Note: Transcripts may contain errors. If you wish to re-use all, or part of, a transcript, please contact CBC for permission. Please check the corresponding audio before quoting in print. Copyright © CBC 2017

The AIH Transcript for November 13, 2017

Hosts: Carol Off and Jeff Douglas

STORIES FROM THIS EPISODE

Prologue

[Music: Theme]

CAROL OFF: Hello, I'm Carol off.

JEFF DOUGLAS: Good evening, I'm Jeff Douglas. This is As It Happens.

[Music: Theme]

JD: Tonight

CO: No way in, and increasingly no way out. The far reaching crisis in Yemen deepens after a coalition led by Saudi Arabia closes the country's borders. And even at the blockade is eased, the tension won't be aftershocks.

JD: Aftershocks. A powerful earthquake near the Iran-Iraq border kills hundreds of people, injures thousands and leaves tens of thousands without shelter.

CO: An alleged offender’s many defenders. After more sexual misconduct allegations against Senate candidate Roy Moore today, GOP leaders retract their endorsements. But Republican voters in Alabama won't.

JD: The Book of Revelation. After being raised in a house of secrets and silence, musician Tom Wilson finally discovered the truth about himself. Tonight, he joins Carol to talk about his new memoir, “Beautiful Scars”.

CO: Frozen without their tracks. After a deadline comes and goes, the federal government gears up to sue an American company for failing to fix their railway to Churchill, Manitoba — the northern community's lifeline.

JD: And straight-up applies to what you'll serve and where you'll serve it. There is a job opportunity for a bartender way up near the Arctic Circle at a remote hotel with a ghost. So come winter, it'll be kind of like you're in “The Shining”, but in the dark.

JD: As It Happens, the Monday edition. Radio that serves beer, wine and spirits and spirit.

[Music: Theme]

Back To Top »

Part 1: Yemen blockade, Roy Moore allegations, Yukon bartender

Yemen blockade

Guest: Shane Stevenson

JD: It was hard to imagine how life in Yemen could get harder. But those who have turned the country into a battlefield have, once again, found a way. Thousands of people have died over years of fighting. A cholera epidemic is getting worse by the day, and millions face the prospect of famine. Then, last week, Saudi Arabia and its allies in Yemen closed the country's ports to outside aid. They were responding to a missile attack on Riyadh. The Saudis blamed Iran, which backs the Houthi and Hezbollah fighters on the other side. Today, the Saudis promised to begin re-opening ports, but a leader of the Houthi rebels warned that the doors to peace may have already closed. Shane Stevenson is Oxfam's country director in Yemen. We reached him in Sanaa.

CO: Mr. Stevenson, Saudi Arabia told the United Nations today that it was, quote, “taking all possible measures to alleviate the suffering of people in Yemen.” What have those measures — those claims — looked like on the ground?

SHANE STEVENSON: As far as we’re aware, the Saudi oppend the port of Aden, and it’s now receiving bulk cargo into there. And also, Mocha and Malacca ports along the south side. Unfortunately, the airports in Sanaa and Aden aren’t open at the moment, which is quite disappointing. The main port of Hodeidah, which is where the rice and wheat and the sugars and the commodities come into Yemen, is still closed.

CO: What are you up against in trying to help people? As an aid agency trying to help people in Yemen?

SS: Oh, it's unfathomable. It really is hard to describe. It just comes from every direction. Every week, we're out here trying to support the people of Yemen. We come across more and more difficulties, more and more impediments. But we’ll keep trying. At the moment, the biggest issue that we have is that the fuel has stopped coming into the country. The streets are quiet. The gas stations are empty; they're closed up. And the worst thing is that a lot of the water is pumped from boreholes, and they need diesel to fuel the generators. And if they haven't got clean water then that leads to a breeding environment for disease like cholera, and it's also some reported cases of diptheria. But imagine going to a hospital and there not being any diesel fuel for the generators. It’s just everywhere you look; there are things that you just can't even fathom, I come from the U.K., in everyday life. And they’ve challenges, after challenge, after challenge.

CO: And how much worse was it after this latest blockade that has now been partially lifted?

SS: There was intensification of airstrikes in some of the areas in the north of Yemen. So we had to restrict where we could do things. We readjust and were able to re-implement our programs. But with the exchange rate increasing by 5 per cent in October, and already another 5 per cent in November, and that's going to be liquidity issues as well as money doesn't come in and the markets will collapse. And even if the port of Hodeidah does open tomorrow, the impact of one week of not having supplies coming to country is going to be felt in the next few months. Our operational costs are going to increase dramatically as the fuel costs jumped from about 5,000 riel for 20 liters up to 12,000 riel on the black market. So that's over 100 per cent increase. And I think people will be hording fuel, so there'll be less and less available because they'll be preparing for the future of uncertainty.

CO: This war in Yemen has been described as being the most underreported war in the world. And yet, we're seeing so many civilian deaths. Sixty per cent of the deaths in the war have been civilians. You have the world's largest food security emergency, twenty million people in need of humanitarian assistance and this cholera outbreak. And now, you’re saying diptheria as well. What are you and your colleagues worried will happen if you can't at least get this fuel soon? What is the immediate crisis that you see on the horizon?

SS: So just to take up your first point, I've been working on Oxfam's Yemen program for two years and I've been doing interviews and we’ve been doing articles in the paper. We've been lobbying parliaments in Brussels and within the U.K. And in the UN in Geneva and we have representatives in the UN in Washington. And we've been banging and banging on about the crisis in Yemen. And yet, it is underreported. One of the reasons it’s underreported is that no journalists can get in to report the stories; very few and far between. And another reason is that the refugees — we have 3 million people with Yemen, who had to leave their own homes due to security issues — and some of them are living under pieces of plastic and broken bits of wood in the desert. And some of them are living in abandoned buildings. They're not fleeing to other countries, so they're not impacting on the society within the countries around them. The final part of your question is the fuel. I think if we can't get fuel into the country, there’s no point getting food into the country because we won't be able to push the food around. We won't be able to put fuel in the generators to set up the lights in the hospitals. We won't be able to pump the clean water and truck it around in the backs of Lorries around the country. If this is not resolved very quickly then it's going to deteriorate into something I can't even imagine.

CO: And is it your sense that the reason why the fuel is unlikely to get in is because Saudi Arabia is concerned that that fuel will end up in the hands of Houthi rebels?

SS: Of course, there will be concerns. They’ll be concerned about what it's used for and how it will be used. And what we've just always been calling for is for the parties to the conflict to sit down and work out their differences. There’s has been a UN resolution — 216 — that's been on the table for over two years. It hasn't proved to be effective. Tomorrow, what's called “the qint”, so that's the USA, the U.K., Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and a man who is supposed to have stewardship over Yemen and what's happening in Yemen are supposed to meet. And the meeting has being called off. So the accountability in the international community is woeful. And where do we go from here. If the people have stewardship over the conflict here can't sit around the table and start to work out a roadmap for deescalating the conflict then I don't know what will come next.

