What happened when two old enemies sparred again on TVO

Once fierce rivals on Friendly Fire, Irshad Manji and Michael Coren reunite to reflect on their debates, differences and enduring respect

Interview requests

“Misery acquaints a man with strange bedfellows,” William Shakespeare wrote in The Tempest. This quotation has been recast over the centuries. In particular, a popular phrase that many readers are likely familiar with: “Politics makes strange bedfellows.”

Two Canadian media personalities, Irshad Manji and Michael Coren, are a surprisingly good fit in the modern vernacular. Theirs was a fiery political rivalry that gradually evolved into a real (and unforeseen) friendship.

TVO’s long-running current affairs program, The Agenda with Steve Paikin, reunited Manji and Coren in the studio on May 2. Why? They used to appear together on the show’s predecessor, Studio 2, in a weekly segment called Friendly Fire. It ran from 1992 to 1994 and was conducted in a debate-style format. They would discuss contentious issues and attempt to score points against one another. Subtle shades of CNN’s Crossfire were visible, but it wasn’t a carbon copy.

The social media footprint for Friendly Fire is largely non-existent today. There are some older articles, but little else. While video clips have been posted in the past, there’s currently nothing on YouTube, Dailymotion or TVO’s website. (Something could be buried deep in the bowels of the internet, I readily admit.)

That’s unfortunate. Friendly Fire was a groundbreaking segment in genteel Canada. There had never been anything like it. Their debates got rather intense at certain points. The rising temperature in the studio could occasionally be felt by viewers at home, too.

Manji was once a far-left political activist who worked for the Ontario NDP and wrote speeches for then-federal NDP leader Audrey McLaughlin. She wrote editorials for the Ottawa Citizen, sat on This Magazine’s editorial board, and, as a lesbian and moderate Muslim, spoke out regularly on those issues. Conversely, Coren was once viewed as a rock-ribbed Christian conservative. He authored numerous books, wrote columns for The Globe and Mail, Financial Post and Sun Media, and had shows on talk radio and TV.

Much has changed in 30 years.

Manji became an author and visiting professor at New York University. She’s a senior fellow with the Oxford Initiative for Global Ethics and Human Rights and started the Moral Courage Project. The radical views of her youth have largely dissipated. “I’m not left-wing, I’m not right-wing. I’m post-wing,” she said in a 2006 interview with the Jerusalem Post. While her worldview is still left-leaning, she doesn’t walk in lockstep with today’s left. She’s a fierce critic of radical Islam, and initially supported the War on Terror along with America’s wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Coren experienced a more dramatic transformation. He left the Catholic Church and converted to Anglicanism, and shifted from social conservatism to social liberalism. This included support for same-sex marriage and leaving the pro-life movement. He continues to write books and is a columnist for the Toronto Star and iPolitics. Ordained by the Diocese of Niagara in October 2019, Coren is currently a pastoral associate. Similar to Manji, his association with the left is far from clear-cut. He described himself as a “1950s British Labour Party type” on The Agenda. “I don’t identify with the left as such, sometimes it appalls me,” he continued. “I’m progressive, I’m a Christian. And I think being an authentic Christian demands that you are progressive and you see humanity in everyone.”

Manji and Coren’s recent appearance on The Agenda wasn’t their first time together since Friendly Fire ended. Coren used to host The Arena on the now-defunct Sun News Network, and he invited Manji as a guest on Sept. 23, 2011. It was a pleasant discussion between the two. This was also the case when Manji and Coren sat on a March 4, 2021, panel about free speech on The Agenda.

Nevertheless, host Steve Paikin’s compelling interview with them last week truly stood out. He had co-hosted Studio 2 with Paula Todd and saw Friendly Fire up close and personal. The behind-the-scenes atmosphere was unveiled at last.

“I fully disliked you at the time we were together,” Coren said to Manji. She nodded and said, “Yeah, we hated each other. No, really, that would be fair to say.” The segment’s format was problematic, too. As Manji put it, “The way the show was produced deepened that distrust” because the producer, Wodek Szemberg, whom they both like, “would not let us speak to one another at any point before we came up on set … the fact of the matter is we didn’t know one another as human beings and as individuals … we only knew of one another and as avatars, as caricatures.”

Coren’s response? “That’s very well put.” He revealed another fascinating component. “If I would have said, or you would have said, ‘That’s an interesting point, let me think about that,’ they probably would have said, ‘Cut.’ I’m not blaming anybody, but that wasn’t what they wanted.” Manji was completely onside. When Paikin interjected, “They wanted a food fight?” both of them agreed wholeheartedly.

The respect and admiration that Manji and Coren now have for one another were on full display from start to finish. They see the world from a fairly similar point of view. The points of agreement far outweigh any disagreements. They’ve tamed the once-fiery flames and become good friends.

There’s simply no debating this with these not-so-strange bedfellows.

Michael Taube is a political commentator, Troy Media syndicated columnist and former speechwriter for Prime Minister Stephen Harper. He holds a master’s degree in comparative politics from the London School of Economics, lending academic rigour to his political insights.