercise, and yet is nothing less than an ancient ritual, a tradition, one of those things which defines who we are.

I loved the video, hope you get the gig.

[Frank Moher]

I've always been interested in the difference between the British Columbian attitude towards central Canada (which yours might be) and the Albertan (which, despite my 21 years here, is probably mine). The BCer says, Oh, yes, Toronto's irritating and Canada's a bit silly, but there's nothing to be done And anyway, who cares -- let's go skiing! The Albertan, on the other hand, rails away.

On the evidence of the current occupant of the PMO, one might argue that the Albertan approach -- that something can be done -- is the right one. I grow more sceptical by the day, though. What, for example, ever happened to Harper's ambition to reform the Senate? It's as likely that Ottawa will change him as that he'll change Ottawa. Or Canada.

[Eric Pettifor]

I was born and raised in Alberta as well, but perhaps I've assimilated better than you ;)

Canadian unity is, IMO, largely an exercise in mutual tolerance rather than positive regard. That might sound a little bleak, but it's like some sort of physical law where things seek the lowest energy state. Can you imagine the energy required to have positive regard for Toronto? And I'm sure it works the other way around as well.

I've lived in T.O. and I didn't find the inhabitants particularly arrogant or stuck up or disproportionately possessed of other negative qualities. They're just indifferent to Western Canada and the Maritimes, except for the occasional self conscious tokenism on the part of the CBC such as you mention in your piece, and, of course, giving Maritimers comedy shows because they're so funny.

Indifference can be really tough to fight, like swinging at a fog. If one seriously expects to defeat the fog, that could be frustrating. Perhaps things will evolve to give Western Canada a greater voice in the whole as our population and prosperity increase, while Ontario becomes a 'have not' province, but if so it will be an evolutionary thing which evolves over time and will have more to do with a shift in power than a dispelling of indifference.

[Marshall]

Self-disclosure: I was born in Toronto, raised in Southern Ontario, attended universities in the Eastern U.S., and moved to B.C 30 years ago for a breath of fresh air.

I don't think it's passé to lambaste the "At Issue" panel for being too Toronto, just not very relevant to why we might be watching these pundits in the first place. How about some useful political commentary from whatever perspective?

Would political pundits from B.C. or Alberta be more incisive or informative under the direction of Peter Mansbridge and the CBC program directors?

Our main complaint should be the lack of newsworthiness and the excess of opinion passing as insight. Where's democracy's oxygen?

M.

[Marshall]

I watched the At Issue panel yesterday (June 19) discuss the Liberal environment policy announcement. As usual, there was more discussion of how the announcement would play to different constituencies than analysis of the content of the proposed policy.

Kirk LaPoint of the Vancouver Sun (CanWest) represented the West by suggesting that British Columbians might appreciate the policy proposal differently than voters in other provinces because we were looking at our own carbon tax beginning July 1st. Fair enough.

Regrettably, in my view, none of the panelists from east or west explored how this policy would impact corporations in Canada. As a Canadian taxpayer, I want to know how the feds are going to hold the biggest polluters accountable. It's going to take a lot of fluorescent lightbulbs, heat pumps, and hybrid vehicles--all consumer items--to counter-balance the incredible environmental disaster of the tar sands.

M.