CO: Mr. Stevenson, will leave it there. We'll see if we can get some answers to other questions. I appreciate speaking with you. It's a quite desperate situation. But thank you.

SS: Thank you. Take care.

JD: Shane Stevenson is Oxfam's country director in Yemen. We reached him in Sanaa. And you can find more on this story on our website: www.cbc.ca/aih.

[Music: Folk]

Peterson update

JD: On Friday's program, we spoke to A.W. Peet, a University of Toronto professor, about a website proposed by another U of T professor, Jordan Peterson. The segment was accompanied by a clip of Professor Peterson himself, description of the proposed site, as well a portion of his previous interview with Professor Peterson on As It Happens. The proposed site would have used artificial intelligence to identify courses with what Professor Peterson called "post-modern Neo-Marxian content." The aim was to discourage enrollment in those courses, which he referred to as "indoctrination cults." Senior faculty at U of T's Women's and Gender Studies Institute, as well as the U of T Faculty Association, spoke out against the proposed site, which they said would create "a climate of fear and intimidation." On Friday, our guest agreed with that assessment. Well, since Friday, Professor Peterson has announced that plans for this website are, quote, “on hiatus.” Yesterday, he tweeted, quote, "I considered building such a website, but put plans on hiatus, as I talked it over with others and decided it might add excessively to current polarization." Unquote. We will continue to follow this story.

[Music: Ambient]

Roy Moore allegations

Guest: Josh Moon

JD: More allegations were levelled against Roy Moore today. But Alabama's Republican candidate for Senate continues to dig in his heels. Last week, the Washington Post published allegations that when he was in his 30s, Mr. Moore pursued sexual relationships with four teen girls, including a 14-year-old. Today, a fifth woman stepped forward, alleging Mr. Moore sexually assaulted her. At a press conference this afternoon, Beverly Young Nelson recalled when Mr. Moore gave her a ride home from her waitressing job, she was 16-years-old at the time. A warning: what Ms. Nelson says is disturbing.

SOUNDCLIP

BEVERLY NELSON: I thought he would get on the highway. But instead, he drove to the back of the restaurant. He stopped the car and he parked his car in between the dumpster and the back of the restaurant. I was alarmed and I immediately asked him what he was doing? Instead of answering my questions, Mr. Moore reached over and began groping me. I tried to open my car door to leave. But he reached over and locked it so I could not get out. I tried fighting him off, while yelling at him to stop. He began squeezing my neck, attempting to force my head onto his crotch. At some point, he gave up. And he then looked at me and he told me — he said — “you're just a child, and he said I am the district attorney of Etowah County. And if you tell anyone about this, no one will ever believe you. The day after Mr. Moore assaulted me, I called the restaurant and I quit my job. About two years later, I told my younger sister what Mr. Moore did to me. Before I married my husband, John, I told him what Mr. Moore had done to me. My husband and I supported Donald Trump for president. This has nothing whatsoever to do with the Republicans or the Democrats. It has everything to do with Mr. Moore sexual assault when I was a teenager.

JD: Beverly Young Nelson, at a press conference today. Ms. Nelson alleges that Alabama Republican Senator candidate Roy Moore sexually assaulted her when she was 16-years-old. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said he believed the accusers, and he urged Roy Moore to drop out of the race. In Alabama, Mr. Moore's support is stronger than ever. Josh Moon is a political columnist for the Alabama Political Reporter. We reached him in Montgomery, Alabama.

CO: Josh, what impact will these latest allegations have on Roy Moore's popularity in Alabama?

JOSH MOON: That is a difficult question to answer. And it shouldn't be. I understand, and I understand how hard it is for people outside of here to kind of fathom that. But Roy Moore is a unique candidate for office in that he has long been on this island kind of out by himself. He has his own brand of supporters, who have stuck with him since his early days of putting up the Ten Commandments in his courtroom in Gadsden. That drew some attention leading to his first eviction as chief justice from the Alabama Supreme Court. And you know he turned that into basically a profession.

CO: But as you point out, I mean what we've just heard is deeply disturbing — this testimony. She had evidence. She showed this yearbook of hers from when she was in school, and Roy Moore wrote something in it for her is saying “love, Roy Moore”. There's substantial allegations going on here. And yet, that will not shake voters in Alabama you feel it's unlikely that will change their mind?

JM: Not all voters. But there are a hard line of Roy Moore supporters. They would literally drink the Kool-Aid if he handed it to them. And they're going to stick with him. And that's the base of support that Roy Moore basically counts on in each election that he runs. And that's why he is where he is in this particular Senate race because the turnout in Alabama for these races has been somewhere between 10 and 15 per cent of registered voters. They're going to show up to the polls and vote for him. And they're going to believe him when he says that all these women are lying and none of it is true. They're going to back him up, and you can already see it happening. Why is it taking so long? Why are they doing this now? It's obviously politically-motivated. They're picking these people apart, despite the evidence and despite the facts.

CO: There was an opinion poll last week in Alabama showing that 29 per cent of people were now more willing to vote for Roy Moore in light of the allegations that were out at that point, which was from the Washington Post story that had the testimonies of four women, but had been teenagers, including one 14-year-old, who described the sexual allegations against Roy Moore. But people seem to be even more inclined because of it. How is that?

JM: That 29 per cent I think that's about his baseline of support. And I believe that what this has done to him here is kind of eroded steadily. The people who were going to hold their nose and vote for Roy Moore because they couldn't bring themselves to vote for the Democrat, or wanted to vote against the Democrat, I think those people are now not necessarily going to vote for Doug Jones, his opponent. But I believe they're staying home.

CO: There are 53 pastors in Alabama who apparently signed a letter today supporting Roy Moore. You have an extraordinary number of Alabama Republicans who even stand behind him if their stories are true. One of them compared the story to that of Mary and Joseph. This is the state’s auditor Jim Ziegler. That Mary was a teenager when she was with Joseph having Jesus. And that's another defense of Roy Moore. What can you tell us about this religious-based support?

JM: “The Bible Belt” is a you know it's a true descriptor. It leads in way more than it should. And it has been used traditionally in this state to keep us in this perpetual state of poverty and corruption that takes place in Alabama government. You know if you just look at look at the last election cycle here, we have, of course, Roy Moore, who was removed for the second time as chief justice. Our house speaker was convicted of a dozen ethics violations. Our governor was convicted of campaign finance violations and booted from office. So corruption is not something that is foreign to us. And these people come to power and have used the Bible and this moral holier-than-thou sort of approach to get themselves elected. And we continue to fall for it. But they preach this you know this Oh, it you if you let Doug Jones go in right now, there's going to be abortion and an abortion clinic on every street corner, you know? And these are the sorts of things that have led people down this pathway of almost treating elections as though they are games to be won by one side or the other.

