Years ago, back when CBC TV still valued debate, I used to appear on a panel show called Counterspin. Its host was Avi Lewis.

Counterspin was on every day, and it had some other hosts, but I don’t remember any of them. I remember Avi, though.

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We’d sit around an elevated table and debate stuff. Usually, we’d yap about the news of the day, from the Left or the Right or whatever. I don’t remember any of that, either.

He was really, really smart. He was charming. He kept the discussion going, and he knew how to make us feel comfortable. He’d challenge us and all that, but he wasn’t a jerk. Even though we all knew he was a New Democrat — his father and grandfather had been leaders of different New Democratic parties — Avi didn’t jam copies of Das Kapital down our throats.

And he was really quick on his feet. Sometimes, I’d tease him. Once, I looked at him and said: “You’re an angry young man.”

Without pause, deadpan, Avi said: “I’m not young.” CBC turned that exchange into a........

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