Canadian Newspapers and their Origins

Confused by the state of the Canadian newspaper industry and the structure of ownership, the staff at the “Bud” Johnston Library at the University of Western Ontario gathered the information below from the respective websites of each newspaper. It is found along with other information devoted to Major Canadian Newspapers. It is aggregated here to assist researchers.
This information was taken from each site in 2007 and some of it may no longer be correct. It is presented here for historical purposes.

Alberta:

Calgary Herald

www.canada.com/calgaryherald/
Teacher Thomas Braden arrived just ahead of the Canadian Pacific Railway and waited for his friend Andrew M. Armour, a printer who was bringing with him a hand press. Calgary's rail lines ended at the river, so that press had to be floated across the river to a tent set up on the banks of the Elbow River.
From this unpromising plant came the first issue of The Calgary Herald, Mining and Ranche Advocate and General Advertiser. It hit the young town's streets in 1883, with four pages and selling 150 copies once a week.
The Herald along with the Canadian Pacific Railway and the Hudson Bay Company were the first three companies to set up business in Calgary. The newspaper grew with Calgary, and eventually moved its operations downtown in 1913 to the corner of 7th Ave. and 1st St. S.W.
In November 2000 The Calgary Herald became part of the Southam Publications division
of CanWest Global Communications.
This information was taken from this site in 2007 and some of it may no longer be correct. It is presented here for historical purposes.

Edmonton Journal

www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/
It all began at the back of the Shamrock Fruit Store in 1903. Amid apple crates and potato sacks, three enterprising newsmen produced the first edition of the Edmonton Journal. A century later, we remain Edmonton's most trusted voice, providing a fresh perspective on news, sports and entertainment that's picked up by more Albertans than any other daily newspaper.
The Edmonton Journal and edmontonjournal.com are published by the Edmonton Journal Group Inc., a CanWest company. Both the newspaper and the website are published daily except selected holidays.
This information was taken from this site in 2007 and some of it may no longer be correct. It is presented here for historical purposes

The Examiner (Edmonton)

www.edmontonexaminer.com/
The first edition debuted in November 1977 and was produced by Grove Publishing on 95 Avenue and 156 Street.
By August 1978, the company also began producing the North Edmonton Examiner.
In 1979, the present day citywide Examiner began to take shape. In June, the north and west papers were purchased by Pennysaver Publications, a division of the London Free Press Printing out of London, Ont. By September of that year, the South Edmonton Times was also bought by the Free Press, and all three papers became known as the Edmonton Examiner.
London Free Press Printing - later called Netmar - owned the Examiner for most of its existence. In 1997, the publication was sold to its present day owners Bowes Publishers Limited. Bowes Publishers includes over 100 papers concentrated mainly in Western Canada and Ontario. But the company got its start right here in Alberta at the Grande Prairie Herald Tribune under the leadership of James E. Bowes.
Bowes Publishers is now a subsidiary of Sun Media, a Quebecor Company.
This information was taken from this site in 2007 and some of it may no longer be correct. It is presented here for historical purposes

British Columbia

The Province (Vancouver)

www.canada.com/theprovince/
The Province and The Vancouver Sun, the two major daily papers in British Columbia, are published by Pacific Newspaper Group Inc., a CanWest company.
The Province newspaper has been a vital part of the community since 1898. It has special responsibilities to the community and its people, and the newspaper takes those responsibilities very seriously.
The Province has been a daily newspaper since 1898.
This information was taken from this site in 2007 and some of it may no longer be correct. It is presented here for historical purposes

Vancouver Sun

www.canada.com/vancouversun/
The Vancouver Sun is a daily newspaper first published in the Canadian province of British Columbia on February 12, 1912. The paper is currently published by the Pacific Newspaper Group Inc, a division of the CanWest MediaWorks Income Fund, which is affiliated with CanWest Global Communications company. It is published six days a week, Monday to Saturday.
Although its staff of reporters has shrunken considerably in recent years, the Sun still has the largest newsroom in Vancouver. The Sun is a broadsheet newspaper and is not part of the Sun Media chain that operates tabloid papers in Toronto, Ottawa, Winnipeg, Calgary and Edmonton.
This information was taken from this site in 2007 and some of it may no longer be correct. It is presented here for historical purposes

