''First National'' was a

Canadian television Television in Canada officially began with the sign-on of the nation's first television stations in Montreal and Toronto in 1952. As with most media in Canada, the television industry, and the television programming available in that country, ...

newscast, which aired on 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 ...

's stations 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 ...

and

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 ...

from 1994 to 2001. It was also seen in

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

after Global launched there in 1997. The program's anchor was

Peter Kent James Peter Kent (born July 27, 1943) is a former Canadian journalist and former politician who served as the Conservative Member of Parliament for the riding of Thornhill from 2008 to 2021. He served as Minister of the Environment in the ...

. Although the newscast aired in only three provinces at most, its format was that of a national newscast, broadcasting national and international, rather than local news. On February 9, 2001, following Global's acquisition of the

WIC WIC may stand for: Businesses and organizations * WIC program, the U.S. Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children * Dutch West India Company, in the 17th and 18th centuries * West Island College, a system of three pr ...

group of stations, ''First National'' aired its final broadcast. Global aired WIC's ''

Canada Tonight ''Canada Tonight'' is a Canadian television newscast which aired on stations owned by Western International Communications (WIC) from 1993 to 2001. It was produced out of the studio of CHAN-TV (BCTV) in Burnaby, British Columbia. There were tw ...

'' in its place until ''

Global National ''Global National'' is the English language flagship national newscast of Canada's Global Television Network. Editorial and production staff are based out of Global's national news centre at CHAN-DT, Global BC in Burnaby, British Columbia, with Da ...

'' debuted on September 4. Kent then moved into a management role with the network;Christ Nuttal-Smith
"Newman 'jazzed' about Global gig"
''

Ottawa Citizen The ''Ottawa Citizen'' is an English-language daily newspaper owned by Postmedia Network in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. History Established as the Bytown ''Packet'' in 1845 by William Harris (journalist), William Harris, it was renamed the ''Ci ...

'', January 30, 2001. Archived by

Friends of Canadian Broadcasting Friends of Canadian Media (formerly Friends of Public Broadcasting and Friends of Canadian Broadcasting, styled FRIENDS) is a Canadian advocacy group that monitors developments in the Canadian television and radio broadcasting industries. The grou ...

. he later left broadcasting to pursue a career in Canadian politics.

References

Global Television Network original programming 1994 Canadian television series debuts 2001 Canadian television series endings 1990s Canadian television news shows 2000s Canadian television news shows Television series by Corus Entertainment {{Canada-news-tv-prog-stub