On GST this week Aug 29 - Sept 2

As a tribute to Jack Layton, George placed a white mustache on his Twitter photo.
He called it trustache and it caught on with people who wanted to pay that tribute to Jack.

Chalk mustaches could be seen on the ground and walls at City Hall as a variation of the mustache tribute.
Jack Layton had been on The Hour and the RMR a number of times and could be encountered around the City of Toronto and across the country at many charity, public and of course political events. He will be missed.
RIP Jack Layton and thank you!

The Strombo Show

Sunday Aug 28

Love songs, sad songs, road songs, songs with feeling. This is the Strombo Show.
Catch it live and commercial free Sunday nights from 8pm to 11pm on the nation's music station, CBC Radio 2, or stream it on Strombo.com.

George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight this week

Monday Aug 29

Bollywood Superstar

Anil Kapoor

Author of the Chimps of Fauna Sanctuary

Andrew Westoll

Tuesday Aug 30 

Author of The Emperor of All Maladies

Siddhartha Mukherjee 

Actor, writer, comedian

Donald Glover

Wednesday Aug 31 

Musical artist

Alice Cooper

Thursday Sept 1 

Pornographer, activist

Larry Flynt

Friday Sept 2 

Canadian comedian

Martin Short

Jack Layton on The Hour

Wednesday February 10 th
NDP leader Jack Layton will be appearing on The Hour in an exclusive TV interview.
I have been in the audience a number of times that Mr. Layton made an appearance on The Hour and today I will make no exception. He is a frank and friendly politician that is always open to talking to the media. He is a very compelling guest.

Politics aside I would say the majority of the media and the public have a great respect for Jack the man. The Hour seems to be the natural place for Jack Layton to come and talk about political and more personal matters.

Jack Layton has recently announced that he has prostate cancer and will be going through treatments now.

Many Canadian families are very familiar with dealing with cancer as it has touched many of us and we are united in support for Jack in his battle with this cancer.

Our prayers and best wishes to Mr. Layton and his family in this time.

Choice, accountability and opportunity lost

Well here we are on the eve of another federal election. As geeky as it may sound, I love elections and all the activities that surround them...the campaigning, the all-candidates debates, the leaders debates, and yes, even the mudslinging and negative campaign ads. I find the science of politics fascinating. For me, as a voter, elections are all about choice and accountability. In the previous election, choices were made and now it is our opportunity to hold our representatives accountable for what they have or have not accomplished. I jokingly refer to this process as "the constituent giveth, and the constituent taketh away". Voting is important business and as citizens we must make informed choices on who we want to represent us.

Politicians have a responsibility to not only carry out the will of the people, but also to engage them. Quite frankly, some are better at this than others. As you know, over the last few weeks, The Hour has hosted three party leaders: Stéphane Dion, Jack Layton and Elizabeth May. Missing was Gilles Duceppe and Stephen Harper. I can understand Mr. Duceppe declining to appear. He recognizes and even stated during the debate, that he knows he will never be the Prime Minister of Canada. His concerns are more regional than national.

But what about Stephen Harper? As much as I have enjoyed the highly amusing up-the-ante antics of Harper Bait '08, I find it disappointing that visiting The Hour did not fit into Mr. Harper's plans. Was it that he could not control the questions? Unlike his opponents, did he not take George/The Hour seriously? Did he recognize that perhaps his own demeanor would not mesh with the tone of the show? Or that perhaps the reaction of a live audience might be unfavourable and not play back well on TV? I could continue to speculate, but only Mr. Harper and his advisors know the real reason.

Regardless of what that reason was, it was an opportunity lost. While the demographics of The Hour are quite broad, I have observed a substantial number of young people in the audience. For many, this federal election may be their first opportunity to vote. Mr. Harper could have used an appearance on The Hour to bridge the gap between the common man or woman and the political elite. Instead he chose not to participate...sometimes silence speaks volumes!

So does humour...I am entitling this diorama "The Interview That Never Was...":