Tom Ludwig photo

Tony Côté at the April 2007 National Representative Council meeting.

20 December 2007

Columnist caught the glory years
of newspapers

CanWest's buyout offer "came at the perfect time," for Tony Côté, who learned last June that he had prostate cancer.

Côté, 60, says "the buyout decision was easy for me. After the cancer diagnosis, I decided that life was too short and I had too much to do."

Having been at The Ottawa Citizen for "almost exactly" 30 years and a total of 35 in the business, Côté says "I have had a really great career in newspapers." When he started working at the Citizen, it was as a crime reporter. He eventually moved on to the news desk and then, about 25 years ago, began his consumer advocate column, Action Line.

"I was lucky enough to start near the end of what I think were the glory years, when money wasn't the end all and be all. Today, everything is dependent on the bottom line and the business seems to be caught in a major identity crisis."

He says that, while his own job was largely isolated from staff cuts and budget issues, "watching the people around me trying to cope with them and seeing morale hit the lows has been difficult."

Côté first became involved with the Ottawa Newspaper Guild (ONG) around 1982 as an at-large member of the executive. He became president of the Local the next year and his national and international exposure started almost immediately. "I was chair of the old Canadian Policy committee at The Newspaper Guild and then the next year we formed the Canadian District Council and I was elected the first president. The CDC eventually became TNG Canada."

He has continued as an at-large member of the ONG executive, is a member of CWA Canada's CanWest Caucus and was usually a delegate to the semi-annual National Representative Council meetings as well as TNG sector conferences and CWA conventions.

Côté says that, when the media conglomerates began to take over, "I think the Guild, and other newspaper unions, blew it by not presenting a united voice to the chains. We are operating in isolation from one another and that is not only sad, it is wrong. CEP (Communications Energy and Paperworkers) and the Teamsters are not our enemies."

Unions, he says, "have to find a way to get young people involved. It seems that today's youth believe that jobs are short term and at the employer's whim."

Côté, who has three grown children and a new partner after losing his wife to cancer 12 years ago, says he plans to write on a freelance basis so will not be leaving the business entirely.

He also plans to continue with his blog, It's only a prostate, right?, that appears on the Ottawa Citizen website. He began writing the blog in September, one week before surgeons removed his prostate and some lymph glands. Since then, his regular entries have kept readers informed of his medical progress, touched on topics that most men are loath to discuss, and addressed others with a healthy dose of levity.

Recent entries describe his gradual return to running. He'll need to get in shape, he says, because he has a goal of running a 10-kilometre race in every province and territory in Canada.

Côté has also been appointed to the Queensway-Carleton Hospital Foundation board and will be involved with fundraising for a major expansion that will house a new cancer clinic and facility. And, he will be getting involved with the Snowy Owl Foundation, an organization involved in AIDS education, awareness and fundraising.

"Somewhere in the midst of all of that, my cottage and woodworking shop beckon," says Côté. "I also plan on travelling to visit friends in India and Croatia, and my daughter in British Columbia."