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Rob Braide

Rob Braide is President of Braide Media, a multi-media consulting company based in Montreal.

Born April 4, 1953, he wanted to get into radio the first time he heard Dave Boxer play the Beatles on CFOX in 1963. His parents were huge jazz fans and he grew up listening to Theloneous Monk, Art Blakey and Charlie Parker.

After going through high school and CEGEP in Montreal, where he has lived all of his life, he spent five years at Carleton University studying electronic and computer composition at Carleton’s faculty of Music. The reason Rob attended Carleton was because they had a great campus radio station and you had to be a student to be involved. Along with a team of dedicated volunteers, he was involved with launching Canada’s first student commercial radio station, CKCU-FM, Radio Carleton.

All he ever wanted to do, however, was to be a disc jockey at CHOM in Montreal. After several tries, he finally landed the all-night show in September 1977 and left his Masters Degree program behind him. At CHOM he worked his way up to Music Director and Program Director and then in 1981, was also given programming responsibilities at CKGM.

In June 1987, his long-time friend, Gary Slaight, called him and asked him to take over the General Manager position at CJAD and MIX 96 which had just been purchased by the Slaight family. 21 years later Astral Media bought the assets of Standard Radio. After the transaction closed, Rob was approached by Astral Media Radio’s Jacques Parisien and asked to take on a group vice-presidency looking after branding, communications and industry relations. Rob has now formed a consulting company with Astral Media as his lead client.

He’s a proud Montrealer and has been involved in directorships of many community and para-municipal organizations including the Montreal Board of Trade, le Palais des Congrès, The Saidye Bronfman Centre for the Performing Arts and St.Mary’s Hospital. He is immediate past Chairman of the Canadian Association of Broadcasters, Chairman of the YMCA’s Kamp Kanawana Capital Campaign, sits on the Board of the Montreal Children’s Hospital Foundation, President of the annual Taste of the Caribbean fundraiser and sits on the board of the Trevor Williams Foundation providing support for inner city kids and continues to be involved in a variety of other community organizations.

As one of the first television producers in Quebec, Michel recognized that high definition and interactivity were necessary value adds and that television needed to adapt to new technologies in order to maintain its leadership. Michel Chamberland’s contributions over the last 30 years have improved the quality of Canadian television and the industry in turn has been forever marked thanks to his dynamism, rigueur and creativity.

Charles Dalfen (1943-2009)

Charles was the former Chair of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC). Prior to that appointment, he was a senior partner at Torys and Chair of the firm’s Communications Group.

Charles was a senior adviser on legal and policy matters related to radio, television, cable, new media, satellite, wireless, and wireline telecommunications. He provided guidance, advice and support to Canadian and foreign clients and members of the firm on licensing, ownership and control, mergers and acquisitions, financing, and regulation.

His career began in the late 1960s with the newly formed Department of Communications as legal advisor, then a stint at the University of Toronto as professor of Constitutional Law, following which he served as Deputy Minister of the Department of Communication and Transportation in British Columbia.

Charles had written and spoken widely on communications law and policy. He had participated as a delegate to various international organizations, including the ITU, Intelsat and the United Nations Committee on Direct Broadcast Satellites. From 1976 to 1980, Charles served as Vice-Chair of the CRTC.

In the 1980s and 1990s he was in partnership with Johnston and Buchan for close to twenty years, in a practice where he had served broadcasters and telecom companies across the country.

His family was the cornerstone of his life; husband of 42 years to Susannah, proud father to daughters Ariel and Deborah, father-in-law to Jed Schneiderman and Jamie Shulman and adoring grandfather to Samantha, AJ, Lela and Liv.

Lyndon Friesen

Lyndon has worked in the broadcasting industry for over 35 years starting his career in Golden West’s sales department in 1978. Through progressive promotions, Lyndon assumed the role of President in 2008 with responsibility for all 30 of Golden West radio stations across Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta. Lyndon has been responsible for Golden West’s successful expansion into the online community portal business.

Lyndon is very active in the broadcasting industry and currently serves on the Canadian Association of Broadcasters Board and is a member of the Executive Council, he also served as President of the Western Association of Broadcasters. As a community leader, Lyndon recently served on the Steinbach Chamber of Commerce Executive Board. Lyndon received the Broadcast Excellence Award from BAM in 2009; the WAB President’s Award in 2006 and the CAB Quarter Century Club recognition in 2001.

In 1992, Lyndon got married to Bonnie. They have two boys named, Carter and Jackson. Lyndon continues to live and work in Steinbach, MB, and is an active member of the community, having served most recently on the Steinbach Chamber of Commerce Executive Board.

Sidney Margles

Sidney Margles started his career in broadcasting in 1957 with CJAD in Montreal and Standard Broadcasting, moving to numerous positions until retirement in 1997.

