John Hinds

Chair (public member)

John Hinds is the former president and CEO of News Media Canada where he served as the industry’s voice on public policy issues and managing the organization’s comprehensive research and marketing material portfolio.  A lawyer by training, Hinds has previously served in senior political roles both federally and provincially. He also has extensive experience as a public affairs consultant and has served on a number of boards, including: The United Way of Toronto, the Ontario Trillium Foundation, Harbourfront Centre and …

Janice Neil

Vice-chair (public member)

Janice Neil is the former chair of Toronto Metropolitan’s School of Journalism, teaching students in the Bachelor of Journalism and Masters of Journalism programs. After joining the faculty in 2007, she served as Editor-in-Chief of J-Source.ca a national website providing information, commentary and resources on the Canadian journalism industry. Her earlier professional journalism career included working as the senior producer of CBC Radio 1’s Metro Morning, TVOntario’s Studio 2 and as a reporter for CBC in London (UK), Toronto and Regina. She was also a member …

Lucy Becker

Lucy Becker is a retired public affairs/communications executive who has an extensive background in the regulation of the investment, legal, health and bereavement sectors. Since retiring in 2021 from the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada, a pan Canadian self-regulatory organization with oversight of the investment industry and trading on Canada’s capital markets, she was appointed by the Ontario Government to the Board of Directors of the Bereavement Authority of Ontario and the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario …

Carmen Crépin

Carmen Crépin is lawyer and member of Quebec Bar since 1974. After private practice, she served in different legal and administrative positions with Quebec Transport, Justice, and Solicitor general ministries before being appointed Chief Coroner Inquests and Deputy Chief Coroner. In 1989, Crépin joined the financial sector as Secretary of Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec and Fonds de Solidarité FTQ before being appointed Chair of Quebec Securities Commission. She later spent time with the Investment Dealers Association, a …

Myles Leslie

Myles Leslie is an associate professor in the Department of Community Health Sciences and School of Public Policy at the University of Calgary. A seasoned researcher, his academic fields are rooted in both criminology and media. The subject of his Master’s thesis at the University of British Columbia was “Risk Reporting in the Canadian Media” which also followed a stint for CBC News before he returned to university and a doctorate in criminology. His award-winning academic work is today focussed …

George E. Lafond

George E. Lafond is a member of the Muskeg Lake (Treaty 6) Cree Nation in Saskatchewan. He was raised in the community by his mother, one of the first women chiefs to hold office in Canada, the late Senator Alpha Lafond, and his father, a veteran of WWII and the Korean Conflict, Albert Lafond, along with his brothers and sisters and extended family. George has been involved in community development and service in a variety of roles during his professional …

Alexandra Brown

Alexandra Brown is a retired lawyer who practiced tax litigation in national law firms and in the federal public service for over 35 years. Throughout that period, she was very involved in mentoring and continuing education in the legal profession. Since retiring from practice, she has served on the Judicial Advisory Committee for the Tax Court of Canada. Throughout her adult life, she has also consistently volunteered in her community, including serving as a director for a variety of charitable boards, …

Anthony Hylton

Retired recently after a 32 year career in the Ontario Public Service. First as a Human Resources Consultant for various ministries (Ministry of Government Services, Management Board Secretariat, and Ministry of the Attorney General), and then serving 4 Lieutenant Governors of Ontario – 10 years as Chief of Staff and Private Secretary. He has travelled extensively in the province, and has had the privilege of engaging with Ontario’s varied Indigenous and cultural communities; political leadership at all orders of government; …

Natasha Hassan

The Globe and Mail

Natasha Hassan has been a journalist for 28 years, working for the Financial Post, National Post and The Globe and Mail respectively. She has been an editorial writer, comment editor and business editor. She is currently the Opinion editor of the Globe, overseeing staff columnists and freelance contributors, as well as the 12-page Saturday Opinion section.

Rob Roberts

Postmedia - The National Post

Rob Roberts is editor-in-chief of the National Post, where he has worked in various editing roles since it started up in 1998, minus a stint as Atlantic Bureau Chief for The Canadian Press from 2015-19. He previously worked for his hometown Montreal Gazette, as well as the now-defunct Daily News in Halifax as a reporter and copy editor, and at CKCW-CFQM Radio in Moncton, N.B., where among other things he produced a Top 40 countdown.

Doug Cudmore

The Toronto Star

Doug Cudmore is a senior Toronto editor at the Toronto Star, overseeing a wide range of files, including crime and justice, municipal politics, urban affairs, transportation and housing. A Ryerson journalism graduate, he has held a variety of newsroom management roles at the Star, including Business Editor, Deputy City Editor, and Entertainment Editor. He previously worked at The Globe & Mail.

Abbas Homayed

Laurentian Publishing Ltd./Village Media

As Vice President of Laurentian Publishing Ltd. and Publisher of Northern Life newspaper, Abbas Homayed provides leadership direction to multiple media and events operations that deliver online and print coverage of local, regional and provincial news; promote the growth of local businesses; showcase the efforts of community organizations; and spotlight the contributions of community-minded individuals. He is the President of the Canadian Community Newspapers Association. He also served as President of the Ontario Community Newspapers Association from 2008 to 2010. In 1988, …

Paul Samyn

FP Newspapers

Paul Samyn has been part of the Winnipeg Free Press newsroom for more than a quarter century, working his way up after starting as a rookie reporter in 1988. And if you count the time he spent delivering the newspaper as a boy growing up in St. James, his connection to the Free Press goes back even further. As a reporter, Samyn wrote for every section of the paper, covered elections, wars overseas and the funerals of a royal princess …

Sophie Gaulin

La Liberté

Born in Bordeaux, in the southwest of France, Sophie Gaulin spent a good part of her childhood on a sailboat. This way of life pushed her to see the planet without too many borders. She moved to Winnipeg in 2003. She took over the management of the Franco-Manitoban newspaper La Liberté in 2009. Her philosophy, ”Go Big or Go Home”, leads her to transform the challenges of local print media into new business opportunities. Gaulin enjoys collaborating with her colleagues …

Philip Wolf

Black Press Media

Philip Wolf has been a journalist on Vancouver Island for more than 25 years. He began his career at the Cowichan Valley Citizen and was the managing editor at the Nanaimo Daily News before assuming a similar role with the Vancouver Island Free Daily and the PQB News. He enjoys coaching a variety of sports.

Brent Jolly

Managing director

Brent Jolly is the managing director of the National NewsMedia Council of Canada (NNC). He previously served as the NNC’s director of communications, research, and community management. Prior to joining the NNC in 2016, Brent worked as a journalist with a variety of news outlets as both a writer and editor. In addition to his work with the NNC, Brent also serves the national president of the Canadian Association of Journalists. He is a co-author of the study ‘Good News, Bad …

Cara Sabatini

Director of Dispute Resolution

Cara Sabatini is the director of dispute resolution. She received a certificate in alternative dispute resolution from York University, and completed a program in data journalism from the University of King’s. She is the co-author of the joint study with Ryerson University, ‘Good News, Bad News, a snapshot of conditions at small market newspapers in Canada.’ As a freelance journalist and editor for academic manuscripts, her work primarily focuses on law and policy issues and has appeared in various North …