Victoria Times Colonist

www.canada.com/victoriatimescolonist/
The Times Colonist was formed by the merger, in 1980, of the Victoria Daily Times, established in 1884, and the British Colonist (later the Daily Colonist), established in 1858 by Amor De Cosmos, who was also British Columbia's second premier.
The Times Colonist is owned by CanWest Global Communications of Winnipeg, Manitoba. Other daily newspapers in the group, as listed on the CanWest website, include the Vancouver Sun, the Vancouver Province, the Edmonton Journal, the Calgary Herald, the Saskatoon Star Phoenix, the Regina Leader Post, the Ottawa Citizen, the Windsor Star, The Gazette of Montreal, and the National Post. CH News Vancouver Island is also owned by CanWest Global, and often works with the Times Colonist on stories. As well, CanWest Global owns a number of other Vancouver Island papers, including the Nanaimo Daily News, Alberni Valley Times, Cowichan Citizen and Comox Valley Echo.
This information was taken from this site in 2007 and some of it may no longer be correct. It is presented here for historical purposes

Manitoba

Winnipeg Free Press

www.winnipegfreepress.com/
From the day the first edition rolled off the presses in 1872, the Winnipeg Free Press has been an integral part of the city and province it serves. It is a position the newspaper is certain to maintain in the new millennium.
Part of the for the Free Press's success can be attributed to the fact that it is only two years younger than the province of Manitoba, which joined Confederation in 1870, and actually two years older than the City of Winnipeg, which was incorporated in 1874. the result is that the newspaper has been around as long as the community itself, faithfully recording the growth and development of a muddy Prairie settlement at the forks of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers into one of Canada's leading cities and the capital of a thriving province of more than one million people.
Sir Clifford Sifton - Western patriarch, federal cabinet minister, and owner of the Free Press at the turn of the century. It is a reputation that can be traced back to the original owner and editor of the Free Press, W.F. Luxton, and his partner John A. Kenny. Together, these men launched a newspaper that was to grow into a formidable journalistic and commercial force and serve as the linchpin for a national chain of newspapers stretching across much of the country.
In December, 2001, a new era began for the Free Press. The newspaper, along with sister paper Brandon Sun, was bought from Thomson Newspapers by FP Canadian Newspapers Limited Partnership, a company founded by Ronald Stern and Bob Silver, two businessmen with strong Winnipeg roots. Stern and Silver, both born and raised in the city, have been partners for 20 years in Western Glove Works and, for lesser amounts of time, in other businesses, including two large newsprint mills in Alberta and Ontario. Stern is also the former publisher of Vancouver Magazine.
The purchase of the Free Press by Stern and Silver bucked the North American trend toward bigger media companies. With the purchase, FP Canadian Newspapers Limited Partnership became the owner of the largest independent newspaper in Canada.
This information was taken from this site in 2007 and some of it may no longer be correct. It is presented here for historical purposes

Winnipeg Sun

www.winnipegsun.com/
On August 27, 1980, Southam Newspapers closed the Winnipeg Tribune after 90 years in publication, leaving Winnipeg with only one daily newspaper, the Winnipeg Free Press.
While planning for The Winnipeg Sun was taking place, another group that was publishing The Downtowner and The Suburban, had publicly stated in their editorial they were strongly considering transforming their weeklies into Winnipeg's next major daily newspaper. However this did not pan out.
In response to demand for a new newspaper voice in the city, the Winnipeg Sun was announced at a press conference in October, 1980, and first published on November 5, 1980. Its founders were Al Davies, Frank Goldberg, Bill Everitt and Tom Denton, with Denton being the first publisher. It was initially published Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Afternoon home delivery began on December 19, 1980. Carriers collected $1.50 every two weeks from subscribers.
It extended its publication cycle to include Tuesday and Thursday editions on April 27, 1981. The paper added a Sunday edition on September 12, 1982. The Sun moved to seven day publication in 1992.

In February, 1983, Quebecor invested in the newspaper, at a time when circulation of The Sun had grown to 34,000 daily. Lack of advertisers and not owning its own printing press caused the paper's debts to grow. The new owners reviewed continuing Winnipeg magazine, but by June 1984 the last edition was published.
On January 5, 1999, it acquired the Sun Media chain of newspapers. On May 10, 1999, the newspaper was relaunched, taking on an appearance consistent with the Toronto Sun, the Edmonton Sun, the Calgary Sun and the Ottawa Sun. The current publisher is Ed Huculak.

