Winston Maxwell "Max" Keeping, (1 April 1942 – 1 October 2015), was a Canadian broadcaster. He was vice-president of news and public affairs at

CJOH-DT CJOH-DT (channel 13) is a television station in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, part of the CTV Television Network. It is owned and operated by network parent Bell Media alongside Pembroke-licensed CTV 2 outlet CHRO-TV (channel 5). Both stations s ...

, the

CTV CTV may refer to: Television * Connected TV, or Smart TV, a TV set with integrated internet North America and South America * CTV Television Network, a Canadian television network owned by Bell Media ** CTV 2, a secondary Canadian televisio ...

station in

Ottawa, Ontario Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

. Keeping was anchor of the local evening news broadcast from 1972 until his retirement in 2010 and was the station's community ambassador until March 2012.

Biography

Keeping was born in Grand Bank,

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...

and began his news career in the late 1950s. His early work was as sports director of the St. John's '' Evening Telegram'', a post that he occupied at the age of 16. He then worked with the radio station VOCM and CJCH in Halifax. Keeping moved to Ottawa in 1965, when he became a

parliamentary A parliamentary system, or parliamentarian democracy, is a system of democratic governance of a state (or subordinate entity) where the executive derives its democratic legitimacy from its ability to command the support ("confidence") of the ...

reporter first for

CFRA CFRA is a news/ talk formatted radio station in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, owned by Bell Media. The station broadcasts on the assigned frequency of 580 kHz. CFRA's studios are located in the Bell Media Building on George Street in Downtown Ot ...

radio, and then as a parliamentary reporter for

CTV News CTV News is the news division of the CTV Television Network in Canada. The name ''CTV News'' is also applied as the title of local and regional newscasts on the network's owned-and-operated stations (O&Os), which are closely tied to the national n ...

. Keeping returned to Newfoundland in the fall of 1972 to run as a Progressive Conservative in the October federal election, in the riding of Burin—Burgeo. He came in second place behind the Liberal incumbent, Don Jamieson, with 25% of the vote. After the election he returned to Ottawa. Due to his political campaign, he was unable to return to his parliamentary bureau job at CTV. In November 1972, he joined CJOH as the local news director and was the station's

news anchor A news presenter – also known as a newsreader, newscaster (short for "news broadcaster"), anchorman or anchorwoman, news anchor or simply an anchor – is a person who presents news during a news program on TV, radio or the Internet. ...

from November 1972 until March 2010, making him one of the longest-serving Canadian television news anchors. In his more than 40 years in Ottawa, Keeping became a local celebrity. He played an active role in many charitable drives, both through his news station, and outside. He was the long-time Master of Ceremonies of the

CHEO CHEO is a pediatric health-care and research centre located in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. CHEO is also a tertiary trauma centre for children in Eastern Ontario, Nunavut, Northern Ontario and the Outaouais region of Quebec and one of only seven Leve ...

telethon A telethon (a portmanteau of "television" and "marathon") is a televised fundraising event that lasts many hours or even days, the purpose of which is to raise money for a charitable, political or other purportedly worthy cause. Most telethons ...

. It is estimated that he has participated in the collection of more than $100 million in charitable donations in the Ottawa area. This earned him a 2003 Gemini Humanitarian Award. Most recently Keeping accepted a doctorate from the

University of Ottawa The University of Ottawa (french: Université d'Ottawa), often referred to as uOttawa or U of O, is a bilingual public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on directly to the northeast of Downtown Ottaw ...

and an honorary post as patron for Learning for a Cause, a non-profit educational initiative which publishes and promotes the creative writing of high school students. In 2003, Keeping announced on-air that he had been diagnosed with

prostate cancer Prostate cancer is cancer of the prostate. Prostate cancer is the second most common cancerous tumor worldwide and is the fifth leading cause of cancer-related mortality among men. The prostate is a gland in the male reproductive system that su ...

. Later that year, a section of CHEO was named the Max Keeping Wing in recognition of his support for the hospital. Keeping announced on 3 December 2009 that he would retire as news anchor after 26 March 2010. On the same newscast, it was announced that his replacement would be

Graham Richardson Graham Frederick Richardson (born 27 September 1949) is an Australian former Labor Party politician who was a Senator for New South Wales from 1983 to 1994 and served as a Cabinet Minister in both the Hawke and Keating Governments. He is cu ...

's parliamentary bureau, who appeared on the air with Keeping and fellow anchor Carol Anne Meehan to make the announcement. After retirement, Keeping started a new job as the television station's "community ambassador." He was treated for colorectal cancer in 2012, and in 2014 was diagnosed with untreatable cancer in his lungs. Keeping died on 1 October 2015.

Awards and notable achievements

*Ontario Medal of Good Citizenship, 1983 *Member of the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the c ...

, 1991 *

Key to the City The Freedom of the City (or Borough in some parts of the UK) is an honour bestowed by a municipality upon a valued member of the community, or upon a visiting celebrity or dignitary. Arising from the medieval practice of granting respected ...

of Ottawa, 2000 *Hon.

Mac Harb Mac Harb (born November 10, 1953) is a Canadian former politician, who served successively in local Ottawa positions, as a Member of the House of Commons, and as a Senator for Ontario.J. Patrick Boyer. ''Our Scandalous Senate'' Volume 1 of Poin ...

thanked Mr. Keeping for his contributions to the city of

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

in 2001 *

Gemini Award The Gemini Awards were awards given by the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television between 1986–2011 to recognize the achievements of Canada's television industry. The Gemini Awards are analogous to the Emmy Awards given in the United State ...

for Humanitarian work, 2003 *A new wing of the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario was named in his honour in September 2003 *Inducted into the

Canadian Association of Broadcasters The Canadian Association of Broadcasters (CAB) is a trade association representing the interests of commercial radio and television broadcasters in Canada. It is co-located with the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council in Ottawa. It was first ...

' Hall of Fame in 2004 * Honorary doctorate from the

, June 2007 *

Order of Ontario The Order of Ontario () is the most prestigious official honour in the Canadian province of Ontario. Instituted in 1986 by Lieutenant Governor Lincoln Alexander, on the advice of the Cabinet under Premier David Peterson, the civilian order is adm ...

, December 2007 * Honorary doctorate from

Carleton University Carleton University is an English-language 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 serve returning Worl ...

in 2009. * Ottawa councillor

Rick Chiarelli Richard "Rick" Chiarelli (born c. 1964) is a politician in Ontario, Canada. He was an Ottawa City Councillor, and the second cousin of former Ottawa mayor and 2022 mayoral candidate Bob Chiarelli. He represented the College Ward covering part ...

announced that the city's next major

arterial road An arterial road or arterial thoroughfare is a high-capacity urban road that sits below freeways/motorways on the road hierarchy in terms of traffic flow and speed. The primary function of an arterial road is to deliver traffic from collector ...

would be called "Max Keeping Boulevard". * The pedestrian bridge over the Queensway at the Vanier Parkway was named the Max Keeping Bridge in January 2016.

References

External links

CTV Ottawa Biography
(archived)
The Max Keeping Foundation
{{DEFAULTSORT:Keeping, Max 1942 births 2015 deaths Canadian television news anchors Deaths from cancer in Ontario Journalists from Ontario Members of the Order of Canada Members of the Order of Ontario People from Grand Bank People from Ottawa CTV Television Network people Progressive Conservative Party of Canada candidates for the Canadian House of Commons Candidates in the 1972 Canadian federal election 20th-century Canadian journalists 21st-century Canadian journalists