I am older than CTV Canada AM.
I’m not telling you how much older.
But what I do remember is this.
I remember Helen Hutchinson and brown bowl cut on my TV set every morning - the same haircut I had and probably my mother had too. I remember Norm Perry’s angular face and laughing eyes behind his glasses. I remember the old retro logo that looked so modern back in the day.
Canada AM was a background soundtrack to my childhood. But it was far, far away, part of a bigger Canada I never knew if I’d know. Growing up in a small town in Nova Scotia, Toronto might as well have been Mars. If I ever got there, it was going to be a long time away, and even if I did get there it was going to be petrifying. Big City People were Important and I wouldn’t know how to act. They’d all get mad at my small town ways. They are VERY BUSY. And they would just have to run around and be busy, because that’s how busy important people act.
But then, 40 years later, there I was walking on set at Canada AM, with all the big city people. And they are very busy, and important. And they are also lovely.
Back up a little. As part of our media coverage for BlissDom Canada, I was on set at Canada AM from 4 am with two other bloggers - Maureen Dennis and Emma Waverman. We sat in on the morning production meeting, camped out in the Green Room, tried to stay out of the way in the Control Room - the heart of where everything happens - and even went on camera.
Yes. I went on camera talking about BlissDom Canada to the country. I still haven’t been able to watch it fully. I cringe at the sound of my own voice; a video will probably give me a coronary. But I talked, and nobody has called to laugh at me, so either they’re very kind or I did OK.
But what stayed with me about the day wasn’t my 4 minutes on camera. What lingered was the warmth, the efficiency, the professionalism.
The team at Canada AM are not only professional, not only completely on the ball, not only serene in the midst of a live national television show. They are also the warmest, kindest people I’ve met in ages.
From the lovely producer Jen to the lovely cupcake wielding Leanne to the so gracious Bev and the uber-stylish and super-sweet Marci to the always friendly Jeff to the uber-efficient makeup artist (it’s no mean feat to cover up 4am undereye bags, let me tell you) to everyone else, everyone was unfailingly.. happy. Imagine working in such a place. Where everyone’s happy.
We were there on a normal morning. No breaking news, no hyperstars. And maybe if something big was happening that morning, the energy would have been different. But even if some breaking news was, well, breaking, I actually think the control room and the hosts and the producers and everyone behind the scenes would still be the same: crazy smooth, crazy professional. 
At the end of the morning, a cameraman came up to me and asked how our morning was. I told him it was fabulous and commented how warm and how together everyone was. He said, we’re here at 4 am. We’re live at 6 am. People don’t want to walk in to crazy, to stress, to yelling. We want to make everyone feel comfortable and relaxed, because you need to make the country feel comfortable and relaxed. If people don’t fit, they don’t stay.
He smiled and walked away.
You create the energy you want to see in the world.
Amen.
Happy 40th, Canada AM. I hope to see you many more mornings to come.
