It’s me. Peter Shurman. An introduction... Or we meet again.

Earl Mann  0:00  
Peter, welcome to the Shurman report. Here's Peter Shurman.

Peter Shurman  0:10  
Well, good to be here. It's been a little while, a couple of years for me. Well, I've been busy, but sitting in front of a microphone and a camera that's been a long, long time. Welcome. It's like riding the proverbial bicycle, I suppose. Here I am. This is a new adventure for me. While I've been around broadcasting for most of my life, a video show like this means learning new ways to say what I want to say and to show you what I want to show you without messing up. And forgive me when I tell you, it's a when I mess up, not only if I mess up, happy to be with you one or two or 1000 people out there in where I live, Ontario, or my native Quebec, or the rest of Canada, the US, where I have so many friends and relatives and I guess fans, anywhere you're listening, if you're watching me in this show, many of you probably do know me. So the question for you is, what's that Peter Shurman going to do this time? And if you and I are just encountering each other for the very first time? Well, this show is about who I am, mostly not every day, just today, so that you'll know what you're dealing with, we'll see what it does when it takes shape. Today, I'm just going to talk to you about what I envision and introduce myself to you. And tomorrow, well, tomorrow, you'll get the full monty. I'm going to be another year older in November, and that makes me 70 something, but I'm definitely going on 40. So who knows what this could become when I say know me, by the way, it means know me by reputation or by my positions on world events, or know me as a former politician in Ontario, or remember me as a talk radio personality. So many different things I've done. I'm none of those things anymore. Hopefully I will be some of those things again, but I have been all of them and a few more. How, for example, did I develop interviewing skills or become comfortable talking with and about famous people or non famous people? That goes back in time to the 70s, when I was a news reporter in Montreal, separatism was the big thing, and there were crises like political kidnapping and the murder of a Quebec cabinet minister whom I happened to know. His name was pier la porte in those days, getting an interview with, for example, the premier Robert borasa was pretty easy compared to today, and he'd actually answer a question that you designed for an answer. And getting to know people, and even friendly with people, became fairly easy. For example, the guy who became premier for the separatist party Quebecois, Rene Levesque, meeting and talking with World figures like Israel's Shimon Peres, also became part of it for me. The first prime minister I ever met was John Diefenbaker, although he was long finished in politics by then, the first prime minister to ever tell me to f off was Pierre Trudeau. But he wasn't the only one. The prime minister who turned me into a conservative and really tapped into my political interests was Brian Mulroney, who he recently lost. Then already a public figure, but not yet in office as prime minister or anything else. I ran radio stations then, and he was on my board, and that brought me to Toronto, eventually to become president of the now defunct standard broadcasting stations. If you're in Montreal, you would, for example, know CJAD and if you live in Toronto, or lived in Toronto. It was CFRB. I got to know Toronto and Ontario pretty well during that period, and afterwards, 15 years of operating my own business, post radio, in communications, and then returning to radio, but this time on the air, talk radio was a soapbox for me, and it led to an invitation to run for Provincial Office from then leader of the PC party, the Progressive Conservative Party, John Tory, I accepted. I ran in Thornhill, north of Toronto, and I was elected. And I spent seven years of my two elected terms in opposition speaking often to media on behalf of my party, or adjusting verbally with premiers Dalton McGuinty and later Kathleen Wynne. Only after that did I return to talk radio, and only after that did I conclude that now, in 2024 if one is under 50 or maybe even 55 you probably pay no attention to radio at all. It's pretty much past its best before date. That's not because there's anything wrong with radio. It was the love of my professional life. Probably still is, but there are so many alternatives now that radio is not the must listen medium it once was, or the box on the counter in mom's kitchen. So here I am going it alone on new media, in this case, a live daily video show, and when I'm not live on the air, a podcast available on all podcast platforms, Apple Spotify, you know the ones. The nice thing is, I can take any position I like on any topic now, but that wasn't always the case. I can also say nasty words, but I won't. Maybe we met somewhere only once, or maybe you're a good friend, or maybe you're a good acquaintance of mine, and have been wondering just. What the Shurman report is going to be, or perhaps you don't know me yet. Well, this is day one, episode one, and that means I'm taking this first segment to introduce myself, or maybe reintroduce myself, and after this, well, we'll forge ahead. No holds barred. I hope you find some reasons to stick with the Shurman report as it launches, and with a little luck and a lot of hard work, that it grows and moves forward, we are swimming in a sea of about 3 million podcasts, so I'm going to have to work at this and I hope I'm up to that job.

