CCR People

John Shannon has been promoted to VP of programming and executive producer at Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment Ltd. (MLSEL). He has been with MLSEL for almost three years. He will oversee all MLSEL broadcasting initiatives, including Leafs TV, Raptors NBA TV and Raptors telecasts, as well as take on more responsibility in the business development of Toronto Maple Leafs Network Ltd. Charles Boyer, an executive assistant to Canadian Heritage minister Sheila Copps, will join the Canadian Association of Broadcasters on August 26 as its VP of external and government relations. The appointment caused some controversy as it appears that Boyer is moving into a job where he would be lobbying his former employer. Under federal conflict-of-interest guidelines for civil servants, senior political aides to ministers are not supposed to take positions with companies or organizations with which they have had "direct and significant official dealings" for a one-year cooling-off period. Boyer will be succeeded at Canadian Heritage by Jess Dutton, who is currently Copps’ senior policy advisor. As well, Natacha Raphael replaces Stéphanie Dallaire as Copps’ Quebec assistant. Ben Chin, the Toronto anchor for the Canadian Broadcasting Corp.’s Canada Now, is moving to Craig Media Inc.’s new conventional TV station toronto/one. He will anchor toronto/one’s hour-long current affairs magazine Metro Today, which will air at 7 p.m. on weekdays. Toronto/one is set to launch September 19. Craig Media has also appointed a seven-member advisory board to steer and support toronto/one, which is made up of community leader Bahadur Madhani; David Crombie, former Toronto mayor and federal Cabinet minister; CFRB reporter and anchor Farah Nasser; Rita Tsang, president and CEO of travel company Tour East Holidays; Kiumars Rezvanifar, a communications specialist for the Canadian and Ontario governments; ProMedia International president and co-founder of the Innoversity Creative Summit Hamlin Grange; and Frank Alvarez, president and CEO of multicultural radio station CIRV Radio 88.9 FM. Hélène Dubuc, Cogeco Cable Inc.’s communications and programming VP for Quebec, has left the company. No replacement has been named. After 14 years at the Canadian Broadcasting Corp., John Wyndels joins Global’s COOL FM jazz station as its new program/music director. Most recently, Wyndels was producer for two national CBC radio programs, Definitely Not the Opera and After Hours. As well, Roxanne Gagne, currently heard on COOL’s afternoon show, becomes host of the station’s morning show. Veteran Global TV reporter Lisa Best takes over on the afternoon show. Martin Malina has been appointed director of communications for the Montreal World Film Festival. He has been associated with the festival for many years as editor and programmer. David Bronicheski has been named as CFO and corporate secretary of Amtelecom Income Fund and Amtelecom Communications Inc. He has held various senior management and finance positions in the industry, including VP and general manager of Vidéotron ltée’s former northern Ontario cable operations, president of the Ontario Cable Television Association, a board member of the Canadian Cable Television Association, and board member of the Cable Television Standards Council. Amtelecom Income Fund is a limited purpose fund that holds all of the common shares and notes of Amtelecom Communications and its subsidiaries. Amtelecom provides cable TV service to about 9,950 subscribers in southwestern and central Ontario. Randy Paul has been named managing director of sponsorships at TSN Enterprises. He was director of corporate sales and marketing at IMG Canada from 1995 to 2003, where he was responsible for corporate sales and marketing for event marketing and athlete-related products, such as golf, figure skating, hockey, soccer, cricket, curling and Olympic-related sports. He will report to Adam Ashton, who was recently named VP of marketing for TSN and TSN Enterprises (CCR, June 30/03). Robert Dépatie has been named as president and CEO of Vidéotron ltée. He has been with the cableco since December 2001 as senior VP of sales, marketing and customer service. Days after the announcement of Dépatie’s promotion, Eugène Marquis resigned as president and CEO of Vidéotron Télécom ltée. Darcy Kindred, the former CFO at Craig Wireless Systems Inc., left the company at the end of March and is now with independent ISP Technovision/Uniserve. The company is in the process of completing a merger with PCNet. Philippa (Pippa) Lawson will leave her position as senior counsel of the Public Interest Advocacy Centre in September to become executive director of the University of Ottawa’s new Internet Policy and Public Interest Law Clinic. Blake Tohana, executive VP of corporate development at Fireworks Entertainment Inc., joins Magna Entertainment Corp. as executive VP and CFO, effective July 28. Chris Fuoco has joined Alliance Atlantis Broadcasting as director of affiliate marketing. Previously, he was director of core programs for Bell ExpressVu. Diane Rhéaume has been appointed secretary general of the CRTC following a competitive process. She has been acting in the position since June 2002. Rhéaume has worked in a variety of positions in the commission’s broadcasting and corporate sectors during the last 30 years. Jacquelin Bouchard, president and CEO of Groupe Pixcom, was re-elected chair of the Assocation des Producteurs de Films et de Télévision du Québec (APFTQ) last month. Last month, the National Screen Institute - Canada elected a new board. Laura Michalchyshyn, senior VP of dramatic programming at Alliance Atlantis, is the organization’s new board chair, and Alexandra Raffe, president of Savi Media, is vice-chair. Marlene Kendall returns as finance chair. New board members are Nuria Bronfman, VP of corporate affairs at Famous Players; Jamie Brown, CEO and executive producer of Frantic Films; Mary-Pat Gleeson, feature film marketing and script consultant at Independent Producers; Earl Hong Tai, director of Telefilm Canada’s Western region; Tina Keeper, co-host of the Sharing Circle; and Christine Shipton, senior TV executive. Returning board members are Louise Clark, Kevin DeWalt, Slawko Klymkiw, Bruce Leslie, Isabel Metcalfe and Tom Perlmutter.

CCR People

Broadcast | July 17, 2003

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