When you have a problem, Robert F. Kennedy used to say, hang a lantern on it.
This column is my lantern.
I’m now in my 40th year as a working journalist in the province of Ontario. In that time, I’ve met a lot of people inside and outside politics. I’ve also had numerous family members and friends who’ve been active in politics, which often makes things very interesting — and very sticky.
For example, eight years ago, my eldest son, Zach, was running for the federal Liberal nomination in a Hamilton riding. The sticky moment happened when I was watching the men’s Olympic hockey semifinal with Zach at the convention in Montreal. With a few minutes left in the game, Liberal leader Justin Trudeau showed up (he wasn’t prime minister yet) and parked himself beside us on the couch. When the buzzer went and Canada was victorious, we all jumped up and celebrated. What else would three massive hockey fans do?
Photographers dutifully recorded the moment, but when the pictures were published, they didn’t convey the impression of three hockey fans cheering. They conveyed the impression that I was too close to the Liberal leader. In my line of work, that’s a problem.
I learned quickly, though. During the gold-medal game, which I also watched with Zach, Trudeau again watched alongside us. But this time, as the clock counted down to another win for Canada, I left the scene. I wasn’t part of the ensuing festivities — which, again, the media dutifully recorded. I was sad not to be able to share that golden moment with my son, but we both understood the necessity of my buggering off.
The fact is, I’ve found myself in these complicated circumstances tons of times over the years. Two decades ago, my mother, Marnie, was chair of Atomic Energy of Canada Limited, which developed the CANDU nuclear reactor. Did it mean that every time we discussed nuclear power on The Agenda, I would be obliged to say so in the interest of full disclosure? My mother also chaired the Ontario Council on University Affairs in the 1980s. Greg Sorbara was the minister of colleges and universities at the time. Should I have mentioned that connection every time we had Sorbara on the program over the years?
Or how about my son Teddy, who, when he was 12 years old, volunteered for Christine Elliott’s first run at the Ontario Progressive Conservative leadership. Should I mention that every time Elliott’s on the show? My son Henry works for Senator Frances Lankin. Every time she’s been a guest on The Agenda, I’ve said as much. That one seems obvious. My wife, Francesca Grosso, used to be director of policy for Tony Clement when he was Ontario’s health minister two decades ago. Every time I interviewed Clement, we mentioned that, too. Again, a no-brainer.
But what if the connection is a little less clear? Over the years, my daughter, Giulia, has canvassed for candidates from all the major parties. The Greens, too. I’ve never mentioned, when we’ve had partisan discussions on TVO, that my daughter has done this.
Giulia also volunteered to go door-knocking for Toronto city councillor Josh Matlow during the 2018 municipal-election campaign. Matlow has been on The Agenda since then, but I never mentioned the connection. Should I have?
MPP Paul Miller was just ejected from the NDP caucus at Queen’s Park, and the party’s leader, Andrea Horwath, has refused to let him run for the New Democrats in the upcoming provincial election. Miller is my cousin. As I sit here writing this, I have no idea what precipitated his ouster. While I’m concerned about what’s happened with my cousin, I’m also worried that New Democrats will think my family ties to Paul will compromise my ability to cover the NDP fairly.
Complicated, eh?
But the mother of all complicated situations arose just this past week, with Brampton mayor Patrick Brown’s entry into the federal Conservative leadership contest. The relevant context here is this: My wife twice supported Christine Elliott’s bids for the PC leadership. But when Brown defeated Elliott in 2015, he asked my wife to be an unpaid adviser to the Tory campaign and to help write the health-care planks for the party’s 2018 election platform, called “The People’s Guarantee.” She volunteered dozens of hours co-chairing stakeholder meetings to ensure that myriad groups would be onside with the party’s recommendations. It was clear that she was pleased with her efforts and pleased that so much of it had ended up in the platform. Health-care policy is her life’s work.
However, in January 2018, when the PC caucus forced Brown out, the platform bit the dust — and so did my wife’s involvement in the campaign. She watched the ensuing election from the sidelines; she told me she was convinced that the new leader, Doug Ford, wanted nothing to do with her because of her association with Brown.
(I didn’t tell her this, but it actually simplified my life: it meant I could cover the 2018 election without any apparent conflicts with the Tory campaign).
Francesca’s fears about being ostracized turned out to be unwarranted: after Ford won the election, she continued to provide free advice to several ministers who sought her out.
However, what I’ve just learned is that Francesca’s involvement in writing Brown’s 2018 tell-all memoir, Takedown, was a lot more significant than I’d assumed. She concealed her involvement in the book because, she says, she was again concerned that she’d be excluded from having a role in government health policy. I’ve now discovered that Francesca ghost-wrote the whole book, something she didn’t tell me while she was involved in the project.
If you think that strains credulity, consider this: Because our worlds often intersect — The Agenda covers Queen’s Park a lot, and Francesca is a consultant to stakeholders in the health-care system who deal with Queen’s Park — we’ve had a pretty simple practice over the years. She doesn’t ask me about upcoming shows or columns that might have an impact on her world, and I don’t stick my nose into her business, even though I’d love to.
There are days when I’ve walked by her office at home and could clearly hear her say, “Well, Minister….” Yes, I’d love to be a fly on the wall during those conversations — but I just keep walking. Because that’s the only way these things can work. Her clients need to know that she’s not blabbing to her journalist-husband about their business, and my bosses need to know that she’s not proofreading my columns, including this one. She’ll read this when it appears on our website and not one second before. I’m sure she’d have loved a heads-up on what I’m revealing here, but that’s not how our arrangement works. And we know plenty of two-career couples who find themselves in the same circumstances and have the same walls in place. That’s just the way it has to be.
Anyway, since Brown got into the Conservative leadership race, I’ve written a couple of columns about him. At first, I didn’t think to disclose Francesca’s previous involvement with Brown in those columns. After all, she’s not involved with his current campaign. Her previous engagements are four years and more in the past. Should I have mentioned all that?
Now, with the revelation that she ghost-wrote his book having gone public, you’ll notice that those two columns include a paragraph pointing out her previous volunteer and literary efforts.
Does this mean that, when The Agenda attempts to secure interviews with the Conservative leadership candidates, I’ll be disqualified from interviewing Brown? Frankly, I don’t know. I did do interviews with Clement back in the day when my wife was his employee. Disclosure seemed enough back then. Is it still? Have the yardsticks moved?
One thing I do know: I’m proud of TVO for letting me write this column. It raises uncomfortable issues, but, for goodness’ sake, that’s what we do: raise uncomfortable issues and encourage debate on them. There are, after all, plenty of other people who work in and around politics and media who have much more blatant conflicts of interest and are content to keep them in the shadows.
Four decades in journalism has given me the chance to meet Ontarians from all walks of life, many of them politicians. I’m lucky to have met so many interesting people, and I strive to make sure that my journalism is not swayed by these connections. That’s why I’ll make sure that, when the situation demands it, you’ll know what I know about any potential conflicts, real or perceived.
I’ve always liked the phrase “sunlight is the best disinfectant,” and with this column, I’m trying to let the sun shine in.
Correction: An earlier version of this article stated that Zach Paikin ran for national policy chair of the Liberal party in 2014; in fact, he ran for the Liberal nomination in a Hamilton riding. TVO.org regrets the error.