He was also one of the few anti-Communist writers in the city of Toronto which was remarkable as he was sent to head up the Moscow bureau for the paper. He skipped with the wife of a KGB colonel as a result.
In 1971 the Telegram folded and Worthington hung up his frequent flier card and became the executive editor of the Toronto Sun. The paper started with about 60 Telegram veterans and despite all odds succeeded till this day as the most successful newspaper chain.
Skip over to the federal riding of Broadview-Greenwood (B-G) which became open when the New Democratic Party (NDP) member Bob Rae became a provincial member of the NDP. B-G hadn't had a Progressive Conservative (PC) for many years, so finding a reasonable candidate was not easy for the PC executive.
One executive member, David Simmons had a bright light. He told me, to approach Worthington to become a candidate, that he had made an appointment with Worthington, but he had to leave town so would I please go and convince Worthington to run in B-G. Much to my surprise Worthington (after meeting several political types) agreed. First step was to win the nomination.
The nomination battle turned out to be tougher than expected. The sizeable Greek community which had been traditionally Liberal became PC and entered two candidates and emptied the Greek phone book as members. Estonians (Esto House is in the riding) who live in the riding went almost en masse, behind Estonian Central Council president Laas Leivat, but of course they were not as many as the Greeks.
All through Worthington maintained his integrity and would not budge on his principles. The Greeks won, but Worthington though they had cheated and ran as an independent, taking many of his team with him. Worthington beat the Greek candidate but was beaten by the NDP candidate. The fight became heavily right against left.
The next general election had Brian Mulroney as PC party leader and Worthington ran again this time as the official candidate and again the right against left battle was fierce. Even though the PC's swept the nation, Worthington lost to the NDP candidate. So much for the honourable reporter turning honourable politician. Throughout his career Worthington, probably one of the most prominent journalists in Canada, remained a stalwart supporter of the battle for freedom for the Baltic states.
Adu Raudkivi