This information was taken from this site in 2007 and some of it may no longer be correct. It is presented here for historical purposes

Newfoundland:

The Telegram: Newfoundland

http://www.thetelegram.com/
In 1996, Thomson sold The Telegram to Hollinger Inc. On November 15, 2000, as part of the largest transaction in the history of the Canadian media industry, Hollinger officially sold CanWest Global Communications Corp. and its major metropolitan daily newspapers in Canada, including The Telegram. On August 9, 2002, The Telegram was then purchased by Montreal-based GTC Transcontinental Inc.
In early 2004, The Telegram started offering to readers around the world electronic subscriptions to the full newspaper via the Internet at www.thetelegram.com.
On April 3, 2004, The Telegram celebrated its 125th Anniversary and continues to be Newfoundland and Labrador's largest daily newspaper.
This information was taken from this site in 2007 and some of it may no longer be correct. It is presented here for historical purposes

Nova Scotia

Daily News (Halifax)

www.hfxnews.ca/
The Daily News, now a division of Transcontinental Media, traces its roots to 1974, when David and Diana Bentley and Patrick and Joyce Simms founded The Great Eastern News Company Ltd. to publish the weekly broadsheet The Bedford-Sackville News.
In 1978, The Great Eastern News Company acquired a press and moved to a new building on Sackville Drive.
Newfoundland Capital Corporation acquired a controlling interest on July 3, 1985, and complete ownership in 1987, which coincided with a move from Agricola St. to Brownlow Ave. in Dartmouth's Burnside Industrial Park. In 1988, the combined muscle of NCC investment capital and a new management team initiated sweeping changes, including a redesign of the paper, a new computer system for circulation, and a press upgrade that allowed full colour on the front page.
On July 1, 1997, NCC owner Harry Steele sold The Daily News to Southam Inc. and the paper became part of a national chain. Just over three years later, on Nov. 15, 2000, it joined an even bigger national media chain when Hollinger officially sold CanWest Global Communications Corp. its major metropolitan daily newspapers in Canada, thus making The Daily News part of the largest transaction in the history of the Canadian media industry.
On Aug. 9, 2002, The Daily News was purchased by GTC Transcontinental Inc., the seventh largest printer in North America and the fourth largest print media group in Canada. Transcontinental is also Canada's leading printer in the flyer, book and newspaper niches, and a strong second in magazines, catalogues, directories and other commercial products.
This information was taken from this site in 2007 and some of it may no longer be correct. It is presented here for historical purposes

The Herald (Halifax)

www.herald.ns.ca/
The Halifax Herald Limited published two daily newspapers until March 1, 2004. The Chronicle-Herald was the older of the two, starting on January 14, 1875; and, The Mail-Star, starting on October 23, 1879. Following extensive research with the public and staff, it was decided that, effective March 1, 2004, the two newspapers would be combined into one product and packaged as The Chronicle Herald. The Sunday Herald began publication on April 19, 1998.
The Dennis family connection with the newspaper is as old as the first issue of the Morning Herald. William Dennis, who had emigrated from England to Nova Scotia in the early 1870's as a penniless boy, was able by 1875 to commit $50 to the purchase of one share in the firm and was also the junior of two reporters. In 1907 Dennis acquired the remainder of the shares from the estate of Mr. John James Stewart, first Publisher of The Herald. William provided the leadership in the establishment of the city in the successful effort to build circulation. His frequent trips throughout the province in search of new subscribers and news for both the morning and afternoon papers are a family legend, the single-mindedness with which he pursued his journalistic goals a public one. Upon Dennis' death in 1920, a majority interest in the company passed to a nephew, William Henry Dennis (1889-1954). Graham William Dennis is the present owner of the company and its chief executive officer.
This information was taken from this site in 2007 and some of it may no longer be correct. It is presented here for historical purposes

Nunavit

Nunatsiaq News (Iqaluit)

www.nunatsiaq.com/
Nunatsiaq News is an English-Inuktitut weekly newspaper that has served the people of [Nunavut] and the Nunavik region of Arctic Quebec since 1973.
Nunatsiaq News is circulated across Nunavut through an arrangement with Arctic Co-operatives. Nunatsiaq News boasts the largest Nunavut circulation of any paper and is available in every Nunavut community.
Nunatsiaq News is owned by Nortext Publishing Corporation.
This information was taken from this site in 2007 and some of it may no longer be correct. It is presented here for historical purposes