Andrea Rooz  5:38  
You're with the Shurman report, daily news, commentary available at Apple, podcasts, Spotify with video posted on YouTube and Facebook. Here's Peter Shurman,

Peter Shurman  5:55  
the character in the movie The Shawshank Redemption. Do you remember that he was named red, and he was played by Morgan Freeman. He was a really old prisoner in this rural prison, and he used the line well, you can get busy living or you can get busy dying, and I think I know my preference. So I'm here on earth for a while longer, and I want to keep contributing, making a difference. And the Shurman report is my way. Success in speaking to people comes from having them like or agree with your take on what's happening in the world. But sometimes it's just the opposite, having them hate what you think or what you stand for. So I welcome everyone, love me or otherwise, if you're in the middle, the middle, though, I call it the mushy middle on things. It's kind of something that won't work quite as well be one place or the other. That's just good advice. Generally, I think anyway, when I was doing radio, I'd often say I loved you, whether you wanted to throw a shoe at the radio or just embrace it didn't matter to me, which was really because you listened either way. If you've happened upon me today, per chance, let me share a few things just to be clear about who I am and what you might expect, they inform my views sometimes, and sometimes they do just the opposite. First, I'm an aging white guy, an aging white guy, and I don't apologize for that happens to everybody. At least everybody goes white, and if you're black, well you become an aging black guy. It gives you some wisdom, or at least, I hope it does. I was born in Canada. I'm a proud Canadian. I'm one of those crazy guys who actually sings, oh, Canada. And my chest swells when I do, and it swells unabashedly. I love our country, but I think it needs some adjustments, all right, so it needs a lot of adjustments, and we'll be talking about that many times. I'm sure in the coming days, I'm not fond of small l liberalism, and I'm even less fond of large l liberals, but I don't fight with anyone over divergent views. In other words, I am myself and well, you do you. I'm Jewish as well, and if you don't care for that, it doesn't matter to me at all. If that's a problem for you, fix it or don't. I believe in the just war being fought by Israel in response to a hideous attack of murder and mayhem launched on peaceful, unarmed Israeli Jews by Hamas back on October 7, 2023 I believe the war will carry over to heavy fighting along the Lebanese border, as we've just been witnessing. We've seen some of that because Hezbollah, another proxy for Iran, is there, goading and now attacking Israel with rockets and fireworks. What did they do last week? What did they do? They killed a bunch of kids, Druze kids on a soccer pitch. Who are the Druze. They are proud Israelis. They're not Jewish. They speak Arabic, but they're not Muslims, and they hit kids for God's sake. I detest the position of our prime minister. Justin Trudeau on this subject, okay, on most subjects, he waves like a weather vane. On the topic of Islamophobia, on the topic of Jew hatred, and he's generally untrustworthy. We need a new leader here in Canada. It looks to me like Canadians will throw him out in the fall of 2025 or sooner, if we're lucky, and an election comes before the deadline. And if anybody knows Jagmeet Singh's number, maybe give him a call and tell him I said that and that you think it too. I do believe in Pierre poilievre, whom I've had the pleasure of knowing for about 14 years. We need him desperately and know he's not Trump or anything like it. He's like everybody else. He's going to have to get in there and learn as he goes. So those are my politics, and this is Canada as of today. What about our downstairs neighbor? What about the US in the United States, given the current cast of characters, I'd vote for Donald Trump, and that was how I felt before he got shot, too. I'd vote for Trump not because I revere him or because I think he has everything right. In fact, I think he's more than a bit crazy, but he's not at all stupid. The alternative is to vote for Kamala Harris and. Presumably she'll have that nomination holding the American levers of power if she makes it through the Democratic Convention in a couple of weeks, her Biden like views will keep her from stepping into situations strongly when needed, as they surely will be sooner, not later. Those positions will keep her pumping out the woke crap that's damaged American kids and their way of life, their way of looking at the world, and it's, by the