Pamela Wallin

Last updated

The Honourable
Pamela Wallin
OC SOM
ETalk2008-Pamela Wallin (cropped).jpg
Wallin in 2008
Canadian Senator
from Saskatchewan
Incumbent
Assumed office
January 2, 2009
Occupation
  • Journalist
  • diplomat
  • corporate board member

Pamela Wallin OC SOM (born April 10, 1953) is a Canadian senator, former television journalist, and diplomat. She was appointed to the senate on January 2, 2009, where she initially sat as a Conservative.

Contents

Early life and career

Wallin was born in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, and is of Swedish descent. Wallin spent much of her formative years in Wadena but completed her high school in Moose Jaw. In 1973, [1] she graduated with a degree in psychology and political science from the University of Saskatchewan, Regina Campus (now the University of Regina) and began her career as an officer at the Saskatchewan Federal Penitentiary. Politically, she was a member of The Waffle , a left-wing faction in the New Democratic Party that existed in the early to mid-1970s. [2] [3]

Journalism

In 1974, she began her career in journalism, joining CBC Radio's news division. [1] In 1978, she joined the Ottawa bureau of the Toronto Star where she remained for two years. [1] In 1980 she joined CTV and became cohost, with Norm Perry, of Canada AM . [1] In 1985, CTV named her its Ottawa bureau chief. [1] She later rejoined Canada AM, hosting alongside J. D. Roberts.

In 1992, CBC Television hired Wallin in a highly publicized move. For many years, The National had been followed by a 40-minute nightly newsmagazine hosted by Barbara Frum, called The Journal . However, as a result of Frum's death in March 1992, the CBC wanted to revamp and reposition its entire approach to news programming.

In the fall of that year, Wallin and Peter Mansbridge debuted as the co-hosts of Prime Time News . [1] Instead of Mansbridge reading the news on The National, followed by Frum introducing documentary and current affairs features and interviewing newsmakers on The Journal, the new show integrated the two former programs and featured Wallin and Mansbridge as equal co-hosts of the entire package. As well, the new show aired at 9 p.m., one hour earlier than the old National/Journal tandem.

The show fared poorly in the ratings and by 1994 had returned to its old format and time slot, with Mansbridge reading the news, followed by Wallin hosting a magazine segment which eventually took on the name The National Magazine. In April 1995, Wallin was dropped as host of The Magazine, [4] and was succeeded in June by Hana Gartner. [5]

Following her dismissal from CBC News, Wallin briefly returned to CTV as part of its coverage of the 1995 provincial election in Ontario, [6] but did not rejoin the company permanently. Instead, she created her own production company, Pamela Wallin Productions, and launched a daily interview series called Pamela Wallin Live in 1995. [1] Airing on CBC Newsworld and, in some years, on the CBC's main network as well, Pamela Wallin Live was a highly successful series which featured Wallin interviewing newsmakers, celebrities and other interesting personalities in a manner similar to CNN's Larry King Live . The show ran for four years before Wallin moved to the cable network TalkTV.

In 2000, Wallin hosted the Canadian edition of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? .

Wallin has also published two books, Since You Asked ( ISBN   978-0679310082) and Speaking of Success ( ISBN   1552633705), and has made cameo appearances on the Canadian comedy series Royal Canadian Air Farce and Corner Gas .

Diplomatic and academic appointments

In 2001, Wallin, along with Foreign Affairs Minister John Manley, was one of the organizers of the "Canada Loves New York" rally for Canadians to show their support after the September 11 attacks (Manley ran in the New York City Marathon in 2001, a contributing factor in the organization of the rally).

On June 25, 2002, Wallin's television career came to an end when Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chrétien advised Governor General Adrienne Clarkson to appoint Wallin to a four-year term as Canada's consul general in New York City, [1] her first diplomatic posting. In 2003, Wallin and Senator Jerry Grafstein were honoured by the Canadian Society of New York for their ongoing commitment to strengthening the ties between Canada and the United States. In 2006, she became a senior advisor to the president of the Americas Society and the Council of the Americas in New York. [1]

One of the perquisites of the post of Consul General was an official residence on Park Avenue. [7] In 2005, shortly before her term ended, Wallin bought a 500 square feet (46 m2) apartment for US$379,000.

