Peter Mansbridge Biography

Fast Facts

• Has won 12 Gemini Awards for excellence in broadcast journalism during his career and was named an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2009
• Moved from DJ to news reporter when he suggested that his Churchill radio station should have its own news report rather than getting a feed from CBC Winnipeg and spent many hours listening to other broadcasters to learn what to do
• Was working at Transair in Churchill, Manitoba in 1968 when CHFC manager Gaston Charpentier heard him announcing a flight and offered him a job at the local radio station based on the quality of his voice
• Quote: "I've never forgotten my roots and I don't pretend to be anything better than I am․ I'm just a reporter who got lucky, but I worked extremely hard to be where I am․"
• Quote: "You never forget the big ones, the political and celebrity figures, but the interviews I tend to remember most are with people whose names don't mean anything to most of us․ I like to think of them as ordinary people with extraordinary stories․"
• Quote: "At the end of the interview, you want your audience to have a clearer sense of that person․ Whether they like them or not doesn't matter․ Breaking through the wall around people and getting to know them better does․"
• Best known as a broadcaster and chief correspondent of CBC News, where he hosts "The National" and "Mansbridge: One on One․"
• Wrote the book "One on One" in 2009 about his experiences in conducting interviews, of which he has done more than 10,000 during his career
• Was at a dental appointment on September 11, 2001 when he saw a report about the twin towers and immediately left the dentist's chair to head to the CBC studio
• Once turned down a morning news anchor position with CBS so that he could remain with "The National" at the CBC