The 70-year-old Emmy Award winner is profiled in Barry Avrich’s new film “Quality Balls — the David Steinberg Story,” which opens at Toronto’s Bloor Hot Docs Cinema on Friday and airs on HBO Canada and Movie Central on Saturday. He recently sat down with The Canadian Press to talk about the film.

CP: It seems you never had to change who you were throughout your career — is that a rarity in the comedy world?

DS: In those days it was. You’ve got to remember, the comedians before me — Buddy Hackett and George Burns, Milton Berle — they were all Jewish comedians and they couldn’t even keep their names because you just weren’t allowed to be that ethnic. … When I came out of Second City and people started to notice me and I was on Broadway and started to get crowds coming to see me, the agents came around and said, ‘Steinberg? There is no Steinberg who has a television show. You have to change your name,’ and I thought, ‘That’s ridiculous, I’m not going to do that,’ and they said, ‘Well, OK, you’re limiting your career.’ I thought, ‘What’s the point in my career if I have to be somebody else to start with?’ So that wasn’t difficult for me, that’s just who I was.

CP: There’s a standup bit in the film in which you tell the audience that your parents immigrated from Russia and wound up “in a worse place — Winnipeg.” But you must have a real reverence for the city.

DS: Winnipeg is an amazing place. It doesn’t look like much, it’s cold, as everyone knows, and in the summer the mosquitoes are as large as can be. But it was a great place to grow up, especially in the ’50s. Radio was incredible in Canada, so I was listening to stories that I could create pictures of in my own mind, and that, very frankly, became my standup technique. Every piece of material I had, I created a picture that the audience could see, because that’s what I grew up listening to, and that was my idea of great storytelling.

CP: It’s interesting how your pathway into the entertainment world came when you followed a group of girls into a drama class at the University of Chicago.

DS: I was just an adolescent, hormones raging, and I was interested in girls. I didn’t know if they were interested in me but they led me to the University of Chicago theatre and then I met the head of the theatre. But I could talk. I was in the coffee shop at the University of Chicago every morning, whatever was going on, I would talk about it. I had never seen a comedian, I hadn’t seen any plays at that point. … When I got to the theatre and I started to talk that way, one of the theatre guys was from Second City and he said, ‘You’re made for Second City,’ … and that’s how it all started.

CP: And that’s where you started to do your satirical sermons.

DS: I did a lot of characters at Second City but the sermons seemed to strike a chord. They were very original. To be doing anything on the Bible and especially religion in those days, it was bold. I didn’t think of it as bold, I just thought, ‘This is something I know, I’m just going to trade in on it.’ And then when I started to do standup, you need to have something to start with, you have to have a way to talk to the audience, and I at least had these sermons … where you could give me any suggestion of the Old Testament and I sort of knew it, because that was my background. And from there I started to find a little bit of a story … and before long I had an act.

CP: “The Tonight Show” is a big component of this film, as is your friendship with Johnny Carson. You were on his show the second-most amount of times, next to Bob Hope. As the appearances racked up, did you get a sense of what it was doing for your career?

DS: I didn’t have a sense that I was collecting a kind of material that would be remembered or anything like that, but I did love doing ‘The Tonight Show’ because I did have that Second City background. Johnny could call me in the last minute so I could be on with him and he shared in what I did as much as I did. I would throw up a subject, we would both go at it together, and he was an incredible comedian, not just a listening host. … We were good friends, we laughed at the same things, we read the same things, and he was a sort of mentor of mine.

CP: What do you make of the late-night landscape today?

DS: “The Tonight Show” and Letterman and all of that, it’s different because there are so many late-night shows that you don’t have the tension or you don’t see that special guest that you don’t get to see anywhere else, because when you’re promoting something you go on all the shows. So it sort of diminishes from what it was with only three networks to start with, and even when there was cable, Johnny still sort of ruled. It has sort of levelled out. I think they’re all good hosts in their own way.

CP: What do you think of Jay Leno’s term ending and “The Tonight Show” going to New York City?

DS: I think going back to New York is a good idea, actually, because New York is lively and it’s a different atmosphere. L.A. is a little more laid back and you have Craig Ferguson and you have Jimmy Kimmel, you have a lot of shows in L.A. I think it’s a good idea.