Ontario

Globe and Mail (Toronto)

www.theglobeandmail.com/
The history of The Globe began in Toronto in 1843 with the arrival of George Brown, a tall, angular Edinburgh Scot of 25. The Globe was bought by a syndicate whose members included Senator Robert Jaffray. In 1888, the Jaffray family obtained control and kept it until 1936, during which time the newspaper adopted the slogan Canada’s National Newspaper as its influence and circulation grew.
In 1980, Thomson Newspapers Ltd. of Toronto acquired control of FP Publications and The Globe and Mail. Mr. Doyle (who was later appointed to the Senate) was succeeded as Editor-in-chief in 1983 by Norman Webster, who was in turn succeeded by William Thorsell in 1989. In 1992, Mr. Megarry was succeeded as publisher by David Clark. Mr. Megarry returned as interim publisher in November 1993. In May 1994, Roger Parkinson was named publisher and chief executive.
In 1979, The Globe became the first newspaper in the world to produce a full text commercial database containing every story from each issue (dating back to 1977), and the first to publish electronically and in print on the same day. An electronic information division called InfoGlobe was established to offer on-line access to this database and a variety of other information sources. In 1992, InfoGlobe changed its name to Globe Information Services.
Globe Information Services later changed its name to Globe Interactive, and GI has emerged as a powerhouse in the Canadian Internet community. The signature site, globeandmail.com, launched a breaking news service in June 2000 and quickly became a leader in the Internet news field. Another site, workopolis.com, is Canada's leading site for job seekers. And the financial sites, globeinvestor.com and globefund.com, are a staple for Canadians who enjoy tracking their stocks and mutual funds. Globe Interactive also features sites that deal with books and cars.
In 1999, the Globe got into the television business with the launch of ROBTv, a cable channel devoted to business news and opinion.
On Jan. 9, 2001, The Globe and Mail became part of a new and dynamic Canadian media company, Bell Globemedia Publishing Inc. The new company blends Canada’s National Newspaper, a major television network, CTV, a powerful sports broadcaster, TSN, and two powerful Internet brands, Globe Interactive and Sympatico/Lycos..

This information was taken from this site in 2007 and some of it may no longer be correct. It is presented here for historical purposes

London Free Press

www.lfpress.com/
The LFP began as the Canadian Free Press, founded by William Sutherland in 1847. It first began printing as a weekly newspaper in 1849. In 1852, it was purchased for $500 by Josiah Blackburn, who renamed it The London Free Press and Daily Western Advertiser. In 1855 Blackburn turned the weekly newspaper into a daily.
From 1863 to 1936 The London Free Press competed for readership with the London Advertiser, which was a daily evening newspaper. The Free Press has usually been a morning paper, but for many years, it also published an evening paper. Both morning and evening editions were published from the 1950s through to 1981, when the evening edition was permanently retired.
The Blackburn family was also involved in other forms of media in London. They established CFPL in 1933, CFPL-FM in 1948 and CFPL-TV in 1953. The radio stations are now owned by Corus Entertainment, and the television station is owned by CHUM Limited.

In 1997 the Blackburn family sold the newspaper to Sun Media Corporation, with new, London-born publisher John Paton introducing a Sunday edition. Shortly thereafter, Sun Media was purchased by Quebecor Inc. during the Canadian newspaper wars of 1997. Today, The London Free Press is owned by Quebecor Media Inc.
This information was taken from this site in 2007 and some of it may no longer be correct. It is presented here for historical purposes

National Post (Toronto)