CO: But at the same time, you have so many Republicans who are condemning Roy Moore. We have Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who thinks Mr. Moore has to leave the race. He said he believes the women who have come forward. This is before we heard the woman who came forward today. So does that have any effect on Alabama if the Republican Party is saying this doesn't pass the smell test?

JM: No, no, because you know if you recall it was the Republican Party, including the president vice president, who were backing Luther Strange, Roy Moore's opponent in this primary and special election. And despite all of that, Roy Moore pretty well you know smacked him down. Alabama voters have kind of traditionally bucked that national we're going to kind of tell you who to vote for sort of thing. And so they're not going to pay much attention to the national party.

CO: OK just finally, the most bizarre turn of all in this story is that this has somehow led people to throw their coffee makers off of balconies. Now can you take us through that turn?

JM: Well apparently, Sean Hannity of FOX News was a backer of Roy Moore’s story here. Went to some great lengths on his show on Fox to support Roy Moore's position, and said something to the effect of that all of these people say that the acts were consensual — forgetting, of course, that one of them was a 14-year-old, who said completely opposite. After that, Keurig, the brand of coffee makers there, decided to pull their ads from Sean Hannity Show. And this somehow got out into the Twitter sphere. You know people started chucking their Keurigs in protest off of balconies, which I can only imagine the Keurig people were pretty happy about because this is going to lead to the purchase of more Keurigs.

CO: All right. Josh, we’ll leave it there. I appreciate speaking with you. Thank you.

JM: Yes, Ma’am. Thank you.

JD: Josh Moon is a political columnist for the Alabama Political Reporter. We reached him in Montgomery, Alabama. And we have posted more on this story on our website: www.cbc.ca/aih.

[Music: Jazz]

Yukon bartender

Guest: Stan McNevin

JD: If you can mix a drink and you don't mind a little isolation, or a lot of isolation. Stan McNevin has a job for you. The Eagle Plains Hotel sits roughly 35 kilometres from the Arctic Circle. It's the only restaurant and bar for miles. And it's looking for a bartender. Now, yes, it can be a lonely job. And you'll have a couple of other duties, including fire prevention and monitoring traffic. But if you're comfortable with that stuff, and with the ghost, you should apply. Oh yeah, there's a ghost. Stan McNevin is the owner of the Eagle Plains Hotel. We reached him in Eagle Plains, Yukon.

CO: Stan, what does it take to be the right candidate to work at the Eagle Plains Hotel?

STAN MCNEVIN: Oh, I think you’ve got to be a very resilient person and enjoy the high Arctic. We're a very isolated lodge. The closest community is Dawson City in the Yukon, and they’re about 400 kilometers south. White Horse is about 1,110 kilometers. So they better enjoy their own company and oh, have a certain self-determination I guess.

CO: And they should like winter.

SM: And they should like winter. Yes, we're just south of the Arctic Circle here. So yeah, winter is definitely a prevalent season for us.

CO: What's it doing right now?

SM: Oh, we're in the middle of a blizzard here. Winds aren't too bad, but we're getting fairly heavy snows. They just reopened the road again. I don't think it will stay open all day because of the storm.

CO: And this is the Dempster highway — the famous Dempster highway?

SM: That is the one and only, yes.

CO: Now, so along with snow, what kind of patrons should people expect if they were working as the bartender at the Eagle Plains Hotel?

SM: Well, in the summer months, it could be anybody from anywhere in the world. We get a really interesting class of clientele. People that are well-traveled, we’ve seen motorcyclists that started in Patagonia and want to get to the Arctic Ocean. Cyclists, we had a young guy here this summer, and he was cycling from coast-to-coast-to-coast with him and his father. And they were doing it as a fundraiser. We get Europeans and Africans. Yeah, it could just come from anywhere. We had a fellow here from JPL last season, and he worked on the Mars rover program. I was kidding him and I was wondering if he was scouting this location for a training center.

CO: And I understand you get some crazy Welshmen?

SM: Yes we do. There's really kind of a cool bunch of folks. They come over and they put a foot race on between Eagle Plains and Tuktoyaktuk every February-March. But they have to carry all their own gear and food, and they're on foot. They generally pull a sleigh behind them, and they'll race under just about any condition. It's been crazy. 40 below — 50, 60, 70 km winds up at the border that type of thing. So yeah, they're crazy Welshmen.

CO: OK, but so it sounds busy. But other times when you'll be the lonely bartender in there?

SM: Well actually, right now, we're serviced by two ferries to the north of us on the Peel and the Mackenzie River. And they pulled a series about a week-ten-days ago. And until the ice is thick enough that we can actually drive on and the ice bridge is reformed, there is no through traffic. So for a period of November through mid-December, we have no resupply. So we have to have everything on hand: fuels, food, basically everything to run the operation. And then we go through the same process again in May, when the ice is breaking up and high water travels through. And then they can put the boats back in again.

CO: So things get quiet and lonely then?

SM: They can be very quiet and lonely, especially this time of year. You better get in and enjoy cleaning and patching and painting and that kind of thing. That's how we keep busy.

CO: Now, is not just that you're serving drinks at the bar. You got a lot of the jobs you’ve got to do, right?

SM: Oh, yes. The base job is, of course, bartending and food service. But in the evening, we don't staff our shop. So you might be pumping gas. There could be people stranded on the road. So you have to be able to communicate with the Department of Highways, and see if we can't help out in finding them or whatever. We also have our own ambulance here. So if there's a roadside accident or something, you may be involved with helping with that — coordinating helicopters for medevacs, and just that type of thing.

CO: Oh, OK. Just that type of thing. That's just all in the course of a day's work.

SM: It is for the rest of us. So it better be for the bartender to.

CO: Now, OK. On top of everything else, you have another issue don’t you? In that your hotel is haunted.

SM: Well, we do have kind of… what would you call it? An apparition guest here; he doesn't want to go away on us.

CO: Uh huh. Well, I think you should tell us. If someone's listening to and thinking about this job, they might want to know a bit more about this.

SM: Well, his name is Albert Johnson. He's known as “The Mad-Trapper of Rat River”. And back in 32, he was trapping over in the Rat River, and he got in a dispute with some of the local other trappers. So the Mounties were sent out to try and figure out what was going on. And there was a gun battle that ensued at his cabin. And an officer by the name of King was shot there. So they went back, formed a posse and then went back after Johnson. And this happened in January and February of 1932. They chased her for roughly about 40-42 days, and then they finally caught up with them with the help of an airplane. And he was shot just down from us about 20 miles. Now, lives here.

