Carol Off (born 1954/1955) is a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

journalist, commentator, and author formerly associated with

CBC Television CBC Television (also known as CBC TV, or simply CBC) is a Television in Canada, Canadian English-language terrestrial television, broadcast television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcasting, p ...

and

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 ...

Early life

Off was born in

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Manitoba. It is centred on the confluence of the Red River of the North, Red and Assiniboine River, Assiniboine rivers. , Winnipeg h ...

Manitoba Manitoba is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population ...

, in 1954 or 1955. She moved to

Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

at ten years old and later moved to

London, Ontario London is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, along the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor. The city had a population of 422,324 according to the 2021 Canadian census. London is at the confluence of the Thames River (Ontario), Thames River and N ...

. As a child, she kept a diary and enjoyed going to libraries. She dropped out of high school to go traveling and hitchhiked around

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

for 2 years. After returning, she finished high school and married for the first time. She attended the

University of Western Ontario The University of Western Ontario (UWO; branded as Western University) is a Public university, public research university in London, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on of land, surrounded by residential neighbourhoods and the Thame ...

and studied English, which began her career.

Career

Off got her start in journalism as a staff writer for ''The Gazette'', the student newspaper at the

. She graduated with a B.A. degree from Western in 1981. Off was a host of

CBC Radio One CBC Radio One is the English-language news and information radio network of the publicly owned Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. It is commercial-free and offers local and national programming. It is available on AM and FM to 98 percent o ...

's '' As It Happens'' from 2006 to 2022. Previously a

documentary A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

reporter for '' The National'', where she covered international affairs, Off also hosted the political debate series '' counterSpin'' on CBC Newsworld. She served on the board of directors of Canadian Journalists for Free Expression from 2001 to 2007. Off has been honoured for her journalism with a Gemini Award (2002), the John Drainie Award for distinguished contributions to Canadian broadcasting (2008), and a Gabriel Award (2016). Off has also written books on the Canadian military, including '' The Lion, the Fox, and the Eagle'' (2000) and ''The Ghosts of Medak Pocket: the Story of Canada's Secret War'' (2005, ). In 2006, she released ''Bitter Chocolate'', a book about the corruption and human rights abuses associated with the cocoa industry. She wrote that French-Canadian journalist Guy-André Kieffer, who was kidnapped in

Abidjan Abidjan ( , ; N'Ko script, N'ko: ߊߓߌߖߊ߲߬) is the largest city and the former capital of Ivory Coast. As of the Demographics of Ivory Coast, 2021 census, Abidjan's population was 6.3 million, which is 21.5 percent of the overall population ...

Côte d'Ivoire Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire and officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital city of Yamoussoukro is located in the centre of the country, while its largest city and ...

in 2004, had been murdered for exposing Ivorian government corruption in connection with cocoa. Her book ''All We Leave Behind: A Reporter's Journey into the Lives of Others'' (2017) won the B.C. National Award for Canadian Non-Fiction and the 2018 Ontario Historical Society Huguenot Society of Canada Award. Off has received honorary degrees from both Western University and the Royal Military College of Canada. On January 18, 2022, Off announced her retirement from ''As It Happens'' on-air, effective February 25. In 2024, Off wrote a book, ''At a Loss for Words: Conversation in an Age of Rage'' about contemporary political rhetoric and how certain political terms such as "democracy," "freedom" and "truth" have become distorted in political conversation.

Personal life

Off married painter Fred Harrison after she graduated from high school, and her only child, a son named Joel Harrison, was born in 1976. She divorced Harrison and left their son with him when she moved to Toronto after graduating from the

. Later, Off married fellow CBC broadcaster and former host of ''The Fifth Estate''

Linden MacIntyre Linden Joseph MacIntyre (born May 29, 1943) is a Canadian journalist, broadcaster and novelist. He has won ten Gemini Awards, an International Emmy and numerous other awards for writing and journalistic excellence, including the 2009 Scotiabank G ...

in 2000.

References

External links

Carol Off biography
at CBC Radio
Carol Off - On Hosting ''As It Happens'', The Importance of Public Space & Her Beginnings in Journalism
at Broadcasting Canada, July 20, 2013 {{DEFAULTSORT:Off, Carol 1950s births Canadian television reporters and correspondents Canadian radio news anchors Living people Canadian women non-fiction writers Canadian women radio hosts Canadian talk radio hosts CBC Radio hosts Journalists from Manitoba Journalists from Ontario University of Western Ontario alumni Canadian women radio journalists Canadian women television journalists Canadian war correspondents Women military writers Writers from London, Ontario Writers from Winnipeg 20th-century Canadian journalists 20th-century Canadian women writers 20th-century Canadian non-fiction writers 21st-century Canadian journalists 21st-century Canadian women writers 21st-century Canadian non-fiction writers Year of birth missing (living people) 20th-century Canadian women journalists 21st-century Canadian women journalists