Bev Wake

In support of our book, The Eight, we're excited to announce a live chat with Mike Spracklen the coach who built Canada into the world's preeminent sweep rowing nation. Event will be post next week. Check here for further details.

I fear for the FIFA World Cup

The Public Policy Forum is pleased to announce the launch of the Covering Canada: Election 2025 Fund, a non-partisan philanthropic initiative aimed at supporting small- to medium-sized media outlets in their coverage of the 2025 federal election.

Tough one today for many of us with the passing of Ted Wyman, a long-time friend and colleague. Indulge me, if you will, with a quick story that highlights some of the qualities that made him such a good buddy… A few years ago when I was still at the Freep we were both on a Jets trip. The early travel mornings and late nights had caught up to me and I was whipped when we landed for a game in LA. My plan was to just soldier on through the day and then pack it in early. Of course, with Ted as your winger that plan was scrapped instantly. He insisted we go for a walk down to a nearby beach and that we should ‘stick our toes in the sand.’ He later twisted my arm — it didn’t take much — for me to suck it up and join him for dinner and ‘maybe one beer.’ We ended up at a bar until closing, spending hours talking about music and picking our all-star bands, favourite concerts, etc. The bartender was so intrigued by our conversation he joined in and set up a few pints for us on the house. Not too long ago I was visiting with Ted in the hospital when he pulled up photos of that trip of him on that beach with, of course, that wide smile of his. We reminisced, laughed about that night and, in retrospect, how cool it was: a couple of rubes from Winnipeg drinking beers in downtown L.A. while covering the Jets. That’s the Ted I’ll remember. It wasn’t about being the life of the party for him, he just wanted to be at the party. And his greatest traits, at least from my perspective, were his daily ‘can you believe they’re paying us to do this?’ outlook on work and his ability to step back and appreciate how fortunate we were to be able to do what we love while surrounded by friends. I’ll be having a couple for you tonight, Ted. RIP, partner.