www.canada.com/nationalpost/

The Post was founded in 1998 by Conrad Black to combat what he believed was an "over-liberalizing" of editorial policy in Canadian newspapers, especially of the Globe and Mail. Black built the new paper around the Financial Post, an established business-oriented newspaper in Toronto which he purchased from Sun Media in 1997. (Financial Post was retained as the name of the new paper's business section.) Outside Toronto, the Post was built on the editorial, distribution, and printing infrastructure of Black's national newspaper chain, formerly called Southam Newspapers, that included papers such as the Ottawa Citizen, Montreal Gazette, Calgary Herald, and Vancouver Sun. The Post became Black's national flagship title, and massive amounts of start-up spending were dedicated to the product in its first few years under editor Ken Whyte.
The Post was unable to maintain momentum in the market without continuing to spend heavily and accumulate mounting financial losses. At the same time, Conrad Black was becoming preoccupied by impending troubles with his debt-heavy media empire, Hollinger International. Black finally decided to divest his Canadian media holdings, including the Post – a move that shocked Post supporters and delighted the paper's ideological adversaries. Black sold the Post to CanWest Global Communications Corp, controlled by Israel Asper, in two stages – 50% in 2000, along with the entire Southam newspaper chain, and the remaining 50% in 2001. CanWest Global also owns the Global Television Network, and there has been heavy cross-promotion between the company's newspaper and television properties.
In September 2001, the Aspers imposed an austerity regime on the paper, forcing editor Ken Whyte to drop the arts and sports sections. The move triggered a plunge in circulation from which the Post never fully recovered, even when the dropped sections were restored. The Aspers' ownership of the paper, combined with drastic budget cuts and staff layoffs, triggered a number of staff defections as the newspaper's future seemed increasingly uncertain. Rumours about the Post's imminent closure were chronic.
In early 2003, Izzy Asper purged top management at the Post, including Whyte and deputy editor Martin Newland, due to political differences and the paper's heavy financial losses, which were estimated to have peaked at $60 million annually. Asper hired Matthew Fraser as Editor-in-Chief. He had been the paper's media columnist from its inception and was regarded as close to the Aspers. Fraser's tenure at helm of the Post was marked by further budget cuts, restructuring, and staff layoffs, while doubts continued about the long-term future of the money-losing paper in its commercial war with the Globe and Mail. Fraser also was forced to fire two Post writers, including a high-profile columnist, for plagiarism. Another high-profile gossip columnist was fired for a salacious article about Canada's Governor General. Staff defections continued, notably among high-profile columnists such as Mark Steyn, who were loyal to the conservative Post under Conrad Black.
Izzy Asper died suddenly in October 2003, leaving his media empire in the hands of his two sons, Leonard and David Asper, the latter serving as chairman of the Post. Fraser departed in 2005 after the arrival of a new publisher, Les Pyette – the paper's seventh publisher in seven years. Pyette, a former publisher of the racy tabloid, Toronto Sun, aggressively took the Post downmarket with splashy tabloid-style tone and look. Fraser's deputy editor, Doug Kelly succeeded him as editor, though Pyette was regarded as firmly in contol of the newsroom as a hands-on publisher. Pyette suddenly departed only seven months after his arrival, replaced by Gordon Fisher, a career Southam newspaperman who had briefly served as interim publisher a few years earlier.
This information was taken from this site in 2007 and some of it may no longer be correct. It is presented here for historical purposes

The Ottawa Citizen

www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/index.html
The Ottawa Citizen (established 1845) is an English-language daily newspaper owned by CanWest Global in Ottawa, Canada. According to the Canadian Newspaper Association, the paper has a circulation of 141,540.
The newspaper was established by William Harris as The Bytown Packet and was renamed the Citizen in 1851. Its original motto, which has recently been returned to the editorial page, was Fair play and Day-Light.
The paper has been through a number of owners. In 1846, Harris sold the paper to John Bell and Henry J. Friel. Robert Bell brought the paper in 1849. In 1877, Charles Herbert Mackintosh, the editor under Robert Bell, became publisher. In 1879, it became one of several papers owned by the Southam family. It remained under Southam until Southam itself was purchased by Conrad Black's Hollinger Inc.. In 2000, Black sold most of his Canadian holdings to CanWest Global.
This information was taken from this site in 2007 and some of it may no longer be correct. It is presented here for historical purposes

Toronto Star

www.thestar.com/
Born on November 3, 1892, The Evening Star had been created almost overnight by 21 printers and four teenage apprentices who were locked out during a labour dispute at the afternoon News. Their aim was to publish a serious journal - and possibly to teach the News a lesson. Little did they realize that their bright new four-page sheet would grow into Canada's largest daily newspaper, The Toronto Star. Then a rising young journalist, a 34-year-old Joseph E. Atkinson was appointed editor on Dec. 13, 1899, and things promptly began to improve.
The Evening Star had been bought by admirers of Sir Wilfrid Laurier to support the new prime minister. When they asked Mr. Atkinson to run it, he agreed on two conditions: The Star would be independent of any political party and he'd be paid $5,000 a year, $3,000 in cash and the rest in shares.
The circulation of The Evening Star was at an all-time low when Mr. Atkinson took over. Drawing on his experience as an editor, he quickly revamped and revitalized the paper. By 1913 it was Toronto's largest paper and Mr. Atkinson had become the controlling shareholder.
After he died in 1948, his will left The Star to a Charitable foundation he'd established in 1942, both to be run by trustees familiar with Mr. Atkinson's policies and beliefs. But a retroactive change in Ontario law barred such a foundation from owning more than ten per cent of any profit-making business. So his trustees were given court permission to buy the paper in 1958, after promising to uphold its longstanding traditions.
Today, the Toronto Star is Canada's largest daily newspaper, with the largest readership in the country. It is published seven days a week in the Greater Toronto Area and is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Torstar Corporation. The newspaper is printed at its production facility, The Toronto Star Press Centre, located in Vaughan, just north of Toronto. The Press Centre houses six MAN Roland presses and its extensive capacity allows for the use of full colour throughout the newspaper every day for both editorial and advertising purposes.
This information was taken from this site in 2007 and some of it may no longer be correct. It is presented here for historical purposes