CO: How can you be so sure he does? What's your evidence?

SM: Well, this is all the weird and things like lights going on and off. TVs going on and off, chandeliers shaking, one housekeeper got a pat to the bum one day, and she swore it was Albert because there was nobody else around. And so we've never actually had any sightings, but anything kind of weird and funny goes on around here we blame it on Albert.

CO: And you had a clairvoyant who seems to confirm that there was a ghost at least in your premises.

SM: She was quite convinced. She was up here probably about a decade ago now, and she was convinced that Albert does live here. And he kind of likes to find all the girls and give them a hard time.

CO: I mean your hotel sounds like something out of “The Shining”.

SM: Well, we have been compared to that. There's no doubt about it. I don't see the resemblance myself. But we have been told that more than once for sure.

CO: Have you had anybody responding to your ad for the bartender?

SM: Yes, we’ve had a few. It's actually because of you people. It's actually becoming really fun and interesting.

CO: How many interested parties have you had so far?

SM: Oh, the people from the country. Of course, we’re just advertising locally and into the internet and such. But we're seeing people from Toronto, New Brunswick, Vancouver, a fellow was talking to this morning from Saskatchewan. So yeah, they're applying from all over.

CO: All right. We'll give them the details for where to send in their resume. And Stan, it's good to talk to you.

SM: Yeah, the pleasure was mine, Carol.

CO: Take care. Bye bye.

SM: OK, you too. Bye now.

JD: Stan McNevin is the owner of the Eagle Plains Hotel and he is looking for a bartender. If you're interested, you can apply by mail — email that is — or by calling the hotel. We reached Mr. McNevin in Eagle Plains, Yukon.

Back To Top »

Part 2: Earthquake Iran, earthquake Iraq, Churchill deadline

Earthquake Iran

Guest: Mansoureh Bagheri

JD: It's being called the deadliest earthquake of 2017. Today, we're seeing images of destruction and despair after an earthquake last night near the border of Iraq and Iran. In Iran, officials say the death toll is over 400, thousands more are injured. Mansoureh Bagheri is the Iran Red Crescent Society director for international operations. We reached her in Tehran.

CO: Ms. Bagheri, what are your people telling you? What are they seeing in the regions where they're working? Can you give us a sense of that?

MANSOUREH BAGHERI: They said that the earthquake occurred in very vast area. And two main cities actually are affected. And many villages have been severely damaged.

CO: And when you say villages these are more remote parts. Is it difficult for aid workers to get to the places where you know there may be people who need help?

MB: Fortunately, the roads are open. But as the distance of the villages it needs a little bit actually time to go to the villages from other villages because it is definitely in the vast area.

CO: And now, people spent the night. It's getting to be winter there. And they had to get out of their homes. Do you know have they found any place to stay at this point?

MB: Actually, we have started for emergency sheltering. And they have already distributed many tents among the affected people. But at the relief and rescue operations is still ongoing. But we actually are hoping to finish the first phase of the rescue operation by the end of tonight, or maybe in the early morning.

CO: If you just tell us what you understand what efforts are being made at this point to find survivors in the rubble?

MB: You know 16 response teams and the 31 sniffer dog team and 41 debris removing and 48 emergency sheltering teams and nine emergency treatment teams have been deployed for this purpose.

CO: I know that it's becoming night there; the second night that people will be out of their homes. You said there's tents. What are the conditions in which people will be sleeping tonight — those who don't have homes to go to?

MB Definitely this it is not a simple situation. It is not an easy situation for the people. But we are distributing tents and blankets for each person and their families. In order just too ease the condition. And in the next plan, we are distributing many basic living items.

CO: And so what do you need in the coming days? What do you think needs to be done, and what supplies do you need?

MB: We need the report from the assessment team that are on the ground for the planning for the next phase, especially for the next distribution of items.

CO: All right. We'll leave it there. Ms Bagheri, thank you.

MB: You're welcome.

JD: Mansoureh Bagheri is with the Red Crescent Society in Iran. We reached her in Tehran.

Earthquake Iraq

Guest: Yassin Abbass

JD: And across the border, in Iraq, authorities are also reporting fatalities and injuries. More than half a dozen people are said to be dead, and hundreds injured. Yassin Abbass is the director of the Red Crescent Society in Iraq. We reached him in Baghdad.

CO: Mr. Abbass, can you describe if you can from what you're hearing what are the conditions in which people are living at this point?

YASSIN ABBASS: You know these towns are small and they are all most in the rural areas, surrounded by farms. And there are house damages and that could lead to the injuries. And there are some destruction in certain places like in [indiscernible], which was the worst area affected by the earthquake. We had ten houses completely destructed with that one three-story building also collapsed. And the main casualties came from this city. We have four out of nine of that dead, and also 100 people injured in this town.

CO: Are they still looking for survivors in the rubble?

YA: No, no, all the wounded have been evacuated to the hospitals. And in this region there is a big dam. And there is cracks in the body the dam. Now, the situation is under evaluation. And this is our concern actually because we are so worried about the future, whether this will collapse or not. But we have confirmation that it sounds good now. But we still should be well-prepared for any further damage this can take.

CO: We've heard those reports that there were cracks in the dam, but things look as though they're stabilized. Might you have to evacuate — to try to evacuate people — if that dam looks like it still has structural problems?

YA: There is special sensors implanted in the dam. And once these sensors give an indication of collapse, definitely we will do they give evacuation. Now, we are enhancing our stock in the area. So we will be ready for any evacuation should be done.

CO: You can never be prepared for an earthquake. But because it's an earthquake zone, were there drills? Did people have a sense of what to do when they felt the earthquake?

YA: No, in Iraq, No, no, no. We didn't witness an earthquake for a very long time. And I don't think the people were used to. And they were not prepared for having an earthquake. It's not like Iran. Iran is different. They have frequent earthquakes with high magnitudes.

CO: Last night, people were out of their homes. Are they able to get back into their houses tonight?

YA: Actually, we have only 15 families out of their homes. And they’ve been sheltered by the Iraqi Red Crescent. We erected a tent camp in Sulaymaniyah, hosting these families. That's all what we have. And because they cannot go back to homes since these houses are damaged.

CO: All right. We'll leave it there Mr. Abbass, thank you. I know you've got lots to do, and I appreciate you speaking with us tonight.

YA: Thank you very much. Thank you. Bye

JD: Yassin Abbass is the director of the Iraqi Red Crescent Society. We reached him in Baghdad.

