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15 September 2008
Mr. Alec Castonguay – 2008 Ross
Munro Media Award Recipient
The Conference of Defence Associations (CDA), in concert with
the Canadian Defence & Foreign Affairs Institute (CDFAI), is pleased
to announce that Alec Castonguay, journalist for the newspaper Le
Devoir and magazine L'actualité, has been selected as the recipient of
the 2008 Ross Munro Media Award. The selection committee was unanimous
in its decision.
With an authority based on thorough research and intellectual
integrity, Alec Castonguay offers commentary on a broad spectrum of
national security and defence issues. He not only describes people,
events and ideas at face-value, he explores their background and
potential linkages and, in so doing, offers his readers valuable
insight to some of the nation's most daunting challenges.
The Ross Munro Media Award was initiated in 2002 to recognize Canadian
journalists who have made a significant and extraordinary contribution
to increasing public understanding of Canadian defence and security
issues. Recipients of the award have produced outstanding work
regarding the efforts of the Canadian Forces in preserving Canadian
democratic values. The award consists of a replica of the Ross Munro
statue and a cheque for $2,500. Previous recipients of the award are
Stephen Thorne, Garth Pritchard, Sharon Hobson, Bruce Campion-Smith,
Christie Blatchford, and Matthew Fisher.
Alec Castonguay was born in Laval in 1979. He received a B.A. in
Journalism from Université du Québec à Montréal and has worked as a
journalist since 2001. As a journalist for the daily Le Devoir for
five years, he was first assigned to the Economy desk. In 2004 he
became the youngest parliamentary correspondent in Ottawa, for any
media organization, at 24 years of age. Since then, he has followed
the various activities of the House of Commons as a team member for Le
Devoir. Alec has followed the activities of the Department of National
Defence and the conflict in Afghanistan for over two years. He
traveled to Afghanistan in April 2007. Alec has also been a
contributor to L'actualité for two years, covering the federal scene
for Quebec's top information magazine.
The selection committee was chaired by Lieutenant-General (Ret'd)
Richard J. Evraire, Chairman CDA. Members of the Selection Committee
were Dr. J.L. Granatstein, Canadian Military Historian; Mr. Peter
Kent, VP-Corporate Communications Hill and Knowlton; Mr. Stuart
Robertson, of O'Donnell, Robertson & Sanfilippo; and Colonel (Ret'd)
Charles Keple, Vice-Chairman CDA (Public Affairs).
The Award will be presented at the CDA Institute's Vimy Dinner, which
will be attended by the Right Honourable Beverley McLachlin, Chief
Justice of Canada, on Friday, November 14, in the LeBreton Gallery of
the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa, Ontario.
Inquiries may be directed to Captain (ret'd) Peter Forsberg, Public
Affairs Officer or Mr. Arnav Manchanda, CDA Institute Project Officer
at:
TEL: (613) 236-9903 ~ FAX: (613) 236-8191
E-MAIL: pao@cda-cdai-ca ~ URL:
http://www.cda-cdai.ca
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