In March 2007, she was appointed the seventh chancellor of the University of Guelph and was installed in June. [8] She sat on the Panel on Canada's Future Role in Afghanistan, chaired by Manley, a former cabinet minister.

She was also appointed by the governor general as an honorary colonel of the Royal Canadian Air Force. [9]

Corporate boards

In 2006, Wallin was appointed to the board of Bell Globemedia, owners of The Globe and Mail and CTV Inc. [10] From 2007 to 2011 she served on the board of Oilsands Quest, Inc. and has also served on the board of Gluskin Sheff & Associates, Inc., an investment and wealth management firm and as a member of the advisory board of BMO Harris Bank. [11] In 2013, as a result of the Senate expense claims scandal she was embroiled in, Wallin resigned from all three paid positions she held outside of the Senate: [12] as a director of Gluskin Sheff & Associates, a wealth management firm, in May 2013, [13] the board of Porter Airlines in June 2013 after having been on the board since 2008, [14] [15] and the board of the Ideas Council. [12]

Canadian Senate

On January 2, 2009, Wallin was appointed to the Senate of Canada on the advice of Prime Minister Stephen Harper. [16] Following her expulsion from the Conservative Senate Caucus in 2013, Wallin identified as an Independent from 2013 to 2016. From 2016 until 2019, Wallin has caucused with the Independent Senators Group. [17] [18] On November 4, 2019, Senator Wallin joined the Canadian Senators Group. [19]

Residency and travel expense controversy

Wallin decided to leave the Conservative caucus on May 17, 2013, until an audit into her expense claims could be completed. [20] On November 5, 2013, the Senate voted to suspend Wallin without pay for the duration of the 41st Canadian Parliament for alleged theft from the public purse. The suspension ended with dissolution of parliament for the 2015 federal election. In 2016 the Royal Canadian Mounted Police announced that criminal charges would not be laid against Wallin over her expenses. [21] She subsequently returned to the Senate in 2015. [22] [23]

Personal life

Wallin is divorced. She was diagnosed with colorectal cancer in 2001. [24]

Honours

In 1994, her home town of Wadena, Saskatchewan named its major street Pamela Wallin Drive in her honour. In 1999, she was inducted into the Saskatchewan Order of Merit, and in 2007 was made an Officer of the Order of Canada. [25] In 2008, Toastmasters International announced that Wallin would be that year's winner of their Golden Gavel award. [26]

Wallin has received 13 honorary degrees, including from Athabasca University, the University of Lethbridge and the University of Windsor.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter Mansbridge</span> Canadian broadcast journalist (born 1948)

Peter Mansbridge is a British-born Canadian retired news anchor. From 1988 to 2017, he was chief correspondent for CBC News and anchor of The National, CBC Television's flagship nightly newscast. He was also host of CBC News Network's Mansbridge One on One. Mansbridge has received many awards and accolades for his journalistic work, including an honorary doctorate from Mount Allison University, where he served as chancellor until the end of 2017. On September 5, 2016, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation announced that Mansbridge would be stepping down as chief correspondent and anchor on July 1, 2017, after the coverage of Canada's 150th-anniversary celebrations.

The National is a Canadian national television news program which serves as the flagship broadcast for the English-language news division of CBC News by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. It reports on major Canadian and international news stories, airing on CBC Television stations nationwide Sunday to Friday at 10:00 p.m. local time.

<i>CBC Prime Time News</i> Canadian television newscast

CBC Prime Time News was a Canadian nightly newscast which aired on CBC Television from 1992 to 1995.

Hana Gartner CM is a retired Canadian investigative journalist who is best known as the host and interviewer of several programs for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.

Pamela Wallin Live is a Canadian interview series which aired on CBC Newsworld from 1995 to 1999. It was hosted by Pamela Wallin.

Midday is a newsmagazine television program broadcast on CBC Television, which ran from January 7, 1985 to June 30, 2000, replacing local noon-hour newscasts on CBC stations. The program, which aired from noon to 1 p.m. on weekday afternoons, presented a mix of news, lifestyle and entertainment features.