[Music: One very sad piano]

UK Iranian prisoner

JD: It was a highly un-diplomatic slip of the tongue from the UK's foreign secretary. In 2016, Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, was arrested and imprisoned in Iran for allegedly working for organizations trying to overthrow the government. Last week, Boris Johnson told the foreign affairs select committee that the British-Iranian woman had been in the country to, quote, "train journalists." In fact, Ms. Zaghari-Ratcliffe and her family say she was simply on vacation in Iran. And Boris Johnson's comments could make it much more difficult to secure her release. Today, Boris Johnson had this to say in the British House of Commons about his comments.

[sc]

BORIS JOHNSON: The British government has no doubt that Mrs. Zaghari-Ratcliffe was in Iran on holiday, and that was the sole purpose of her visit. As I said in the House last week, my remarks on the subject before the foreign affairs select committee could and should have been clear. And I acknowledge that the words are used were open to being misinterpreted and I apologize. I apologize to Mrs. Zaghari-Ratcliffe and her family if I inadvertently caused them any further anguish.

JD: That was British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, walking back comments that a Briton imprisoned in Iran was in the country to train journalists. Later Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s husband Richard Ratcliffe spoke to the BBC. Here is part of that interview.

SOUNDCLIP

RICHARD RATCLIFFE: I think undoubtedly what has been said by the Foreign Secretary has been used in Iranian media and has been put on the judiciary website. I'm not sure if we formally requested it be retracted yet. So that is having a bearing on our case.

ANCHOR: Do you think the Foreign Secretary should resign. I don't think it's helpful for Nazanin at this point. I don't think it's helpful also in terms of how that looks in Iran for me to be looking like I'm playing politics. It's very important that the Iranians you know to see that this is just a family who are battling to bring Nazanin home. And not get the sort of sense that we're some sort of great Machiavellian power when we’re not.

ANCHOR: And how is your wife Nazanin?

RR: Yeah, it's been tough. And, obviously, now she's on TV in Iran and TV in the UK. There's a level of stress and turmoil and you know accusations that she's a spy that are quite stressful to deal with. And certainly she talks again about feeling like she's on the edge of a nervous breakdown.

ANCHOR: And what is it you can do to reassure her?

RR: Just tell her that I'm doing my best. There's a lot of people that care and who are listening to this. A are people who can on our petition. And you know the government reassures me they’re doing everything they can.

JD: That was Richard Ratcliffe, speaking to the BBC today. British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson apologized to Mr. Ratcliffe's wife, Nazanin Zahari-Ratcliffe, who is imprisoned in Iran.

[Music: Spanish guitar]

Churchill deadline

Guest: Dave Daley

JD: The railway to Churchill, Manitoba is a lifeline into that community. But since May, that lifeline has been broken. Omnitrax, the American company that bought the rail line in 1997, has said that it is, quote, "not economically feasible" to fix. And so, last month, the federal government presented a thirty-day ultimatum to Omnitrax: repair the tracks or we'll sue. As of yesterday, those thirty days have expired. And now, the feds plan to go ahead with legal action. Dave Daley is the President of the Churchill Chamber of Commerce, and a lifelong resident of Churchill, Manitoba. And that's where we reached him.

CO: Mr. Daley, when the railway was flooded back in May, did you imagine that it would still be inoperable now, six months later?

DAVE DALEY: No. I kind of suspected we were going to lose the summer, but I thought for sure when Prime Minister Trudeau was in Winnipeg, and he said that he was going to do everything in his power to have this rail line up and running for winter. I really trusted his word, and thought that for sure that he would have it up and running for us.

CO: And what are the consequences? What's the effect of not having that rail line into Churchill?

DD: Right now, you know rising food costs are astronomical. Gas for vehicles just went up 30 per cent to $2 and 20 cents a liter. Just so people know, just to buy a 10 pound bag of potatoes in Churchill is $22. six pork chops is $36. You know a head of cauliflower is $10. You know so you know people are you know posting on social media all the time. You know I was just at the grocery store and spent $130 on two bags of groceries. So you know the costs are rising you know like big time.

CO: And that is because food — your supplies — came out by rail before?

DD: Yeah, food was always cheaper by rail than by air. So you know it's really affecting a lot of people in the community. You know where we're having a lot of families move away already, and more to come. You know when you're when you're raising children and you have to pay $12 for four litres if milk and like even $17 for a jar of Cheese Wiz. It's getting pretty silly.

CO: It's been a month — 30 days — since Transport Canada threatened to sue Omnitrax. This is the Denver-based company that owns and operates the Hudson Bay railway. And it was supposed to have repaired it or else. But nothing's come of it, is that right?

DD: Well, you know no one is communicating with the people of Churchill. I know that me being the president of Chamber of Commerce, I don't hear anything unless it comes out in the media.

CO: What's the problem? Why can't they get this railroad repaired?

DD: Well, I don't really know. You know I'm not in government. But I know that dealing as a president of a Chamber of Commerce, bureaucracy seems to be at a snail's pace wherever you go. I don't believe that you know Prime Minister Trudeau and his and his ministers I don't know what's on their plate about dealing with Omnitrax. But what I do know is that you know we're Canadians up here in the north. And you know I think that you know a foreign entity like that can hold the whole north hostage over you know 14 washouts on a rail line. I think that's absolutely disgusting and I think that you know that we need action.

CO: What are omnitrax’s obligations as you understand it?

DD: My obligations under their contract with the federal government is that when they gave them the millions of dollars in 2008, that they couldn't abandon this rail line, they couldn't reduce service and they could not not repair the rail line. And they signed it. And the fight between Omnitracks and the federal government is Omnitrax is saying yeah, but you know it's not a profitable line in that it's a utility. And that the taxpayers of Canada should be paying to fix the line. So it's a big battle between the two groups.

CO: But Onitrax, if I understand it, they got 20 million dollars from the federal government. 20 Million dollars from province of Manitoba. And they were supposed to put up the rest of the money to upgrade the rail road. Did that ever happen?

DD: Not as far as us people in the north feel. You know we do not believe that they were maintaining the line properly.

CO: What do you want the federal government to do?

DD: Well, I'd like the federal government to step in and get this rail line fixed. I mean it's a lifeline of all the Bayline communities from The Paw all the way up to Churchill. It was just announced on the news that Omnitrax is taking equipment out of Manitoba here and moving it south of the border. And that they've reduced service even to The Paw and Thompson. You know so I mean they're pulling out. And I think it's time that the government stepped in and realized what's going on here. And take over this rail line and nationalize it again.

CO: But it seems that Omnitrax is blaming the federal government. That is a statement from from Merv Tweed of Omnitrax Canada. He said, “it appears from their collective indecisiveness (being the government) indecisiveness, dysfunction and lack of leadership on this critical issue. That both Canada and the province of Manitoba are content to leave Churchill as a remote, fly-in community for the first time in over 100 years.” So what do you say to Omnitrax?

DD: I think there is a lot of fault on both sides for not dealing with this issue in a timely manner for the people of the North. You know every other country in this world has developed their north except for Canada.

