Harry Forestell 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 ...

television journalist and former news anchor for the

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is the Canadian Public broadcasting, public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a Crown corporation that serves as the national public broadcaster, with its E ...

. He is most noted as a

Canadian Screen Award The Canadian Screen Awards () are awards given for artistic and technical merit in the film industry recognizing excellence in Canadian film, English-language television, and digital media ( web series) productions. Given annually by the Academy ...

nominee for Best Host or Interviewer in a News or Information Program or Series at the

12th Canadian Screen Awards The 12th Canadian Screen Awards were presented by the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television to honour achievements in Canadian film, television and digital media production in 2023. They were held at the Canadian Broadcasting Centre in Toronto ...

in 2024.Connie Thiessen
"Canadian Screen Awards nominations by network"
''Broadcast Dialogue'', March 6, 2024. A graduate of St. Thomas University and

Carleton University Carleton University is an English-language public university, public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1942 as Carleton College, the institution originally operated as a private, non-denominational evening college to se ...

, he worked for

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 ...

as a producer of local radio programming on CBC Windsor and CBC Toronto in the early 1990s, before moving to

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

in 1995 to work as a freelancer for several international news organizations. He rejoined the CBC in 1997 as its UK correspondent, with coverage of the death of

Diana, Princess of Wales Diana, Princess of Wales (born Diana Frances Spencer; 1 July 1961 – 31 August 1997), was a member of the British royal family. She was the first wife of Charles III (then Prince of Wales) and mother of Princes William, ...

being among his first major assignments. In 1999 he returned to Canada as a business reporter, and later becoming a full-time anchor on

CBC Newsworld CBC News Network (formerly CBC Newsworld) is a Canadian English-language specialty news channel owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). It is Canada's first all-news channel, and the world's third-oldest television service of this ...

, first on '' CBC News: Morning'' and later on ''CBC News Today''. On February 15, 2010, he became the anchor of CBAT-TV's evening newscasts. In 2015 Forestell announced that he had been diagnosed with

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 ...

. He continued in the anchor role for CBC New Brunswick, and produced several pieces of journalism for the network about his treatment journey, including a 2023 first-person essay about his experiences undergoing

deep brain stimulation Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is a type of neurostimulation therapy in which an implantable pulse generator is stereotactic surgery, surgically implanted subcutaneous tissue, below the skin of the chest and connected by Lead (electronics), leads ...

surgery. In May 2023 he interviewed

Michael J. Fox Michael Andrew Fox (born June 9, 1961), known professionally as Michael J. Fox, is a Canadian and American actor and activist. Beginning his career as a child actor in the 1970s, he rose to prominence portraying Alex P. Keaton on the NBC sitcom ...

, a fellow Parkinson's patient, about the release of the documentary film '' Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie''. Broadcast on '' The National'', the interview garnered Forestell his 2024 Canadian Screen Award nomination. In October 2023, Forestell announced that he was stepping down from full-time anchoring due to his Parkinson's, although he indicated that he would be continuing to work for the network on special projects.Chris Stoodley
"Canadian TV host steps down after 13 years due to Parkinson's: What is the disease?"
''

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'', October 5, 2023.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Forestell, Harry Canadian radio reporters and correspondents Canadian television reporters and correspondents Carleton University alumni CBC Television people Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Place of birth missing (living people) St. Thomas University (New Brunswick) alumni Canadian television news anchors 20th-century Canadian journalists 21st-century Canadian journalists People with Parkinson's disease