Lillian Eva Quan Dyck, is a retired Canadian senator from Saskatchewan. A member of the Cree Gordon First Nation in Saskatchewan, and a first generation Chinese Canadian, she is the first female First Nations senator and first Canadian-born senator of Chinese descent.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mike Duffy</span> Canadian former senator and journalist (born 1946)

Michael Dennis Duffy is a former Canadian senator and Canadian television journalist. Prior to his appointment to the upper house in 2008, he was the Ottawa editor for CTV News Channel. Upon turning 75 on May 27, 2021, Duffy retired from the senate due to mandatory retirement rules.

Marie-Paule Charette-Poulin was a Canadian senator until resigning in April 2015 and was the president of the Liberal Party of Canada from 2006 to 2008. She is married to international portrait artist Bernard Poulin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jane Cordy</span> Canadian senator (born 1950)

Jane Marie Cordy is a former Canadian Senator who represented Nova Scotia from 2000 to 2024.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Linda Frum</span> Canadian politician

Linda Frum is a Canadian author and journalist, and was a Conservative member of the Senate of Canada from 2009 until 2021. She announced her retirement from the Senate effective August 27, 2021 to devote more time to other pursuits such as her role as chair of the board of the Jewish Federation of Greater Toronto.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Larry Smith (Canadian politician)</span> Canadian politician

Larry W. Smith, CQ is a Canadian athlete, businessperson and member of the Senate of Canada. He served as Leader of the Opposition in the Senate from April 2017 until November 2019.

Patrick Brazeau is a Canadian senator from Quebec. At the age of 34, he was and is the youngest member of the Senate during his appointment. From February 2006 until January 2009 he held the position of national chief of the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples. Brazeau was expelled from the Conservative caucus following his February 7, 2013 arrest for domestic assault and sexual assault. On September 15, 2015, Brazeau pleaded guilty to simple assault and cocaine possession as part of a plea deal in which other assault charges were dropped, and he was acquitted of sexual assault.

Jean-Guy Dagenais is a Canadian politician from Quebec. He was appointed to the Senate of Canada on January 17, 2012, by Stephen Harper after losing in the 2011 Canadian federal election running as a Conservative candidate in Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot. He represents the Senate division of Victoria (Quebec). In 2019, he left the Conservative Senate caucus to sit with the Canadian Senators Group, and left the Conservative party in 2022 shortly after Pierre Poilievre was elected as leader.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Denise Batters</span> Canadian politician (born 1970)

Denise Leanne Batters is a Canadian politician who has served as a senator from Saskatchewan since January 25, 2013. She was briefly ousted from the national Conservative Party of Canada caucus from November 2021 to February 2022, after criticizing then-leader Erin O'Toole, but remained a member of the Senate Conservative Caucus.

The Canadian Senate expenses scandal, also known as Duffygate, was a political scandal concerning the expense claims of certain Canadian senators which began in late 2012. Senators Patrick Brazeau, Mike Duffy, Mac Harb, and Pamela Wallin claimed travel and living allowance expenses from the Senate for which they were not eligible. Deloitte LLP was retained to provide the Senate with an independent examination of the expense claims. Duffy, Harb, and Wallin repaid ineligible amounts. Harb retired a few months into the scandal, and in November 2013, Brazeau, Duffy, and Wallin were suspended from the Senate without pay. Brazeau, Duffy, and Harb were criminally charged. On April 21, 2016, Duffy was acquitted on all charges. Charges against Harb were withdrawn and no charges were to be laid against Wallin. The scandal attracted much public attention, with as many as 73% of Canadians following it closely. Many said that the scandal impacted the 2015 Canadian general election.

Althia Raj is a Canadian political journalist and a member of the Parliamentary Press Gallery. She is a regular columnist with the Toronto Star.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">43rd Canadian Parliament</span> Parliamentary term of the Parliament of Canada

