Kirk LaPointe
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Kirk LaPointe (born December 12, 1957) is a Canadian journalist and politician.


Early life

LaPointe was born in
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 ...
, where he was raised by a single mother in what he describes as poverty conditions. He was educated at New Toronto Secondary School and
Ryerson Polytechnical Institute Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU, or Toronto Met), formerly Ryerson University, is a Public university, public research university located in Toronto, Canada. The university's core campus is situated within the Garden District, Toronto, Gar ...
, later known as
Ryerson University Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU, or Toronto Met), formerly Ryerson University, is a public research university located in Toronto, Canada. The university's core campus is situated within the Garden District in downtown Toronto, although i ...
, where he earned a bachelor's degree in Journalism. In his teens and early 20s, he hosted It's Up To You, a community channel program on Maclean-Hunter Cable Television about music. At Ryerson he was station manager at campus station
CKLN-FM CKLN-FM was a community radio station based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. From 1983 to 2011, CKLN Radio Inc. was licensed by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission as a campus-community FM radio station affiliated with Ry ...
and entertainment editor at The Eyeopener newspaper.


Career

He started at The
Canadian Press The Canadian Press (CP; , ) is a Canadian national news agency headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. Established in 1917 as a vehicle for Canadian newspapers to exchange news and information, The Canadian Press has been a private, not-for-profit c ...
as a general assignment reporter in its Toronto bureau in 1980, then moved to Ottawa in 1981, where he held roles as a parliamentary reporter, a beat specialist in communications and transportation, and a columnist on fitness. He moved back to Toronto in 1984 as CP's reporter on broadcasting, then moved into management in 1986 as lifestyles editor. He returned to Ottawa in 1987 as the bureau's news editor, then was recruited in 1989 to 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 ...
as a host on CBC Newsworld at its launch. He returned to CP in 1991 as the Ottawa bureau chief and continued as a weekly CBC Newsworld host, holding both roles until 1995. He commuted to Toronto as the CP General News editor in Toronto in 1995, then left CP to join Southam News in Ottawa as its editor-in-chief and general manager. He was recruited by Southam to move to Hamilton as editor-in-chief of the ''
Hamilton Spectator ''The Hamilton Spectator'', founded in 1846, is a newspaper published weekdays and Saturdays in Hamilton, Ontario, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. One of the largest Canadian newspapers by circulation, ''The Hamilton Spectator'' is owned by Torstar. ...
'' from 1997 until 1998. While at the Spectator, he helped prototype a national newspaper that would later become the ''
National Post The ''National Post'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet newspaper and the flagship publication of the American-owned Postmedia Network. It is published Mondays through Saturdays, with Monday released as a digital e-edition only.
'', and was hired as its founding executive editor. He then returned to the Spectator in 1999 to serve as editor and associate publisher. He was recruited in 2010 to be an
ombudsman An ombudsman ( , also ) is a government employee who investigates and tries to resolve complaints, usually through recommendations (binding or not) or mediation. They are usually appointed by the government or by parliament (often with a sign ...
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 was subsequently executive director of the Organization of News Ombudsmen.He became Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of Self-Counsel Press, a financial and legal self-help publisher, in 2013, then in 2015 joined a start-up FM station in Vancouver, Roundhouse Radio, as its morning host, then an evening host. The station discontinued in 2017. When the station launched, he also joined Glacier Media as the VP Audience and Business Development at
Business in Vancouver ''Business in Vancouver'' (''BIV'') is a weekly business news journal co-founded in 1989 by Peter Ladner in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Published on Tuesdays it receives about 62,000 readers per week with a print circulation of about 1,8 ...
. He then became its Editor-in-Chief and Glacier's VP Editorial in 2018, then Publisher and Editor-in-Chief in 2020. In 2023 he became its Executive Editor, then left the company briefly in late 2023 before returning as Glacier Media's columnist in March 2024. He is also the B.C. correspondent fo
The Hub
a national commentary site.


Mayoral campaign

In July 2014, he was chosen by the
Non-Partisan Association The Non-Partisan Association (NPA) is a municipal political party in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It was established by the city's business leaders in 1937 to challenge the democratic socialist British Columbia CCF, Co-operative Commonwe ...
, a municipal political party in
Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...
, to be the party's nominee for
Mayor of Vancouver The mayor of Vancouver is the head and chief executive officer of Vancouver, British Columbia, who is elected for a four-year term. The 41st and current officeholder is Ken Sim, who has held office since November 7, 2022. List indicate ...
in the November 15, 2014 municipal election. LaPointe received 40% of the vote (73,443 votes), coming in second behind incumbent mayor Gregor Robertson who received 46%. On election night following his defeat, LaPointe thought he might put politics "in the rearview mirror. He added: "I recognize it comes with a physical, emotional toll, and I'm not sure I want to experience that any time soon." In November 2017, he was quoted as saying he was exploring another run for the mayoralty. He later determined not to run.


Current activities

LaPointe has been an adjunct professor and executive-in-residence at the University of British Columbia Graduate School of Journalism since 2004. He teaches ethics and leadership.He writes
weekly for
Glacier Media Glacier Media is a Canadian business information and media products company. It provides news, market information and sector-specific data within North America and internationally. Glacier is headquartered in Vancouver. Its primary operations ar ...
on politics and business an
The Hub
as its B.C. correspondent. He works as Vice-President, Office of the Chairman, a
Fulmer and Co.


Electoral record


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:LaPointe, Kirk 1957 births Canadian television news anchors Canadian publishers (people) Journalists from British Columbia Journalists from Toronto Living people Politicians from Toronto Politicians from Vancouver