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Al Gore's idea of conversation centres around energy fields and the spectrum of atheism, as it bridges physics and theology. "According to science" – a line he fancies – energy fields may have created the universe and the life we inhabit, "not some white-bearded guy sitting on a puffy cloud."

That's one side of Mr. Gore I saw this week. Another is his struggles with small talk, which may be yet another reason he didn't become president. Ask him about R.A. Dickey – the Toronto Blue Jays' ace pitcher who, like Mr. Gore, hails from Nashville – and the former U.S. vice-president will give you a blank look. His travelling staff had to fill the dead air when sports wandered into a conversation.

I spent a few hours with Mr. Gore this week during his book tour visit to Toronto. We met at his publisher's office for these video interviews.

I've seen politicians light it up for a camera, but rarely have I seen a face change as much as Mr. Gore's when the camera lights go on.

He acknowledged he had not been on the ground at the oil sands (he insists on the term "tar sands"), but proceeded to tear strip after strip off Canada's environmental record. (Yes, he says, America's record is worse, even when he was in the White House.)

We met up again at a reception for Globe subscribers, and Mr. Gore worked the room like he was still campaigning. Among the surprise guests were his old friend Maurice Strong, the Canadian environmental guru who now splits his time between Toronto and Beijing, and Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne, who had read about Mr. Gore's visit in our pages and wanted to meet him.

Mr. Gore and I then did a Q&A, focusing largely on climate change and the oil sands, which you can read about here. One highlight was his inability to offer any praise for the Obama administration; indeed, he did not disagree with my assertion that he seems "disappointed" with the current President.

Mr. Gore also seems genuinely bitter about his defeat in the 2000 presidential election, as he lashes out at the U.S. democratic process, corporate donations and, of course, the media, which he considers to be in the pockets of Big Business, especially the oil, gas and coal sectors. When I asked if he thinks we've all been "brainwashed" by commercial media, he said he preferred not to use that word, but you get the point.

Don't dismiss his ability to build a following. He's probably done more to advance his ideas and causes than he would have been able to in the White House, and he will be a force for a while yet, I suspect. Ottawa, the provinces and energy sectors should come to grips with that. Mr. Gore has a serious following in this country and seems happy to stoke its passions over the oil sands.

Gore Inc. is a big business, and draws lots of negative ink, especially from those who don't like his environmental views. He's made hundreds of millions in Silicon Valley deals (notably from Apple stock and the failed TV start-up he sold to the Al Jazeera news channel), and makes millions more each year from speeches and books.

We were accused on Twitter of paying Mr. Gore for his appearance – he normally commands a six-figure speaking fee – but in fact we got him for free. Members of our Globe Recognition club, which you can sign up for here, paid $45 to hear Mr. Gore, which covered our event costs and got them a copy of his book.

For the record, he flew Air Canada from Nashville to Toronto and was driven around the city in a hybrid SUV, along with the two young office staff who travel with him.

If you want to get Adrian Dix talking, try sports. Any sport.

British Columbia's NDP leader and front-runner to become premier next Tuesday is a sports fanatic. He visited our Vancouver bureau Monday morning to make a final pitch to an editorial board session. For the most part Mr. Dix is an affable, smart and exceedingly earnest conversationalist. Charismatic he's not. But when the subject of sports comes up, he's as animated as a play-by-play announcer.

When our B.C.-based columnist Gary Mason asked if Mr. Dix thought the Vancouver Canucks should start Cory Schneider or Roberto Luongo in goal for the fateful Game 4, he didn't pause. Mr. Schneider, he said. Although the goalie was likely suffering from an injury and had been terrible in Game 3, Mr. Dix felt the Canucks had to show confidence in him for next season. He believes Mr. Luongo will be gone this summer.

Mr. Dix went on to expound about the frequency of blowouts in hockey and baseball playoff games, compared to other sports, notably basketball. He believes it's because of the added pressure on goaltenders and pitchers in elimination series.

We were less convinced by Mr. Dix's policy plans, as you can read in our weekend editorial.

Enjoy the weekend,

P.S.

A word about process: To better gauge the party leaders and their ideas, I visited Vancouver last weekend and spent an hour with Liberal leader Christy Clark on Sunday and an hour with Adrian Dix Monday morning. I was joined by columnist Gary Mason, political reporter Justine Hunter and bureau chief Matt O'Grady, who all asked questions and wrote their own stories through the week. They were not involved in the editorial discussion, which was confined to me, editorial board director John Geiger and our Toronto-based board.