The 43rd Canadian Parliament was in session from December 5, 2019, to August 15, 2021, with the membership of its Lower House, the House of Commons of Canada, having been determined by the results of the 2019 federal election held on October 21, 2019. Parliament officially resumed on December 5, 2019, with the election of a new Speaker, Anthony Rota, followed by a speech from the throne the following day. On August 15, 2021, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau advised Governor General Mary Simon to dissolve Parliament and issue the writ of election, leading to a 5-week election campaign period for the 2021 federal election.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Biography pamelawallin.com
  2. ↑ Kingston, Anne (October 24, 2013). "The high-flying life of Pamela Wallin". Maclean's . Retrieved May 17, 2019.
  3. ↑ Facebook comment by Waffle co-founder and co-leader Mel Watkins, May 17, 2013: "It is a known fact that Pamela Wallin was in the Waffle."
  4. ↑ "CBC, Wallin come to terms after `firing' from Prime Time". Edmonton Journal , May 26, 1995.
  5. ↑ Greg Quill, "CBC picks Gartner to replace Wallin". Toronto Star , June 3, 1995.
  6. ↑ "Pam Wallin back on CTV for vote". The Gazette , June 7, 1995.
  7. ↑ Greg Weston (September 10, 2013). "Pamela Wallin selling Manhattan condo: Wallin has until Sept. 16 to repay just over $100K in disputed travel expenses". CBC News . Retrieved September 12, 2013. Wallin bought her bachelor condo during her final months as Canada's consul general in New York, and just before she had to move out of her official diplomatic digs, a spacious residence on Park Avenue.
  8. ↑ "Pamela Wallin Named University of Guelph Chancellor". CNW Newswire. March 6, 2007. Retrieved August 11, 2008.
  9. ↑ Bridges, Holly (December 9, 2009). "Senator Pamela Wallin is newest Air Force honorary colonel" (PDF). The Maple Leaf. 12 (23). Ottawa: Queen's Printer for Canada: 9. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 9, 2011. Retrieved December 11, 2009.
  10. ↑ "Bell Globemedia adds new board members". August 31, 2006. Retrieved May 17, 2013.
  11. ↑ Pamela Wallin profile, Forbes.com
  12. 1 2 "Pamela Wallin resigns from paid board positions amid audit". The Globe and Mail. Toronto. July 5, 2013. Retrieved July 5, 2013.
  13. ↑ Cudmore, James (June 7, 2013). "Saskatchewan Senator Pamela Wallin filing lists Toronto home". CBC.ca. Retrieved June 7, 2013.
  14. ↑ "Senate asked Deloitte to broaden investigation into Sen. Pamela Wallin's travel expenses". The Star. Toronto.
  15. ↑ "Senator Pamela Wallin quits Porter Airlines board". The Globe and Mail. Toronto. June 13, 2013.
  16. ↑ "Wallin, Duffy among 18 named to fill Senate seats". CBC News. December 22, 2008. Archived from the original on December 23, 2008.
  17. ↑ "The Hon. Pamela Wallin, O.C., S.O.M., Senator". Library of Parliament. Retrieved May 17, 2019.
  18. ↑ Young, Leslie (May 29, 2018). "Senator introducing bill to ban payments for blood donation". Global News. Retrieved May 17, 2019.
  19. ↑ "Senators List". Senate of Canada. Retrieved November 5, 2019.
  20. ↑ "Sen. Pamela Wallin recuses herself from Conservative caucus". CTV News. May 17, 2013. Retrieved May 17, 2013.
  21. ↑ Tasker, John Paul (May 19, 2016). "Senator Pamela Wallin won't face RCMP charges over expenses". CBC News . Retrieved May 17, 2019.
  22. ↑ Smith, Joanna (September 3, 2015). "Her suspension expired, Sen. Pamela Wallin returns to work". The Toronto Star . Retrieved May 17, 2019.
  23. ↑ Mas, Susana (October 30, 2015). "Pamela Wallin will resume sitting in Senate when Parliament convenes". CBC News . Retrieved May 17, 2019.
  24. ↑ "Senator Pamela Wallin taking a break from committee work, office says". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. April 2, 2013. Retrieved June 14, 2013.
  25. ↑ "Governor General Announces New Appointments to the Order of Canada". Website of the Governor General of Canada. Governor General of Canada. June 29, 2007. Archived from the original on May 4, 2008. Retrieved August 11, 2008.
  26. ↑ Ray, Regan (July 14, 2008). "Wallin wins Golden Gavel award". J-Source. The Canadian Journalism Project. Archived from the original on December 20, 2010. Retrieved August 11, 2008.
Academic offices
Preceded by Chancellor of the University of Guelph
2007–2011		Succeeded by
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.