About The Show

The Current is a meeting place of perspectives, ideas and voices, with a fresh take on issues that affect Canadians today. Our team of journalists—based in every major region of the country—think locally and globally. We bring new insight to stories that Canadians are talking about now, and we uncover stories they’ll be talking about next week and next year.

We don’t just talk about the issues. We poke and prod them and look at them from new angles, shedding light on what needs to be exposed and taking delight in the surprising twists and turns our stories take. Nothing's off limits—politics, business, culture, justice, science, religion—if it's pertinent to Canadians, it's on the Current agenda.

Host Anna Maria Tremonti is our focal point. Her wealth of experience and journalistic savvy bring depth and sharpness to The Current as it unfolds from coast to coast to coast.

About Us

The Current (in alphabetical order)

Lisa Ayuso - Associate Producer

Lisa Ayuso formerly known as the Clockwatcher to Workology fans has been keeping busy at the Current since 2003. She started at the CBC in 1999 at This Morning and since then has worked on Workology, Richler on Radio, Sounds Like Canada as well as other CBC radio projects. As a Toronto performer, she was a member of Pretty, Porky and Pissed Off and the co-founder of The Corporate Wetnurse Association. Lisa is a loving fan of Dolly Parton.

Willy Barth - Studio Director

Since 1997 Willy Barth has worked as the morning senior editor for This Morning, in charge of final script edit, line-up, production value and studio direction. He has worked closely with hosts Michael Enright and Shelagh Rogers in the early morning hours to add radio value to the program. Willy co-ordinated and produced all This Morning remotes over the past five years. Before that, Willy was Peter Gzowski's remote producer whenever Peter took Morningside on the road. Willy directed Peter's last program in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. Willy has been with CBC Radio since 1980 and has worked in both network and regional locations.

Jen Beard - Producer (on leave)

Jen started working at the CBC in 2001 after doing an internship at As It Happens. She has bounced her way around the network working at As It Happens, as a reporter for CBC in Charlottetown, as a producer for This Morning and finally settling down at The Current. Jen is currently on maternity leave taking care of her two little ones.

Pam Bertrand - Executive Producer

Originally from Calgary, Pam Bertrand started out in journalism almost 3 decades ago at CJRT Radio in Toronto. She's worked as a researcher, producer and senior producer for both CBC and CTV with many different programs such as The Journal, W5, CBC at Six and Undercurrents. She joined The Current as Executive Producer in January 2004.

Aaron Brindle - Producer

Before joining The Current, Aaron Brindle worked as a freelance producer for CBC Radio and as the marketing director for a Vancouver-based software company. As a freelancer for CBC’s The Sunday Edition, Aaron produced a number of documentaries including an examination of language extinction among the Kalahari bushmen, the AIDS epidemic in Zimbabwe, indentured child labourers in Canada, World War II refugees, and a profile of a 15 year-old computer hacker. Aaron also produced an episodic series for Toronto’s Metro Morning following the travails of a major league batboy wannabe.

Alison Broddle - Vancouver Senior Producer

Alison has spent the past few years running the Vancouver radio newsroom and working as a reporter, covering everything from house fires to political firestorms, of which BC has had plenty. Before that she worked on the Vancouver CBC radio morning show as a studio director, story producer and writer broadcaster, most memorably waking up a surprised Nobel Prize winner and booking him for the show. She has also worked in television news and current affairs. And buried deep in her past is a stint as a rock music journalist. She also teaches media writing to keen young journalism students at BCIT.

John Chipman - Producer (on leave)

John Chipman comes to The Current from CTV News, where he was a national writer and foreign producer. He has also worked extensively in newspapers, including the National Post, the Toronto Star and a stint in Europe, at the Prague Post in the Czech Republic. His humble journalism beginnings can be traced back to The Reminder, a community paper in Flin Flon, Manitoba.

Dominic Girard - Producer

Dominic Girard joined The Current as an intern while completing his Bachelor of Journalism at Ryerson University. He’s now an Associate Producer on the show, and just recently crested the one-year mark in his professional journalism career. Prior to joining the CBC, he worked in a number of roles within the Toronto film and television industry, and scored a few acting gigs while living in Ottawa, Ontario.

Richard Goddard - Producer

Before joining The Current, Richard Goddard had an eight-year career in the devil-worshiping world of advertising. When he wasn’t drinking blood or flogging the spoils of slave labour, he relaxed by producing for CBC Radio in Vancouver and later, Toronto. The sweet taste of truth eventually proved irresistible and Richard soon found himself producing regularly for local and national shows like Global Village, DNTO, Metro Morning and now, The Current.

Kathleen Goldhar - Producer (on leave)

Carole Ito - Radio Technician

Carole has worked at CBC Radio since 1980. Most of her experience lies in live morning radio, including six years with Morningside and five years with This Morning. She has also worked with National Radio News, As It Happens and Metro Morning.

