Sask. talk show host John Gormley announces retirement

Saskatchewan talk show host John Gormley announced he is stepping away from the microphone after 25 years on the airwaves.

His last on-air day will be on Nov. 24 to host his final daily conversation.

The Gormley Show began with the launch of the news talk format in Saskatchewan on Sept. 9, 1998.

He told Global News on Wednesday that this is the right time for him to step away.

“There comes a natural line,” Gormley said. “I’ve got grandkids that I want to be with more and I’ve got other endeavours.”

The talk show host connected with Saskatchewanians, prime ministers, premiers, celebrities and authors. When former U.S. presidents Bill Clinton and George Bush came to Saskatchewan, Gormley joined them on stage as host and interviewer, read a release.

“In many ways, it’s been a chronical of Saskatchewan. Huge stories in Saskatchewan, our centennial in 2005 to the Humboldt Broncos tragedy in 2018.”

Gormley described the job as “a roller-coaster in a time machine,” noting elections, changes in government, and the coverage of 9/11.

“Every morning Saskatchewan gets together and we are going to get caught up on the news. There have been significant events in Saskatchewan…. I look back at 25 years in the time machine and realize it is ending.”

After 25 years on air, he said he has seen media and reporting evolve and change.

“At the end of it, authenticity, being factual and giving people the ability to think of their position and of other positions, I think ultimately that is where we are going to find that saving grace.”

Public policy expert Ken Coates said Gormley made waves across the province and held people accountable.

“John Gormley loves the province of Saskatchewan,” Coates said. “This is an individual who devoted his whole life to the province.”

He said the show challenged people to speak out and gave Saskatchewan residents a forum to speak their piece.

“The Gormley Show provided that interaction for the public at large, the experts, the political leaders so that folks could actually have a dialogue about the province’s future.”

Coates said he had spoken as an expert on the show a number of times dealing with Indigenous issues and Western Canadian economic and political development.

“(Gormley) was prepared to take the conversations in directions that were unexpected, plus the fact that he came to the topics, and still does, come to the topics with a phenomenal understanding of Saskatchewan. He was never speaking for one group. He did not represent a particular ideology or a particular left-wing, right-wing perspective. He didn’t represent an urban or a rural perspective. He just knew all of the different people who made up the constituent parts of Saskatchewan.”

Gormley said his successor will be passionate, a hard worker and innately curious.

“Our new host will have those in abundance with an appreciation of people wanting to be heard.”

The new voice of the show will be announced soon and will take over the airwaves on Nov. 27.

As he exits the show, Gormley said he wants people to remember that Saskatchewan matters.

“There was a long time here where we had sort of convinced ourselves that we were the poor cousin, the little brother, the little sister. That’s not true. This is a province that has always punched way above its weight.”

He said he is speechless when he thinks of how fortunate he has been to sit in his role and hopes to leave a message with the province.

“The message is two words: thank you.”