CO: And you say people are leaving Churchill. That the costs of food are astronomical, and no one seems to be taking this on.

DD: Yeah. Well, we're having a town meeting tomorrow night. So we'll learn more of what the mayor knows. So it should be an interesting meeting to see what is being done. The federal government has told us for weeks, and weeks, and weeks that an announcement is coming out this week. And I've been hearing it for the past eight nine weeks. And nothing's been announced. So I really don't know what's going on.

CO: Well, we'll see in the coming days what's going on. If something does happen. Meanwhile, Mr. Daley, I appreciate speaking with you. Thank you.

DD: OK. Thank you very much.

JD: Dave Daley is the president of the Churchill Chamber of Commerce. We reached him in Churchill, Manitoba. And we have also requested an interview with Omnitrax. We will keep you posted.

[Music: Ambient rock]

Sexual robin

JD: Russian agents used it to spread fake news during the U.S. election campaign. Its fact-checking tools, which would prevent further distribution of fake news, are, according to a story in The Guardian today, failing. Oh, and its strategy to fight back against people posting nude pictures of you without your permission is for you to proactively send it your nude pictures. But don't worry, though because when it comes to potentially vulgar avian art, Facebook is on it. Recently, a Scottish artist by the name of Jackie Charley was using Facebook to sell Christmas cards featuring her so-called "art." Ana a warning here for our more sensitive listeners: I am about to describe one of these obscene images. Smack-dab in the centre of the frame is...a robin. Yes, the bird. Its beak is clearly visible, its bright-red chest brazenly exposed. And I hear some of you asking, "Do you mean it's just, like, a colourful picture of a robin?" Yes, that is exactly what I mean and I'm so glad you understand how unacceptable it is! And yet, Ms. Charley says she was shocked when Facebook stepped in. she wrote on her own Facebook, quote, “Hilariously, Facebook has blocked my Christmas cards from being a product in my shop due to their shameful, sexual nature!" And then she shared the message she'd received from the site itself. It said, quote, "It looks like we didn't approve your item because we don't allow the sale of adult items or services." Well, instead of realizing the error of her ways, Jackie Charley writes that she, quote, "can't stop laughing." Even worse, Facebook almost immediately lifted its ban on this brazen adult photograph picture of a robin. So now Ms. Charley's cards, which also feature a stag and a squirrel, can be stumbled upon by impressionable children! Another epic fail for Facebook, which had a chance. A chance to send a powerful message: if you play with bird, you're gonna get fired.

Back To Top »

Part 3: Tom Wilson feature interview

Tom Wilson feature interview

Guest: Tom Wilson

JD: Tom Wilson has built a life around being known, around being heard. Born and forged in Hamilton, Ontario, he helped put Steeltown on the rock-and-roll map as the frontman for the blues-infused band Junkhouse in the '90s. He was one-third of alt-country folk rockers Blackie and the Rodeo Kings, and of the psychedelic trio, Lee Harvey Osmond. His songs have been recorded by artists across the musical spectrum, including Murray McLauchlan, Sarah McLachlan, City and Colour, Lucinda Williams and Jason Isbell. But for much of his life, Tom Wilson didn't really know himself. The story of who he really was, and where he came from, was kept shrouded in secrets and silence. His new memoir, “Beautiful Scars: Steeltown Secrets, Mohawk Skywalkers and the Road Home”, charts his lifelong quest to cut through that silence, and discover his true identity. Tom Wilson joined Carol in the studio.

CO: Tom Wilson, welcome to As It Happens.

TOM WILSON: I'm thrilled.

CO: This is an astonishing book.

TW: Oh my Gosh.

CO: It is, yeah. But you know pop stars — musicians — write memoirs, it's not uncommon. And they're usually writing about all the good times and all the famous people they knew and how exciting everything was. “Beautiful Scars” is not that book.

TW: No, I never considered writing that kind of book. I think it was played around with when I met with Random House at first. And I wanted something that was poetic and real. And in this story of my life and my family and the lives around it, I was the last man standing. So as the last man standing, I had a responsibility to the truth — my truth, or my version of the truth — or the way I saw my life. And that didn't really involve you know hanging out with Bob Dylan or riding Sarah McLachlan around on my shoulders through a party…

CO: Which you did.

TW: Which I did, of course.

CO: But the thing is it is so raw I mean. And so you just lay yourself bare on this one. But how difficult was that for you? And what motivated you to want to reveal so much pain?

TW: I guess I got asked to do that. I always go along with the theory that just because someone asks you a question doesn't mean you have to answer it. Just because someone tells you to do something doesn't mean you have to do it. But sometimes people ask you to do things and at exactly the right time in your life where you think it's right — where you want to reveal yourself. And I did. I revealed basically… you can excuse my French, I showed my arse in public. And the thing about this is when you show your arse in public, sometimes you've got to pull down other people's pants too, you know? And as a result, you know I guess I will come up against some adversaries on this.

CO: George — your dad — is a more mysterious character. Bunny is just larger than life. She's so much part of your growing up. But George's is in the background, isn't he?

TW: Yeah, he was always kind of in the background. But he was still you still in charge. He still had the steering wheel on Bunny. When he spoke, she really listened. And their relationship I think at some point in the book, I say you know Bunny would make these announcements to me as a kid. One of them was. Well, if your father wasn't blind, we wouldn't have stuck together, you know what I mean? Which is a lot of people's stories in marriages. If we didn't have kids, we wouldn't be together. If this hadn't happened, we never would have been together. You know I was just a kid and kind of you know I mostly walked around as a child with my jaw dragging on the hardwood floors of East 36th Street, you know? Because some of the things she said were just madness, you know? With her and her own admittance, and maybe I dragged some of that to this book, you know? Since I do say I was the last man standing, maybe I brought some of her candidness and her truthfulness, you know? I brought those to the page myself.

CO: You do suspect quite early on in your life that while Bunny and George are your parents, that Bunny is not really your mother.

TW: No.

CO: What were your first clues? What were your first indications that led you to believe or first suspect that you were not born to these people?

TW: Well, four-years-old is what Janie told me…

CO: Janie is your cousin?

TW: Cousin Janie, yes. Still, by the way, Cousin Janie. She enlightened me about some of this at the times that I suspected that Bunny and George weren’t my real mom and dad. And I maybe I was just really aware or alive and awake as a four-year-old because I noticed that Bunny and George were older, you know? Bunny had gray hair tied back in a bun, and she always wore an apron. So she was just different. She was from a different era, you know? The other mothers were you know smoking longer cigarettes and drinking beer from the bottle, and they were Hamilton chicks, man, you know? And Bunny was this she always was like French aristocracy. Almost like she came from you know a castle somewhere and landed on 162 East 36th Street. Because she carried herself differently and it was noticed by people — people would complement on how beautiful she was. But she was still older, and she was still from another place. And I knew that as a four-year-old. And I asked her straight out how come all the other kids have pictures of them as babies? How come all the other kids have stories about the day they were born? And how come the mothers and fathers are so much younger than you and dad? And I got shut down several times.

