It is a painful duty for me, once again, to take issue in these pages with the Globe and Mail. Because of the competition between these newspapers, there is a natural element of rivalry. But that has never diluted my acceptance that the Globe and Mail is an important and distinguished national institution. (I was a founding columnist with its future editor William Thorsell in the ROB magazine until my late friend Norman Webster genially fired me on Christmas Eve, 1997, because of my role in the founding of the National Post). I have had many friends there over many years including in the Webster and Thomson families, which between them have owned the Globe and Mail for about 65 years. In 1979, I joined with the late John Bassett and George Gardner in an effort to buy the Globe and Mail and affiliated publications in 1979 but we were outbid by Ken Thomson. The following comments on that newspaper’s lead editorial on Tuesday, March 12, are accordingly made from a perspective of respectful concern that the Globe and Mail not deviate from being a source of reliable information and enlightened and sensible comment.