He won several awards, the most notable for coverage of the Air Canada disaster in Ste. Therese, north of Montréal, in November, 1963.
Among other highlights of his career were reporting on the troubled times in Montréal in the 60’s, with bombings, demonstrations and riots, including the infamous 1970 October crisis. He was heard on stations across Canada and in the United States through Standard Broadcast News and NBC NEWS.

Margles pioneered “informational programming” which included quotable weekly interview programmes with Mayor Jean Drapeau and the Premier of Quebec and cabinet members.

In 1974, Margles, named Vice-President and General Manager of Standard Broadcast News, was both an administrator and broadcaster, based in Ottawa. He was among those who covered the country’s politicians both on and off the Hill. He was the only Canadian newsman to be in Jerusalem for the historic Sadat-Begin meeting of 1979.

In 1980, Margles was given the task of building a new radio station in Ottawa. He then headed its operations for two years before returning in 1984 to Montréal as President of Standard Sound, a division of Standard Broadcasting.

In 2003, the Canadian Communications Foundation called upon him to write the history of news broadcasting beginning with the year 1952 and that seven-part history is on the Foundation’s website.

Tony Parsons

Tony Parsons was born in Gosport, England in 1939 the son of an RAF officer and an Italian mother. He was educated in various British schools until he was nine and, in 1948, his family decided to move to Canada. His schooling continued in Feversham, Kitchener, Sarnia and Toronto, Ontario where he studied Radio and Television Arts at Ryerson Institute of Technology.

His schooling was interrupted when, at age seventeen, he was hired to be a radio disc jockey at CJCS in Stratford, Ontario. From Stratford he moved, in quick succession to CHOK in Sarnia, CJOY in Guelph and on to CHML in Hamilton where he made the transition from DJ to news reporter. His career then took him to Toronto for a short stay at CHUM and eventually to his first television job as reporter/anchor with CFTO.

After eight years at the Baton owned station, he took a posting in Vancouver as the West Coast correspondent for CTV National News. When he was offered the six o'clock anchor assignment at the former BCTV station (now known as Global BC) he jumped at the opportunity and he has occupied the anchor desk during the supper hour for 32 years and has helped make the News Hour the most-watched, English-language newscast in Canada, and the second most-watched in North America.

During his years in Vancouver, Parsons has been the recipient of various awards including the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Jack Webster Foundation, the Queen's 50th annual award, Italian Man of the Year by the Brotherhood Interfaith Society, Broadcaster of the Year by the BCAB and has been given the prestigious RTNDA Presidents Award and others.

In June of 2008, Tony was honoured to receive a Doctorate of Technology from BCIT, for his long and incredibly successful career in broadcasting. Many Global BC personalities were trained in the Broadcast Journalism program at BCIT.

Tony is a passionate golfer, plays classical guitar on occasion, collects lead soldiers, enjoys fishing, traveling, reading and donating his time to a number of charitable organizations including the Salvation Army, Vision 20-21, the Mel Zajac Foundation and Swim B.C.

Sandy Sanderson

"It all started in a 5,000-watt radio station" actually happens to be true in Sandy's case. That radio station was CKAR Huntsville, Ontario, where Sandy was entrusted with playing the part of an announcer on a two-hour Country & Western show from 6:30-8:30pm, and then playing the part of an operator, rolling tapes until 1:00am or when he fell asleep. Whatever came first.

A few months later, his responsibilities were dramatically increased to being Morning Man and PD. He held those positions (as well as that of a waiter at the local Holiday Inn in order to stay above the poverty line) for a year.

Then wanderlust took over and Sandy and his wife, Anne, decided to take off for Europe, where they spent a year hitch-hiking and working before accepting an offer to return to Huntsville and do the same job he had done previously.

Then things started to move along rather quickly - Production Director at CJBK London for 6 months, Production Director at CKGM Montreal for 3 years. Then it was off to New York and WABC, where Sandy worked as Production Director and Assistant PD for a few years before moving to Chicago with ABC to assume the role of Program Director of their FM and to change format from disco to Adult Rock. Then back to New York to be the Director of the FM Network, also for ABC which is where Sandy was toiling when he got the call from Rogers to come to Toronto and program CFTR. It is now almost 27 years later and Sandy remained with Rogers for the duration of his career, holding various positions, including GM of CFTR and CHFI, National PD, GM of JACK FM and KISS FM and cluster manager for the Toronto and Kitchener markets. It has been an amazing ride.

On August 31st, 2009, Sandy hung up his - you know, whatever EVP's hang up - and took early retirement. He is at home with his wife Anne, preparing for the next golf game and the next visit of his granddaughter.