CO: She would hint at… not just hint, she would tell you these are secrets.

TW: There are secrets about you, Tommy that I'll be taking to my grave. So as a four-year-old, once again, jaw on hardwood, bang, you know? I was a mystery. I felt like I was in a mystery novel from a young age.

CO: But during holidays, you would sometimes go to Kahnawake, which is the First Nations and Mohawk community just outside Montreal. What did you understand was your relationship to that place and the people there?

TW: Well, I knew Bunny and George as my mom and dad. And what they really were my great aunt and uncle. So everybody who was related to them I knew them through Bunny and George being my mother and father. So Bunny's sister was my Aunt Isabelle, who was actually my grandmother. Her husband John Lazar, who was also a chief on the reserve, was my uncle John. You know cousins, everybody was somebody else and I didn't know. I'm just going to tell you at this point, that the feeling that I had when I was four-years-old, the feeling that I had going back to the reserve for Christmases as a kid, the feeling that I had as a grown man, the struggle, whatever fists were trying to punch their way through my paper bag. All came to a head during I went to see a movie, a Jim Carrey movie called “The Truman Show”, and everybody was laughing and having a good time. And I couldn't breathe. I had an anxiety attack because exactly how everybody knows Truman story except for him is exactly how I felt my entire life.

CO: So you felt that everybody knew who you really were?

TW: Yes.

CO: But when you would go to Kahnawake, Bunny's sister was married into that community. And so you were there as you thought a visitor?

TW: Yeah, as a nephew.

CO: But you felt a deeper connection?

TW: I felt a deeper connection. I felt a deeper connection to these people I was looking at as my uncle John. It was through marriage in the family. I thought I just look like this guy. I'm still a Hamilton guy, I'm about coffee and cigarettes. But there was a spiritual connection in that house that I didn't feel in other places. I felt more at home in my grandfather's, my Uncle John's home than I did in Bunny and George's home.

CO: When you were in Hamilton, where you grew up, kids would taunt you and they’d call you Indian.

TW: Yeah.

CO: What did you make of that when they were doing that?

TW: I thought they were nuts. You know it wasn't real to me. It usually ended up in some kind of scrap, you know on the church lawn. It usually ended up in some kind of dust up. But yeah, I was thought of right through grade school and into high school that they thought I looked Mohawk, or native, or Indian, whatever it is they wanted to call it. To the point where I was even going one of my very first managers and Hamilton said you know I really think you look kind of kind of like an Indian guy, you know? I think maybe we should call you Indian Tom Wilson, and we're not going to give you a full headdress. We're going to give you one feather.

CO: Yikes!

TW: Yeah, yikes. But you know it didn't resonate with me. I just thought you're crazy, you know what I mean? And it was also the ‘70s, so well the world was insensitive to that kind of rhetoric.

CO: This is As It Happens, and I'm speaking in studio with Tom Wilson, musician and author of “Beautiful Scars: Steeltown Secrets, Mohawk Skywalkers and the Road Home.” And Tom, I want to talk about Steeltown because this is where you grew up. And your descriptions of Hamilton are just extraordinary. But you said that you realize when you're about seven-years-old that you were “poor” in quotation marks. That you had no idea what that meant, but the world came to tell you that you were poor. How did the world tell you you were poor?

TW: Well, it was actually under the moniker of the needy. In grade one, the Salvation Army came into the school and said we're going to collect cans of food, boxes of spaghetti and kraft dinner, instant milk. Things that were easy for people who were needy because people who are needy you know maybe their dads don't have jobs and they don't have a fridge and stove. We didn't know who the needy were, but they immediately became the villain in the schoolyard. You know the needy all of a sudden instead of any racial slurs or any kind of stuff that kids come up with. It was the needy that got chased around and tag became needy and people got beat up because they were the needy ones in the crowd. It was a made up thing. So we collected all this food. And it was in an old Dominion box at the front of the class in grade one. And our teacher you know would kind of coach us along that we need to bring in food. Just like the Salvation Army said, don't forget to bring in your cans of beans and Niblets corn and things like that. So we brought it all in. I brought stuff in. And then a couple of days before Christmas, Salvation Army, these guys in uniform, came to the door and delivered a box to Bunny. I actually remember I remember her telling me to grab the dog. And I remember her wiping her hands on her apron and going to the door and taking his box from these guys and putting it on the kitchen table. And I thought this is great! People are bringing us gifts for Christmas. And I pulled over a chair and Bunny tried to shoo me away, but I was really interested. And I looked in the box and it was like boxes of Kraft Dinner and Niblets corn and you know instant milk. And I realized that we were a family in need, that we were the needy. That all this time what was going on at school that actually I was one of the needy.

CO: Probably one of the most extraordinary stories you tell is when your parents shipped you off to hockey camp.

TW: Yeah.

CO: Without anything.

TW: Without anything, no. Their intentions were supreme, and their love for me was like the same love that I have for my own kids and my grandsons, you know?

CO: You call them warriors.

TW: They were warriors because they had already been through the Second World War. George was a tail gunner in a Lancaster bomber. Most young men who sat in that seat didn't come home during the Second World War. He came home, but he came home a broken man with a major head injury. And he was totally blind. And all the residue that comes along with that you know the bitterness and alcohol and getting off morphine. You know those guys. There was no step group or no get together to talk about your problems for those guys. They just came home and George hit the El Mocambo on Spadina, got himself a stool and did a fair amount of drinking.

CO: And Bunny was a street warrior. She was elbows out.

TW: She was elbows out, you know? She was always there for the underdog, you know? Always there for the Mohawks, you know? Two of her sisters married into the Mohawk community in Kahnawake.

She was always into helping those kids out. And she taught me that. She taught me how to look out for people that didn't have what I have. And to respect what I had.

CO: And there you were at a hockey camp. I just want to read this is part of this story. I'm kind of proud of my eight-year-old self for not backing down from the challenge of going to hockey school without skates or any equipment. Whoever that guy was, I remember him and his bravery. Did it get harder to be brave the older you got?

TW: I found my own way. I figured out that I couldn't deal with the world head on. That I wasn't really equipped to deal with other people's rules like get a normal job, or be successful in school. I had my own way of learning things. And I realized at a young age that I wanted to be an artist and a communicator. And that I could be in control of my world if I could only write it down, if I could only sing it, if I could only visualize it and paint it.