Lisa Khoo - Senior Producer

Lisa Khoo joined The Current as senior producer in the summer of 2006. She was previously at CBC News Online as senior producer for current affairs. Her projects included an award winning site on SARS, as well as the Iraq war and September 11. From 2000-2003 she was based in the UK, where she wrote magazine features and a book on the Internet and field produced for CBC National TV News, covering stories such as the Balkan War and the Northern Ireland conflict. From 1993-97 she produced specials and live coverage as part of Newsworld’s Live Unit including the O.J. Simpson trial and the Quebec Referendum. She was based in Washington from 1991-92 where she covered the Clinton election and Hurricane Andrew. Lisa was also a writer and lineup editor for CBC Toronto and Newsworld. Lisa graduated from Columbia University with a Masters degree in Journalism. She has a BA Honours from the University of Toronto.

Nicola Luksic started her CBC career in 2003 as an associate producer with The Fifth Estate. Her passion for radio documentary has lured her to Kosovo, Serbia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Zambia, and the jungles of Chiapas, among other places off the beaten track. She is also the co-creator and producer of And Sometimes Y - a CBC Radio show about the quirks and complications of the English language. Aside from The Current, her work has aired on Global Village and Dispatches. By night she's a cancan dancer with the revolutionary troupe, The Saucy Tarts.

Dick Miller - Documentary Producer (Halifax)

Dick has been with the CBC since 1976, living and working in Iqaluit, Saskatoon, Fredericton and Halifax. Most of the time has been spent in radio as reporter, host or producer for local, regional and national shows. He did spend five years on the dark side as a reporter and producer for CBC TV.

Arif Noorani - Producer

Arif Noorani has been a producer with The Current since its inception, and previously worked on other CBC programs including This Morning. He works in a number of areas on The Current, and produced field remotes in Afghanistan and Argentina which have been honoured at the prestigious New York Festivals Awards.He has worked in television as part of the launching crew for The Hour. Previous to the CBC, Arif worked in film and video as a maker of short experimental films and a feature length documentary, as well as in the arts sector. He has also written for numerous magazines and worked as online editor during the tech boom.

Lara O'Brien - Producer

After studying both in Canada and Europe - Lara began her journalism career at the CBC working for Newsworld in 2004. Soon after she delved into the land of radio - with an internship at The Current. She was hired - but some say only for her capabilities to chase people down in places like Kabul and Kazakhstan. Lara has since honed her international speed dialing and journalism skills on the program since 2005.

Erin Pettit - Producer

Erin Pettit grew up in London, Ontario. She has worked for the Centre for Research and Information on Canada in Montreal, and at CBC radio. In her four years at the CBC, she has worked at Ontario Morning, This Morning, Cross Country Checkup, and the Sunday Edition.

Andre Picher - Producer

Andre Picher was born and raised in the wilds of north Toronto. His interests in national and international affairs led him to studies in Canada, the U.S., and Europe. Whereafter, lacking any journalism education but still nonetheless confident in the worth of his curiosities and questions, Andre set about on a career in print and broadcast journalism. Magazine readers, radio listeners, and journalism as a whole have been suffering ever since.

Pedro Sanchez - Producer

Pedro’s broadcasting career began in late 1989 when he was “bushed” into action during the U.S. invasion of Panama. Then, after years of dwelling deep in the under-belly of independent media both in Canada and abroad, Pedro began his CBC career working in the National Radio Newsroom from 1997 to 2000. That was followed by four years with CBC Newsworld’s independently produced debate program counterSpin. Then, after a year of producing special projects for CBC Newsworld, Pedro made his way back to CBC Radio. He has been a Producer with The Current since July 2005.

Idella Sturino - Producer

Before joining CBC Radio, Idella Sturino worked as a producer for CBC Newsworld's counterSpin and counterSpin Sunday with Avi Lewis. Prior to that, she worked as a reporter and editor for The Canadian Press in Toronto and Montreal. She has also worked at Shift and This magazines.

Joan Webber - Producer (Vancouver)

Joan Webber has been a producer (based in Vancouver) with The Current since it first went on the air in 2002. She has produced documentaries and special programming from places such as Cuba, Los Angeles, and the Arctic. Prior to The Current, Joan worked as a producer and news reporter for CBC in Regina, Saskatoon and Vancouver. While working on Vancouver's local morning show, The Early Edition, she produced an award winning documentary called, Comic Relief. She was honoured to receive a Jack Webster for that story. Prior to Joan's career with CBC, she worked for The National Film Board of Canada where she created and operated a NFB documentary rep theatre in Saskatoon. She also directed and produced a short documentary film.

Gord Westmacott - Producer

Gord Westmacott is a producer at The Current where he frequently abuses his colleagues by shouting into the phone to people half-way around the world. He's been with CBC Radio since the spring of 2002, and worked at As It Happens for three years before coming to the Current. Before that, he worked for counterSpin at CBC Newsworld and Studio 2 at TV Ontario.

Chris Wodskou - Producer

After toiling for several years on a PhD he never finished in American Literature, Chris Wodskou turned to media. For several years, he worked as a freelancer writer and broadcaster before landing at CBC. He worked as a current affairs associate producer at CBC Television, then moved on to CBC Sports Online, where he was senior editor of special projects like the Sydney, Salt Lake City and Athens Olympic Web sites. Chris has been a producer with The Current since its inception in 2002, focusing on the environment, science, sports and culture.