Andy Barrie, (born January 30, 1945) is an

American Canadian American Canadians are Canadians of American descent. The term is most often used to refer to Canadians who migrated from or have ancestry from the United States. This may include people born in the United States who have naturalized as Canadian ...

radio personality most known for his work at

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

radio stations, first at

CFRB CFRB (1010 AM) is a commercial radio station in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is owned by Bell Media and carries a News/Talk radio format. Its studios and offices are in the Entertainment District at 250 Richmond Street West. One of the oldes ...

and later as host of ''

Metro Morning Metro Morning is CBC Radio One's local morning program in Toronto, airing on CBLA-FM. The program airs from 5:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. weekday mornings, and has frequently been Toronto's highest-rated radio program in its timeslot. ''Metro Mornin ...

'' on

CBLA-FM CBLA-FM (99.1 MHz) is a non-commercial radio station in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Owned and operated by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the station is the flagship station of the CBC Radio One network, broadcasting a mix of news and talk. ...

from 1995 until his retirement on March 1, 2010.

Early life

Born in

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the List of United States ...

, Barrie moved with his family to

Yonkers, New York Yonkers () is the List of municipalities in New York, third-most populous city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and the most-populous City (New York), city in Westchester County, New York, Westchester County. A centrally locate ...

in 1952, where he attended public schools, going on to major in theater at

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College ( ) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, Dartmouth is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the America ...

Hanover, New Hampshire Hanover is a New England town, town located along the Connecticut River in Grafton County, New Hampshire, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, its population was 11,870. The town is home to the Ivy League university ...

. Barrie first got involved with radio while a student at Dartmouth, and after graduation he began a career in radio: WCCC-FM in

Hartford, Connecticut Hartford is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The city, located in Hartford County, Connecticut, Hartford County, had a population of 121,054 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 ce ...

WAYE WAYE (1220 AM) is a radio station broadcasting a Spanish variety format. Licensed to Birmingham, Alabama, United States, the station serves the Birmingham market. The station is currently owned by Dulce and Maria Rivera, through licensee Rive ...

Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...

and

WASH-FM WASH (97.1 MHz) is a commercial FM radio station owned and operated by iHeartMedia and located in Washington, D.C. Known on-air as "WASH-FM", the station airs an adult contemporary radio format. Studios and offices are on Rockville Pike (Maryla ...

, then a

Metromedia Metromedia, Inc. (also often MetroMedia) was an American media company that owned radio station, radio and television stations in the United States from 1956 to 1986 and controlled Orion Pictures from 1988 to 1997. Metromedia was established in ...

station in

Washington, DC Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and Federal district of the United States, federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from ...

. Given

Conscientious Objector A conscientious objector is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of conscience or religion. The term has also been extended to objecting to working for the military–indu ...

status by his local draft board during the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

, Barrie trained as a combat medic. In 1969, he received orders to be shipped to

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

. A conversation with his brother, a career officer who had just returned from two years there, confirmed Barrie's decision to

desert A desert is a landscape where little precipitation occurs and, consequently, living conditions create unique biomes and ecosystems. The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected surface of the ground to denudation. About one-third of the la ...

and leave the U.S. for Canada. He later received a

general discharge A military discharge is given when a member of the armed forces is released from their obligation to serve. Each country's military has different types of discharge. They are generally based on whether the persons completed their training and the ...

from the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

, became a Canadian citizen, and is free to travel to the U.S.

Career in radio

Barrie was introduced to

CJAD CJAD (800 AM) is a commercial radio station operating in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The station has an English language news/talk radio format and identifies itself on-air as ''CJAD 800''. Owned and operated by Bell Media, it has a daytime power ...

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

, and when one of the station's long-time commentators resigned in protest during the

October Crisis The October Crisis () was a chain of political events in Canada that started in October 1970 when members of the Front de libération du Québec (FLQ) kidnapped the provincial Labour Minister Pierre Laporte and British diplomat James Cross f ...

of 1970, Barrie was named as his replacement. In 1977, he moved to

and a job at

, where his commentaries won him an

ACTRA The Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists (ACTRA) is a Canadian trade union representing performers in English-language media. It has over 30,000 members working in film, television, radio, and all other recorded media. Th ...

award. He also worked briefly as an anchor and reporter for the

Global Television Network The Global Television Network (more commonly called Global, or occasionally Global TV) is a Television in Canada, Canadian English language, English-language terrestrial television, terrestrial television network. It is currently Canada's se ...

. In 1995, he was invited to join

CBC Radio CBC Radio is the English-language radio operations of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The CBC operates a number of radio networks serving different audiences and programming niches, all of which (regardless of language) are outlined below ...

as the host of

's morning drive-time show, ''

'', in

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, the talk and current affairs program that became the top-rated morning radio show in Toronto. On June 29, 2007, Barrie revealed to his listeners that he had been diagnosed with early-stage

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a neurodegenerative disease primarily of the central nervous system, affecting both motor system, motor and non-motor systems. Symptoms typically develop gradually and non-motor issues become ...

. Barrie said he intended to continue as a broadcaster for at least another three years. On February 1, 2010, he announced his retirement from ''Metro Morning''. Barrie's last day as host was Thursday, February 25, 2010. He was succeeded by

Matt Galloway Matt Galloway (born 1970)"Matt Galloway ...

. June 16, 2010, Barrie was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Laws degree by Toronto's York University. On December 30, 2012, it was announced that Barrie was admitted to the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada () is a Canadian state order, national order and the second-highest Award, honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the Canadian Centennial, ce ...

for his achievements in Canadian broadcasting, and for his advocacy on behalf of those living with Parkinson's disease.

Personal life

Andy Barrie was married in 1970 to Dr. Mary Cone Barrie, who retired in 2005 as the director of the School of Continuing Studies at the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...

. Their daughter Jessie also has a doctorate in educational leadership and is the head of Bosque School, an independent school for students in grades 6–12, in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Mary Cone Barrie died on February 18, 2009. Barrie took a leave of absence from the CBC from November 2008 to March 2009 to care for her during her illness.

References

External links

Former Metro Morning host Andy Barrie battles Parkinson’s with brain surgery, ''Toronto Star'', September 2014Andy Barrie: The Voice - documentary by Lana Šlezić
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barrie, Andy Living people 1945 births American emigrants to Canada Canadian radio reporters and correspondents American conscientious objectors Dartmouth College alumni Dartmouth College alumni missing graduation year Radio personalities from Baltimore Mass media people from Yonkers, New York Canadian television reporters and correspondents Canadian talk radio hosts CBC Radio hosts Members of the Order of Canada People with Parkinson's disease Naturalized citizens of Canada Vietnam War draft evaders