Steven Guilbeault, the newly-elected Montreal MP who headed Greenpeace Quebec for a decade, will take over the Canadian Heritage portfolio following a federal cabinet shuffle. Pablo Rodriguez, who had been serving in the role since July 2018, becomes Government House Leader. Guilbeault, 49, is a founding member of Quebec environmental organization Equiterre. He is no stranger to media having served as a commentator for CBC/Radio-Canada, La Presse and Corporate Knights magazine, in addition to writing a column for the Métro newspaper for nearly a decade. Guilbeault is set to take over the portfolio at a pivotal time as the Broadcast and Telecommunications Legislative Review Panel prepares to deliver its final report to government by Jan. 31.
CBC has given 35 employees a “notice of redundancy” amidst budget pressures. The majority of the affected positions are in Toronto with layoffs set to take effect Dec. 31. Affected staff include Canadian Media Guild (CMG), unaffiliated employees and management within CBC News. CMG says it’s working to minimize the cuts through retirements and unfilled vacancies. Read more here.
Bell Media has laid off an unspecified number of staff in multiple markets. Among the casualties are longtime CTV Winnipeg anchor Gord Leclerc, who had been with the station since 1995; 99.9 Bob FM (CFWM-FM) Winnipeg morning co-host Mark Morris, CFRA Ottawa midday talk host Rob Snow, who had been with the station for two decades; CJAD Montreal host and weather specialist Eramelinda Boquer, who had been with the station since 1999; TSN 690 (CKGM-AM) Montreal morning show co-host Rick Moffat, who also served as the play-by-play voice of the Montreal Alouettes and Montreal Impact; Manny Paiva, news director at CKLW and CTV Windsor; and 91.9 Bob FM (CKLY-FM) Lindsay, ON morning show team Dave Illman and Julie Corlett. They had been with the station 29 and 18 years, respectively.
Larry Fedoruk, afternoon talk host on 610 CKTB St. Catharines, and Mark Brennae, the afternoon host on CFAX Victoria have also been released by Bell Media.
Evan Solomon will helm CTV weekday political program Power Play, following longtime host Don Martin’s move to retire at the end of the year. Starting Jan. 6, Solomon will host the program Monday to Thursday, with CTV Ottawa Bureau Chief Joyce Napier hosting the show Fridays. Solomon, who has been with Bell Media since 2015, will also continue to host CTV’s Question Period on Sunday mornings and newly-titled radio show Overview with Evan Solomon on iHeartRadio Canada news/talk stations. The national, two-hour show will now fill the noon to 2 p.m. time slot, Monday to Thursday. Previously, it was simply known as The Evan Solomon Show.
Jon McComb has announced he’ll hang up his headphones as morning show host at 980 CKNW Vancouver on Dec. 13, capping a 50-year career in broadcasting. McComb, 66, has been with CKNW since 1983, after working in Portland, Arizona, and CFCF and CJAD Montreal. McComb was the first reporter to become a full-time talk show host at the station, spending 20 years as host and co-host of afternoon show The World Today, alongside Philip Till for the first 10 years. In 2014, he moved into the morning time slot as host of The Jon McComb Show. CKNW will pay tribute to McComb over the next four weeks with an announcement to come on who’ll succeed him on the morning show. Read more here.
Lee Marshall is retiring due to complications from COPD. Marshall, who has been hosting mornings on 103.1 The Train (CJBB-FM) Englehart, ON, in addition to serving as general manager and music director, has been in broadcasting since 1972. Marshall moved into television voiceover work in the late 1990s, namely for CTV. His last show will air Nov. 29.
Tamara Cherry is leaving CTV Toronto. Cherry has been an award-winning crime specialist with the network since 2011 when she was recruited from the Toronto Sun, contributing to CTV’s national and regional platforms, including CTV News Channel, CP24, and Newstalk 1010 (CFRB-AM). Her last day is this Friday.
Beth Macdonell is joining CTV Toronto as a video journalist. Macdonell has been with CTV Winnipeg since 2013 as a reporter and producer. Prior to joining CTV, Macdonell reported for the CBC in St. John’s, NL.
Jasmine Bala is joining CHEK News in Victoria as a multimedia journalist. Bala, a recent Ryerson Journalism grad, has been with Global Lethbridge for the past nine months.
Tara Jean Stevens will fill-in for Sonia Sidhu on the KiSS (CKKS-FM) Vancouver morning show for the next year, alongside Kevin Lim, while Sidhu is on maternity leave. Stevens, who has been co-hosting afternoon drive with Kiah Tucker since August, takes up the interim role Dec. 2.
Tarrah Harvey is leaving News 1130 (CKWX-AM) Vancouver. Harvey has been a weekend anchor with the station since April 2018.
Jason Ross is the new Canadian sales manager for Riedel Communications. Based in Toronto, Ross reports to Rich Zabel, Vice-President of Sales for North America. Ross joins Riedel from Applied Electronics, where he was a senior account executive for the past eight years, overseeing broadcast system projects for clients including The Shopping Channel, MTS Centre for the Winnipeg Jets, Tim Horton Field for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, and an augmented reality project at the Rogers NHL Studio.
Jordan Hennessey will join Stingray Ottawa stations HOT 89.9 (CIHT-FM) and LiVE 88.5 (CILV-FM) in the New Year. Hennessey, who has been a senior account manager with Indie88 (CIND-FM) Toronto since 2013, recently won the Best in Class Sales Award (Large Market) at the recent Ontario Association of Broadcasters awards gala. Prior to Indie88, Hennessey was an account manager with KiSS 92.5 (CKIS-FM) Toronto and X92.9 (CFEX-FM) Calgary, among other stations.
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