CP: Jerry Seinfeld is also featured in this film, asking you about returning to standup, and we see you doing a standup special throughout the film. Is returning to standup something that you’re thinking of?

DS: Yeah, I worked out for a week in La Jolla Playhouse, which is sort of a well-known way in which to go to Broadway. … I’m sort of challenging myself by doing it. I don’t do standup, I never did jokey standup, so it’s just sort of storytelling. … So I’m exploring being onstage again.

___

Answers have been edited and condensed.

The municipal government has released the advisory, which applies to the lower half of the island, after problems at a water-filtration station.

Residents are advised to boil their water for at least a minute, or to use bottled water. They are also asked to avoid brushing their teeth with tap water.

However, tap water can still be used to wash dishes, take a shower or wash clothes.

The city says the advisory was prompted by abnormally low water levels as a filtration plant in the city’s west end, and discoloured water. Tests are being conducted on the water to determine whether it is, in fact, contaminated.

It’s the second major infrastructure problem in the city in less than 24 hours.

The previous evening, the city’s metro system suffered a complete shutdown at the height of rush hour because of a computer problem.

There was yet another glitch today: the city website, which carried the water advisory, appeared to be down.

Vigneault was the 16th head coach in franchise history and has the most wins with 313 in 540 games coached. He was presented the Jack Adams Award as NHL Coach of the year in 2007.

Since he took the job on June 20, 2006, Vigneault has led the team to two Presidents Trophies, a Stanley Cup Final appearance, and six Northwest Division titles. But, with the team being bounced in the first round of the playoffs for the past two years, time is up for Vigneault and the club is looking to go in a different direction.

No replacement coach has been named.

For up to the minute Sports coverage, you can follow us on Twitter @News1130Sports or subscribe to breaking news alerts sent directly to your inbox. We also have sports reports at :15 and :45.

Now one right-leaning think tank feels the Swedes could teach us a few things about universal healthcare too.

The Fraser Institute has long argued Canada has the most expensive universal healthcare system in the developed world.

In a new report, director of Health Policy Studies Nadeem Esmail argues Sweden has some ideas worth exploring to bring costs down.

“The Swedes have activity-based funding, they have privately delivered healthcare services within the universal scheme, and they have cost sharing regimes for universal healthcare,” he explains. “As a result of these key policy differences with Canada, they get more and better healthcare for less money.”

Esmail points out in 2009, Canadian health expenditures were 36 per cent higher than those in Sweden, yet Canadians didn’t have the same access to medical professionals and technologies and endured much longer wait times.

Esmail says Sweden’s universal system is more efficient, thanks to policies like activity-based funding.

“Activity-based funding means paying hospitals on the basis of services provided as opposed to a budgetary basis where we prefund medical care and really disconnect the day-to-day operations of the hospital from the interests of patients.”

He adds Sweden, unlike Canada, is one of a number of countries that allows physicians to work in private facilities, without having to opt out of the universal system.

The eight-time Pro Bowl player announced his retirement on his Twitter account Wednesday. In a statement, he said, “After spending a lot of time this spring thinking about my NFL future, I have made a decision to retire.”

“Although I could continue playing, I’m not sure I would bring a level of performance or passion that’s up to my standards,” he said. “When considering this, along with the fact that I could retire after a 13-year career wearing only one jersey for such a storied franchise, my decision became pretty clear.”

Urlacher was the face of the Bears’ franchise and leaves as one of the game’s great linebackers. In March, he and the Bears were unable to reach a contract agreement and he became a free agent.

He started 180 games from 2000 through 2012, and recorded a team-record 1,779 tackles. He has 41 1/2 sacks, 22 interceptions, 16 fumble recoveries and 11 forced fumbles. He was the AP’s defensive player of the year in 2005 and helped the 2006 team to the Super Bowl.

Last year, he was slowed by a knee problem and then missed the final four games with a hamstring injury.

He had posted pictures on Twitter indicating he was working his way back into shape before the split with the Bears, but when they announced he would not be back, it was hardly a surprise.