Prince Edward Island:

The Guardian (PEI)

http://www.theguardian.pe.ca
The Burnetts relinquished their financial interests to Thomson Newspapers Limited in December 1953, and The Guardian became the first member of the Thomson newspaper group in the Atlantic provinces. It was joined later by The Patriot and both papers were published out of the Prince Street location until the mid-1990s when The Patriot closed on June 9, 1995. The Patriot had begun publishing on July 1, 1864, and had a reporter at that year’s famous Charlottetown Conference.
Since being bought by Thomson in the 1950s, The Guardian has had many off-Island corporate owners. In October of 1996, it was purchased by Southam Inc. A short time later, the paper came under the ownership of Hollinger, which was controlled by Conrad Black.
The corporate shuffle continued late in 2000 when CanWest Global Communications of Winnipeg purchased the newspaper. In August of 2002, the newspaper was purchased by Transcontinental Media of Montreal, which is the present owner.
This information was taken from this site in 2007 and some of it may no longer be correct. It is presented here for historical purposes

Le Soleil (Quebec City)

http://www.cyberpresse.ca/
Le Soleil is a French-language daily newspaper in Quebec City, Quebec. It was founded on December 28, 1896 and is published in compact format since April 2006 (it had traditionally been printed in broadsheet). It is distributed mainly in Quebec City, however it is also for sale at newsstands in Ottawa, Montreal, New Brunswick and some places in Florida, where many Quebecers spend the winter. Its main competitor is the tabloid Le Journal de Quebec, which enjoys higher circulation. It is owned by Power Corporation of Canada.
This information was taken from this site in 2007 and some of it may no longer be correct. It is presented here for historical purposes

Montreal Gazette

www.canada.com/montrealgazette/
The Gazette is one of the oldest newspapers on the North American continent. Founded by Fleury Mesplet in 1778, it began as a French-language paper, became bilingual in the late 1700s and ultimately changed to an English-language newspaper in 1822.
In 1968, The Gazette joined the Southam chain in 1996, The Gazette, passed in to the hands of Hollinger when it gained control of the Southam group of newspapers. CanWest Global bought The Gazette and other Southam papers from Hollinger in 2000.
This information was taken from this site in 2007 and some of it may no longer be correct. It is presented here for historical purposes

Saskatchewan

Regina-Leader Post

www.canada.com/reginaleaderpost/index.html
The Regina Leader-Post is a local newspaper of Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada, and now a member of the CanWest News Service.
The newspaper was first published as The Leader in 1883, by Nicholas Flood Davin. Published weekly by the mercurial Davin, it almost immediately achieved national prominence during the Northwest Rebellion and the subsequent trial of Louis Riel when Davin's immediate access to the developing story provided scoops, which were picked up by the national press. Davin's greatest coup was his jailhouse interview with Riel, which he obtained by masquerading as a francophone priest and interviewing Riel in French under the nose of uncomprehending anglophone watchhouse guards. The Leader merged with another paper, the Regina Evening Post, and continued to publish daily editions of both before consolidating them under the title The Leader-Post. Other newspapers absorbed in due course by the L-P include the Regina Daily Star and The Province.
In 1995, the paper and its sister, the Saskatoon StarPhoenix, were acquired from their owner, the Markham, Ont.-based Armadale group, by Hollinger Inc. group, a company then headed by then-Canadian media baron Conrad Black. Within three months, the staffs at each newspaper had been cut by one-quarter, these cuts becoming a cause célèbre in Canadian journalism.
Black's company subsequently divested itself of the Leader-Post together with most other Canadian news media it had owned, in conjunction with Black's renunciation of his Canadian citizenship in order to obtain an English peerage.
This information was taken from this site in 2007 and some of it may no longer be correct. It is presented here for historical purposes