Monday: For the first time we welcomed a guest into our studios, and Winnipeg's Mayor Sam Katz handled everything we could toss at him, starting with an introduction he said was the most unique he had ever heard.
He said that the media scrutiny of his professional and family life would dissuade anyone who had been successful in business from ever again stepping forward to serve in public office. He explained how Crimestat would help stop crime and that the Police force management and rank and file were committed to work on the needed cultural changes to implement the new system. Nothing made him more upset than when the reporters tried to say crime was declining in the city when during the October election it was all he heard about at people's doors.
In an exclusive, Mayor Katz called for the Blue Bombers to release the feasibility study into a new football stadium, said he would endorse anyone who came forward with a waterpark proposal (and would be doing it if he were still in private life), and that new development announcements were imminent at the Met Theatre location and on Portage Avenue to help revitalize downtown. He promised to join us in studio once again in the new year and would take calls from our listeners. This interview will be replayed in its' entirety during the Holidays.
Big Daddy Tazz, the hottest comedian around, joined the show afterwards and discussed the Michael Richards debacle and showed the right and wrong way to handle hecklers.
Tuesday: With revelations that the Spirited Energy branding campaign had fudged the actual contributions of private sector supporters, Winnipeg Sun reporter Tom Brodbeck made his TGCTS debut and gave us the behind the scenes story of how Competativeness Minister Scott Smith had cracked in a scrum and bllurted out the truth about the campaign "contributions".
Tom spent 20 minutes with us going over the use of Crown Corporation monies as a substitute for private dollars, and volunteer hours being valuated at $200 per hour, as proof the province had misled the public from the beginning while spending $1.6 million of taxpayer dollars on promoting and advertising the campaign. A number of callers followed Brodbeck and railed about the dishonest tactics used by the government to portray the campaign as having genuine support in the business community when it did not.
Wednesday: CTV Crime reporter Kelly Dehn went over the latest wave of assaults and robberies in the inner city and around the Health Sciences Centre. Dr. Brian Oleson of the University of Manitoba explained his report that grain farmers were finally about to turn the corner financially after bumper crops and high prices. We looked at CBC and the Free Press wanting to take the Mayor to court to force his divorce proceedings to be unsealed and how the public was overwhelmingly behind the Mayor's attempt to protect his children's privacy.
Thursday: Adrienne Batra of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation came on the air with us not to do her usual analysis but rather, we spoke at great length about her background in the Canadian military. She told the audience she joined the Forces as a lark with some girlfriends in Saskatchewan and stayed on 6 years, and afterwards she went on to get her degree and work as a political researcher before going for the posting with the CTF in Manitoba. It was a different look at one of the provinces most talked-about personalities and she gave us the scoop- contrary to the rampant speculation on local blogs she has no interest in running for political office.
The second half of the show was spent with well-known Winnipeg radio host Brian Cook in studio.
Brian was with us to promote World Aids Day on December 1st and the JoinRed.com campaign, where specific consumer goods from brand labels like The Gap are designated as contributing part of the purchase price to the world anti-poverty movement. His band Why (www.myspace.com/whyy) have a song 'RED' which is getting major airplay across the continent and is tied into the campaign. It was a real eye-opener to hear Brian explain his passion to help eradicate disease and poverty in Africa and how his music is a means to get people involved. We'll have Brian on again soon
Friday: When even CJOB's Vic Grant, hardly a friend of Sam Katz, went on the offensive against the CBC/Free Press demands to pry into the Mayor's divorce file, you know something stinks. And we said so.
And Freep editor Bob Cox writing in his blog how the public 'misunderstood' their intentions, and how they had to fight to prevent the records from being sealed because the public had a right to know? well we asked the question: when was the last time the newspaper used the Freedom of Information Act to force goverment files into the open? ...nope we couldn't remember either.
The CBC and Free Press sure had ignored a lot of newsworthy divorces involving other well-known Winnipeggers (some of whom were their own reporters) and never worried about the public's right to know then. To us it was an ongoing smear against a mayor who was overwhelmingly re-elected and who is far more popular with the public than the MSM that claims to represent the people's interests.
In the last half of the show we spoke to rising wrestling star Jon Cutler, jokingly refered to as Selkirk's Greatest Athlete but a quiet unassuming young man who was main-eventing an RME card at a fundraiser for the Glenview Community Centre. Jon is a good guy and a real fan favorite around Manitoba and in his own household (sorry Jon :).
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