Urlacher told the team’s flagship radio station at the time that he was not shocked and that the offer he received was “more like an ultimatum” in which they were telling him, “Sign this contract or we are going to move on.”

The split with Urlacher was one of many moves in a busy off-season for the Bears.

They fired coach Lovie Smith after a second straight late collapse left them out of the playoffs for the fifth time in six years even though they did finish with 10 wins.

They replaced him with the offensive-minded Marc Trestman, hoping he could get the most out of quarterback Jay Cutler, and revamped their offensive line.

On defence, the only starting linebacker returning is Lance Briggs. Veteran free agent acquisition D.J. Williams and second-round draft pick Jon Bostic are expected to compete for the middle linebacker job with Urlacher gone.

A safety with lightning speed, the 6-foot-4 Urlacher initially lined up at strong side linebacker for the Bears but lost the job to Roosevelt Colvin. He made the switch to middle linebacker during his first season when Barry Minter was injured and went on to become the NFL’s defensive rookie of the year, the start of a long run that saw him anchor a defence that consistently ranked among the league’s best.

But he clearly wasn’t his old explosive self last year. The speed and quickness that allowed him to wreak havoc for years simply wasn’t there.

Urlacher sprained his medial collateral ligament and partially sprained the posterior cruciate ligament in his left knee during the 2011 regular-season finale against Minnesota and hasn’t been the same since then.

He barely participated in training camp, had an arthroscopic procedure in mid-August to relieve the swelling, and spent most of the season trying to regain his old form.

Then, he came up lame in coverage on the second-to-last snap of the Bears’ overtime loss to Seattle in early December, an injury that ended his season and, ultimately, his career.

That said, he isn’t going anywhere. “I will stay on as leader to ensure our obligation to our members and the public are met over the next few months.”

Dix says he should have done a better job of defining the problem with the premier’s record and communicating the NDP‘s platform.

He says he didn’t handle his position on the Kinder Morgan pipeline properly. “My announcement about our position on the Kinder Morgan pipeline on Earth Day hurt our campaign. The way I raised it raised a number of process issues that stuck with us.”

The NDP will conduct a comprehensive review of the election. “This review will spare nothing and no one, least of all me. This will not be a simple internal review. It must give voice to party members and listen to those outside our ranks.”

He says they are preparing for the upcoming legislative session. “The NDP caucus is a strong, experienced team with some dynamic new members. We will hold the government to account.”

“I will stay on as leader to ensure our obligation to our members and the public are met over the next few months.”

“We are very pleased to welcome two of our most popular and accomplished alumni to the Wall of Fame,” said Lions president and CEO Dennis Skulsky.

Matthews joined the Lions in January 1983 and would lead the Leos to West Division titles in 1983 and 1985, and after a heartbreaking one-point loss to Toronto in the 1983 Grey Cup at BC Place, he would guide the team to a 37-24 victory over Hamilton in the 1985 Grey Cup, which at the time was the team’s first championship since 1964. Matthews winning percentage of .706 is still tops among Lions coaches.  He was surpassed for the CFL all-time victory mark in recent years by current Lions general manager Wally Buono.

Allen joined the Lions in 1996, after 11 years in the CFL between Edmonton and the old Memphis Mad Dogs.  He left as the team’s all-time leading passer with 27,621 yards, 136 touchdowns and 2,037 completions, leading the team to the  2000 Grey Cup championship.  Allen was inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 2012, and still ranks second in CFL passing yards and third in all-time rushing.

The Lions open training camp in Kamloops on Sunday, June 2nd and kick off 2013 with a preseason game at Calgary on June 14th.

The Northern Route Approval Act was expected to pass the House easily, although it faces a far less certain future in the Democrat-controlled U.S. Senate. The bill would allow for congressional approval of the pipeline and nix the need for a presidential permit.

The White House has threatened to veto the legislation, saying it “seeks to circumvent long-standing and proven processes for determining whether cross-border pipelines are in the national interest.”

And one Democratic congressman says he’ll challenge the constitutionality of the bill before it even reaches the House floor.

