Thomson’s 30-year career as a journalist started in radio news in Newmarket, ON and 680 CFTR, before she arrived at CFTO Toronto as a reporter and weekend anchor. From there, she moved over to Global News Toronto as the weeknight, supper-hour anchor from 1997 to 2003. It was that year, that she received her initial breast cancer diagnosis, which she covered in the documentary, Where There Is No Fear, becoming an official spokesperson for the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation.

Thomson returned to CTV in late 2003 as host of Canada AM, while still undergoing chemotherapy. After a 13-run year with the morning show, she landed on the anchor desk at CTV News Channel in 2016, following Canada AM’s cancellation.

“People would ask us all the time if Beverly Thomson was as nice off-camera as she was on Canada AM. Well, she was. She was also a total pro, a committed and passionate journalist who persevered at work and in life,” wrote former Canada AM colleagues Jeff Hutcheson, Marci Ien and Seamus O’Regan, in a statement posted to social media. “She could scrap with politicians and give as good as she got. She always read the book and did the research. But she led, first and foremost, with empathy. Many of the guests we’d have on were ordinary Canadians telling their stories. She’d comfort them before the camera came on, she’d listen to their every word, she’d hold their hand during the commercial break. She would get the most extraordinary interviews, and she’s never betray their trust.”

Thomson continued to fight cancer off and on, with the disease recurring seven years into her time with Canada AM.

In 2019, Thomson was named a Member of the Order of Canada. She received Seneca College’s Distinguished Alumni Award in 2000 and the Ontario Premier’s Award for Creative Arts & Design in 2003. She was the 2006 recipient of the Humanitarian Award from the Gemini Awards (now Canadian Screen Awards). In 2009, she was appointed by the Earl of Wessex, Prince Edward, as the National Ambassador for the Duke of Edinburgh Awards. In 2024, she was recognized with an RTDNA National Lifetime Achievement Award.

Among other charitable endeavours, Thomson lent her time to the Seneca College Broadcast Communications Advisory Board, the Hospital for Sick Children, Children’s Aid, and Charles H. Best Diabetes Foundation.

The post Longtime news anchor Beverly Thomson loses battle with breast cancer appeared first on Broadcast Dialogue.

Fred Merritt, 83, on Aug. 21. Merritt spent more than 50 years in radio at stations around Ontario, starting in Orillia in 1960 at the age of 19. From there, he was on-air at CFCO Chatham, before moving over to CKKW-AM Kitchener in 1966 and sister station CFCA-FM when it began broadcasting the following year, hosting a daily live show and taping a late night easy listening program called “Night Flight.” He was among those caught up in layoffs following CFCA’s acquisition by CHUM Limited in 1994, but resurfaced a year later, hosting “Merritt in Stereo” on 98.5 CKWR-FM. Merritt retired from the station in January 2011 at age 69.

The post Sign Offs appeared first on Broadcast Dialogue.

David Keighley, 77, on Aug. 28, after a battle with neuroendocrine prostate cancer. IMAX’s first-ever Chief Quality Officer, Toronto-born Keighley oversaw post-production on more than 500 IMAX films and was a trusted partner to filmmakers, including Christopher Nolan. He entered the giant screen industry in 1972, alongside his wife and business partner Patricia, founding large-format post-production company David Keighley Productions and going on to co-direct the IMAX film “Catch the Sun.” They formed a lasting partnership with IMAX, working on every one of the company’s releases thereafter. In 1988, DKP 70MM was acquired by IMAX, and the Keighleys joined its team, helping cement IMAX’s reputation for technical excellence. In 2015, IMAX’s premiere theatre at its L.A. offices was dedicated as the “David Keighley Theater” in a ceremony led by Nolan. Just three weeks ago, Keighley finished reviewing the dailies for Nolan’s The Odyssey, the first theatrical release ever shot entirely with IMAX film cameras. Keighley was a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and  involved in its Science & Technology Awards Committee, in addition to membership in the American Society of Cinematographers (ASC), a Life Fellow of SMPTE, and a recipient of its Herbert T. Kalmus Gold Medal for Outstanding Achievement in Color Motion Pictures. He received the Giant Screen Theater Association’s inaugural Special Achievement in Film Award, and was later honoured alongside his wife with the organization’s Outstanding Achievement Award.

Jonathan Collicott, 52, on Aug. 27, at home in Keswick Ridge, NB. A graduate of St. Thomas University, Collicott had a three-decade career as an independent filmmaker, researching, writing, directing and editing across documentary, drama and corporate work, while also serving as Department Head of the film programs at the Centre for Arts & Technology and daVinci College in Fredericton. He joined CBC New Brunswick in 2018 as a videographer and editor, working on the local evening TV news program, and creating content for TV, web, and social media. He took on many video projects that he shot, produced and edited, including a longform feature where he trained alongside volunteer firefighters. Collicott also worked on many special live programs, including provincial election specials.

Monique Fortier, 97, on Aug. 18. Fortier’s career as an editor and filmmaker spanned more than 40 years at the NFB (National Film Board). Fortier was the first francophone woman to direct a film at the NFB, “The Hour of Independence,” in 1963. The following year, she directed “La beauté même,” starring Monique Miller, one of the first films made by a woman about women. She went on to devote herself to editing, becoming a key figure in the field in Quebec and Canada, working on NFB productions including Denys Arcand’s “The Decline of the American Empire (Le Déclin de l’empire américain),” for which she won a Genie Award for Best Editing in 1987. Fortier was the subject of a film portrait in 2014 for NFB’s Making Movie History series.

The post Sign Offs appeared first on Broadcast Dialogue.