way, hurt Canadian kids the same thing as because they haven't escaped either, and that's the other main reason why I favor voting for Trump. Yeah, Kamala could be contested and beaten by another aspiring Democrat, but the nomination Biden won during the winter caucuses carries weight. She's the candidate, and what an interesting time in politics and what an unsteady time for the world. So obviously, I'm not a Democrat supporter, a dem supporter generally. As you may have gathered, they come from the left, and the left wants you to think the right is composed of uneducated, lesser beings who embrace fascism and violence, or who hate the environment except for what they can use or sell, and who pass laws for their wealthy friends, not for everyone. That's precisely the opposite to what the right of center people like me stand for. I have no vote in the United States, but I, like most Canadians, realize that we live above an elephant, and it looks up here, and what does it see? Mosquitoes, elephant mosquitoes. That means the person they select down there as President really matters to all of us. I believe in the rethinking of Canada, we have untold and unfathomable riches if we just tap into them. We need to revise our attitude on whether the province of Quebec gets to deny the entire country the jobs and revenues that would come from, say, natural gas and oil pipelines going to special ports on the maritime coast. I believe we can have some opportunities, great opportunities, heading west, and that will mean revising treaties and agreements with Native people, and if they don't like it, well, same thing as Quebec, Canada should be able to declare what's called eminent domain when it benefits all Canadians. And if I led the government here, it sure as hell would work that way. So there's another thing to think about, and we'll be talking about that. I'm a citizen of this country, and it is Canada one country, and we need policies that may upset some people, but in the end, can be so very positive for everyone. This Daily Show, The Shurman report, will deal with two to four topics per episode, and will provide my opinions on them, but we'll be featuring guests too. As of next week, some will be regulars. More on that after I get reaccustomed to using the microphone and again, newly accustomed to operating the video controls, which, believe me, are not easy, bear with me and laugh a little at my technical screw ups, no do overs when you're live. Topics will be far from just Canadian. But since I am located in Toronto, my viewpoints tend to be shaped from this point on planet Earth. The Shurman report will also focus on Europe, certainly address what's going on stateside. And again, since this is about my opinion, you will or you won't always agree. And if it's six or 12 months from now, and we're successful, perhaps we'll open up phone lines and get you to contribute live with your own thoughts. Oh, my God, talk radio all over again. Maybe meanwhile, you can voice mail me, and you can email me. You can listen and watch live at 5pm Monday through Friday on YouTube, X, LinkedIn, Facebook, which are selectable by you through four click buttons at the bottom of my web page. If you're not available at 5pm the Shurman report will be posted to YouTube daily after its broadcast on the web. The audio portion of the program, which is exactly the same, obviously, except you won't have to look at me. We'll post daily to all the podcast sites out there, so you can go to Apple or Spotify or iHeart or your own favorite platform and opt to receive the audio podcast of this show, which every day will, like all podcasts, be available to you and be started and stopped to suit your schedule by you on your smartphone or other device. I hope you have a good time with me, sharing or disagreeing with my thoughts, and that you'll have a good time loving what I'm saying or cursing me out for saying it, either of those things, as I have directly told you, will suffice. If you want to know more, visit the website. It's petershurman.com that's P, E, T, E R, S, H, u, r, M, a n.com, or leave me a voicemail. The button with the microphone on it at the bottom of the web page allows you to do just that. And again, it's petershurman.com, everything about this show will be available on my website. Last time, I'll say it Peter Shurman. Dot com, so welcome to the Shurman report tomorrow, at 5pm we will get busy.

Earl Mann  15:15  
The Shurman report available on Apple, podcasts, Spotify and the video version at YouTube, Facebook and always@petershurman.com thanks for listening to the Shurman report. If you'd like to connect with Peter directly, just go to petershurman.com.