Florida’s Alan Grayson says he’ll raise a question of the privileges of the House in order to stop consideration of the bill. House rules allow members to raise such questions, which in turn can be used to put the brakes to legislative proceedings.

Grayson says the bill should be rebuffed because it “it affects the dignity and integrity of the proceedings of the House since it is unconstitutional.”

Other Democrats in the House are attempting to block the bill by way of a handful of amendments, including one that would require any oil and refined product that is transported via Keystone XL to stay in the United States.

Democrats have argued for years that rather than make the U.S. less dependent on oil from hostile OPEC regimes, Keystone XL in fact will allow Alberta oilsands bitumen to be exported abroad from the Gulf Coast.

Another Democratic amendment would require Calgary-based TransCanada to disclose its campaign contributions for the past five years before construction of Keystone XL proceeds.

Republicans, meantime, have long insisted that Congress has the authority under the U.S. Constitution to regulate international commerce — and that includes the pipeline, they say, since it aims to move oilsands bitumen from Canada into the U.S.

Environmentalists were universal in heaping scorn on the latest Republican attempt to force approval of the pipeline.

“This bill is nothing more than an effort to run roughshod over protections for landowners, wildlife and drinking water supplies so that TransCanada can get oil to Gulf coast refineries for export to China and other countries,” said Larry Schweiger, president and CEO of the National Wildlife Federation.

North of the border, Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s government has nearly doubled its spending on the promotion of Keystone XL, from $16.5 million from $9 million a year ago.

Its beefed-up efforts included Harper’s visit to New York City last week to pitch the pipeline to the Council on Foreign Relations and in roundtables with U.S. business leaders.

Chris Procunier said Wednesday that his wife Jennifer saw impressions from the tape on the boy’s mouth after the alleged incident last Thursday afternoon.

His son was one of 11 students participating in the Excel after-school program at Bedford South School at the time, Procunier said in an interview.

Procunier believes he and other parents should have been informed immediately, even though students weren’t in school Friday because it was a professional development day.

“Our biggest issue is the lack of response from either the school board or the Excel program. There’s been no indication this is being dealt with properly,” he said.

“If our kids hadn’t told us this was happening, we wouldn’t have known.”

Procunier said he and his wife heard from three other parents last week that nine other children and their son were lined up for disciplinary action and had the tape placed over their mouths.

“My son said they were speaking out loud, but I’m not sure what the catalyst was … and there was actual duct tape placed on the kids mouths for an extended period of time,” said the father.

Procunier said he is upset the school only called him to a meeting on Tuesday where he, eight children, other parents, an Excel official and the school principal discussed what happened.

He said he wasn’t satisfied after the meeting that the board had a clear enough set of policies to prevent other occurrences in the after-school program.

In a news release, Education Minister Ramona Jennex says she is “very upset” about the allegation and the department will work with the school board to ensure it doesn’t happen again.

It is not clear from official sources how many children allegedly had their mouths taped shut. The provincial government news release refers to one child.

“Our schools need to be safe havens for children in this province,” said Jennex. “I expect the school board to have answers about this alleged incident shortly and we will work with the board to ensure it doesn’t happen again.”

Police have confirmed they are investigating a report of an assault on Thursday afternoon involving a student and staff member at the school.

Doug Hadley, a spokesman for the Halifax Regional School Board, said the board is also investigating but he wouldn’t say how many children were alleged to have had their mouths taped.

“At this point, we believe there was between 10 to 12 kids in the room but I can’t confirm if the incident involved one, several or all,” he said in an email.

He said some parents were contacted Friday or over the weekend, but others weren’t informed until Tuesday.

The employee, who is an assistant instructor in the program, was immediately placed on paid leave until the board concludes an investigation on whether its policies were violated, Hadley said.

If it is shown that tape was used, Hadley said it would be a violation of board policies.

“We don’t know what kind of tape was used,” he said. “But regardless of that, it’s the kind of action that should never occur under any circumstance.”

Hadley said it’s possible the board will review and amend its policies, adding that if the allegation proves true a policy review is likely.

“I would suggest to any of the parents that if they left the meeting not feeling satisfied, that they contact the Excel staff or board staff to express those concerns so we can take that into consideration,” he said.