CO: You got hold of a guitar, and that was the turning point for you — to actually have a guitar in hand. How did you get that guitar?

TW: Waddington's Music in Hamilton announced that they had a Chet Atkins. I think it was called Quick Pick and Fun Strum, something like that. But Chet Atkins guitar lessons, where if you went and signed up, then they'd give you a guitar to take home to learn. And it was like bang, you know? That was my way to get my hands on a guitar because I basically was day and night dreaming. I mean I remember walking around I'd walk around the house you know strumming an air guitar, you know? it was an obsession. Staring at the back of Alice Cooper's “Lover it to Death”, you know? And all those crazy, crazy looking guys in that band, Dennis Dunaway and Michael Bruce with these SGs, you know? I think I called it an electric pack of wolves strapped around their necks, you know? So the dream of the guitar was overwhelming to me. And so I just went down and borrowed a guy on the street. I borrowed his ID and went down and gave a fake address and went to the first guitar lesson and walked out with that guitar. Pretty well never came back.

CO: You stole it?

TW: Yeah, for sure. I stole it on an HSR bus. I took the bus down to Gore Park. Obviously, I was overwhelmed with this idea of a guitar that I didn't really have a plan. It was like who steals a guitar on the HSR bus, you know?

CO: Well, but you also were inspired by the music — the records — your mother brought home that she had shoplifted.

TW: Yeah. You know she was just looking out for me. There's one thing about Bunny shoplifting that I sure don't want it to be the point that defines her. As a reader, hopefully you didn't see it that way. But yeah, she used to pick me up records the Zeller's Mohawk and Upper Sherman Avenue. And she obviously ran in. I can only picture this, right? But I imagine her running in there and just grabbing whatever she could and running out to her Austin Mini and driving home. Because when I got home from school, she'd be there and she never hands behind her back. And it would be like pick a hand. I’d say OK, Mom, Right hand. She’d take out it would be like Black Sabbath “Sabbath Bloody Sabbath”. I said wow, thanks Mom! That's great. And say OK, what about the other hand? I said OK, let's see other hand. Pull out the other hand it was like the first Captain & Tennille record, right? Like these things didn't make sense, you know? I ended up with Bob Dylan's “Blood on the Tracks” and the first Donny Osmond record, you know? And a Frank Mills instrumental album and a Leonard Cohen record, you know? So she was just grabbing whatever she could, you know? But that was you know she was in there swinging for me, man. She was in there swinging. And you know what? You could put her down on the floor and she'd still be kicking and scratching and biting and fighting for me. I think at the end of the book, I say that these people: Janie, Bunny and George, they gave me a fighting chance. And I don't even know if I'm paraphrasing myself, but you can't ask for much more than that in life.

CO: We have Tom Wilson in studio here at As It Happens, founding member of Junk House, Blackie and the Rodeo Kings and Lee Harvey Osmond. And now, he has this book “Beautiful Scars: Steeltown Secrets, Mohawk Skywalkers and the Road Home”. And we could have a whole conversation about your music career, but as you built your career, and wrote the music, and toured, and became a dad of two kids. You were struggling weren't you? And as you reveal, there was a time you went right into the ditch. I just want to read that moment. I'm sure a very painful time for you. But you write. I was a monster and there was nobody to destroy me. No mob to storm my castle with pitchforks and pots and pans and fiery torches. No one brave enough to stop me from what I was doing. I was on my own. And I think I may have wanted to die. But I was too afraid to just cut my wrists. And I was too dramatic to let the pageantry of it all go unnoticed. So I just marched on. What happened?

TW: Well, I guess you know you get to the bottom, or you think you are at the bottom. And then you look down and you realize you've got a ways to go. It just everything ran its course, you know? Alcohol and cocaine heroin and waking up with strangers just got tiring. I think it outgrew me, or just went past me. I don't know. Maybe I switched lanes. There's all kinds of metaphors I could use, but it just ended. And it just had to end because I probably would have been dead from that lifestyle. I didn't know how to take care of myself I guess. And the book is in your hands. Well, the book is still being written for me. And there's still things that if I open a page I start to realize about myself — that I as much as Bunny and George loved me, they couldn't equip me to take care of myself in that way.

CO: But how much of it was it because you didn't know who you were?

TW: Most of it. The struggle of not knowing who I was, or where I was from, not really knowing who my father was, it being evident and nobody really telling me; people keeping the lie up. I was 53 when I found out that Bunny and George weren't my mom and dad. And in my 50s, as a man, I had finally stopped trying to be you know John Wayne or Johnny Thunders, you know? Or Neil Armstrong or you know I stopped trying to be all the things that you try to be when you don't know who you are, you know? I discovered that I was a Mohawk man. And after writing this book, I realized I was born a Mohawk baby. And 53 years later, I'm 58 now, I found out I was adopted. In my 50s, I became a Mohawk man. So there was this giant gap between being born a Mohawk, and becoming a Mohawk, you know? Again, there was a rebirth, and there is a certain amount of comfort that goes along with that too.

CO: Do you think things would have been different if Bunny had told you that from the beginning?

TW: Yeah. Yeah, but Bunny was protecting me. It's not an easy road being a Mohawk in this society, you know? There's challenges that go along with not being a white guy. She knew about it and she was trying to make an easier life for me I guess.

CO: What would you change if you could?

TW: Nothing. I think that I become the man I'm supposed to be. There's nothing to change. No offense to that question, I can't live in that la la land. Everything is way too real. I just want to say that about the book continuing to write itself. When I was born, I was put into an orphanage. And then I was in a foster home in Hamilton — the Miller family. I did an article that came out in the Hamilton Spectator and I actually talked about that that I was adopted in a foster home with the Miller family. And the next day, a letter came to the Hamilton Spectator and it was sent to me. Hello, I'm so-and-so Miller, and I'm the daughter of so-and-so Miller. And we remember having you in our home. And so I'm going to go meet Mrs. Miller, who had me in her foster home, who raised me for the first year of my life and whose heart broke when I was taken out of that home. So my point is that even though, like I say, you hold the book in your hands, there’s still things coming at me that have to do with this story.

CO: Tom Wilson, it is a remarkable story. And you have been very generous to share it in this book. I'm sure it's very painful and you say there's still more of this story coming out of you.

TM: Yeah.

CO: But I think part of it is coming out of you in your music and I saw you come in here with a guitar.

TM: Yeah, I guess that thing's been following me for the last 45 years. It's not the guitar I stole from Waddington’s. But it is still a guitar.

CO: It would be great if you could play something for us.

TM: I'd love to do that for you.

[Music: Beautiful Scars by Tom Wilson/ folk]

Back To Top »

Provide Transcript Feedback

CBC would like to acknowledge the support of the Broadcasting Accessibility Fund.

November 13, 2017 episode transcript

More Stories Like This