RTDNA Canada recognizes Gary Maavara with a 2022 Hall of Fame Award
Toronto, ON (June 7, 2022) – RTDNA Canada is pleased to honour Gary Maavara of Corus Television, by inducting him, posthumously, into the RTDNA Canada Hall of Fame for his outstanding service to journalism.
RTDNA Canada President Fiona Conway said, “When I was the Executive Producer of CTV’s W-5, Gary would do the legal vet on our investigative stories; he was rigorous but always supported the journalism. I loved the process with him, he was a wonderful colleague.”
Gary was a graduate of Boston University and the Osgoode Hall Law School of York University. He was called to the Bar in Ontario in 1983. Gary started his career as a lawyer but soon found his way into broadcasting at CTV where he worked for 10 years. He touched every part of the business including executive producing, overseeing production of Olympic Games, Chief of Engineering, VP of Sports, and Chief Legal Counsel. He won many awards for his work, including an Emmy for his Olympic Games coverage.
After CTV, Gary was recruited by CanWest Global where he spent the next six years in a variety of executive and operating roles, which included Director of Special Projects at Global TV, Chief Operating Officer – Interactive, and Senior Vice-President, Specialty Television.
In 2004, Gary became Executive VP and General Counsel for Corus Entertainment.
Gary Maavara served on many boards such as Telelatino, the SmartRisk Foundation, the Dancer Transition Resource Centre, Cosmopolitan Television, Canadian Digital Media Network (CDMN), and the YMCA of Greater Toronto. Gary was a member of the ICT Advisory Board of the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada and on the advisory board of the Stratford campus of the University of Waterloo. He served as a director of the Canadian Association of Broadcasters, the Canadian Broadcast Museum Foundation, Canadian Women in Communication, and the Banff World Television Festival.
Gary stepped down as General Counsel of Corus in 2017 but remained an officer of the company until October of 2019. Over the last 10 years of his career Gary consulted with high-tech multimedia firms until he finally hung up his hat in 2019. Gary passed away on May 24, 2021, after five years of living with cancer.
Gary Maavara was a friend to news organizations and journalists, respected and admired by those who had the opportunity to work with him over many years. Gary was a pioneer in Canadian Broadcasting, and a strong supporter of journalists throughout his career. RTDNA Canada is proud to remember Gary’s contributions with this honour.
About RTDNA Canada
RTDNA Canada is the voice of electronic and digital journalists and news managers in Canada. The members of RTDNA Canada recognize the responsibility of broadcast and digital journalists to promote and to protect the freedom to report independently about matters of public interest and to present a wide range of expressions, opinions, and ideas. The RTDNA Canada Journalistic Code of Ethics, adopted by the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council, is used to measure fairness and accuracy in our profession.
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Contact Information
Fiona Conway
President, RTDNA Canada
president@rtdnacanada.com
Karen Mitchell
Award Chair, RTDNA Canada
karen.mitchell@bellmedia.ca
Mieke Anderson
Awards Committee, RTDNA Canada
mieka.anderson@globalnews.ca
Colleen Schmidt
Awards Committee, RTDNA Canada
colleen.schmidt@bellmedia.ca
RTDNA Canada
awards@rtdnacanda.com
www.rtdnacanada.com