Year Born: 1942
Year of Induction: 2001
Member of CAB Hall of Fame
Arpin, Michel (1942- )
If a researcher were to examine the makeup of all the committees and Boards of Directors of the Canadian Association of Broadcasters (CAB) since 1963, he would come across the name Michel Arpin more often than any other.
Michel’s name also appeared in several other facets of Canada’s broadcasting industry, notably as a program producer and director, as a manager of communications companies, as a university sessional lecturer on electronic media and finally in a number of key positions in the Government’s broadcasting regulatory administration.
Michel began his career in 1963 at Télé-Métropole inc., as a production assistant before becoming a public affairs program producer and director in 1967. From 1971 to 1979, he held various positions at the CRTC; notably, Director of Operations (1977) and Director General of Programming (1978).
He left the CRTC in 1979 to join Civitas Corporation, as Director of Corporate Development, before becoming President of the regional Radiomutuel radio stations in 1982. In 1984, he was named Vice-President of Planning and Corporate Secretary of Radiomutuel inc., a position that he held until 2000, while he was appointed Senior Regulatory and Governmental Affairs Advisor of Astral Broadcasting Group in Montreal. At Radiomutuel, Michel was a director and the head of corporate affairs on behalf of MusiquePlus from 1988 to 2005.
Amongst his other positions in the industry, we can mention Chairman of the CAB Board of Directors, Vice-Chairman of the CAB’s Radio Board, Director and Secretary-Treasurer of the Bureau of Broadcast Measurement, as well as Director and President of the Association canadienne de la radio et de la télévision de langue française (ACRTF). In addition, he sat as a broadcasting industry representative on numerous government committees, including the Forum permanent des communications du Québec (1982-1988); the Task Force on the Introduction of Digital Radio in Canada (1993-1996); the Groupe de travail sur la chanson (1988); the Canada Music Council (2002-2005) and the Table de concertation sur la qualité du français dans les médias (2003-2005).
In May 2005, Michel was appointed for a 5-year term as Vice-Chairperson, Broadcasting at the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission. He began his mandate on August 31, 2005, and it ended on August 30th 2010.
Michel Arpin was inducted as a member of the CAB Hall of Fame in 2001.
Written by Yvon Chouinard – November, 2005