Peter Mansbridge to step down from The National next year

Sep 6 2016, 9:13 pm

After nearly 30 years of anchoring CBC’s The National, Peter Mansbridge has announced he’s stepping down.

During The National broadcast on Monday night, Mansbridge said that he will leave the desk on July 1 of next year following coverage of Canada’s 150th birthday.

“As someone who believes strongly in public broadcasting, leaving the CBC’s flagship will not be easy,” he said. “What’s important is The National of the future will continue to reflect our country, our world, and our people.”

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In an interview with Daily Hive from July, Mansbridge admitted his journey to journalism was unusual.

“I never finished high school, never went to university and I left home when I was about 17,”  he said. “I was in the Navy for a while and that didn’t work out so well. So I left.”

Mansbridge began his storied career at the age of 19 in 1968 while working as a ticket agent at Churchill Airport in Manitoba. While making an announcement over the PA system, CBC station manager Gaston Charpentier heard Mansbridge’s voice and hired him for the late night music program.

Then in 1975, he started working as a reporter in Saskatchewan for The National before relocating to Ottawa the following year to work as a parliamentary reporter.

Mansbridge landed his now iconic role as the lead anchor of The National in 1988, taking over from Knowlton Nash.

Over the years, he’s earned many accolades and awards for his work in journalism, including 12 Gemini Awards and nine honorary degrees.

“Good storytellers will always have a job, because people want information and they want it told to them in a way they can connect to,” he told Daily Hive.

“It sounds simple, but it’s not simple – good storytellers don’t come along every day… That’s an incredibly important skill, even with a future that’s unclear.”

And while he’s keeping mum on his future plans for now, it seems retirement isn’t in the cards for the 68-year-old just yet.

“There will be more to say about the future in the days to come, but now it’s time to focus on the new season, and here at The National, we will be doing just that,” he said in his announcement on Monday.

Lauren SundstromLauren Sundstrom

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