Year Born: 1928
Year Died: 2002
Year of Induction: 2003
Pioneer – Member of CAB Hall of Fame
Sinclair, Gordon Arthur “Gord” Jr. (1928-2002)
The eldest son of one of Canada’s best-known news broadcasters, “Gord” (as he became known) got his first job in radio at the age of 19 as an announcer at CHVC, Niagara Falls, Ontario, moving shortly thereafter to CKOC Hamilton and thence to CFNB Fredericton, New Brunswick where he took over the Morning Show. With four years all-round experience so gained, Gord won the morning show berth at CFCF Montreal where he held forth until 1960.
By this time, Gord had fulfilled every broadcaster’s dream of owning his own radio station when with partners, broadcasters Keith Dancy and Danny Dooner, he put CFOX on the air, serving the greater Montreal area from studios in nearby Pointe Claire. In 1967, Gord Sinclair Broadcast Management Limited acquired the interests in CFOX 1470 of Dooner and Dancy. On July 13th 1972, Lakeshore Broadcasters Ltd. received CRTC approval to sell CFOX to Allan Slaight. Gord returned to CFCF. 1982 found him doing news and commentary on CJAD Montreal, where he was appointed News Director — a position he held with distinction until the time of his death. His knowledge of the Quebec political scene proved a valuable asset for Standard Broadcasting’s Toronto affilliate CFRB, to which he fed nightly commentaries from Montreal.
Gord was a member of the Canadian Association of Broadcasters’ Half-Century Club and the Radio-Television News Directors’ Association (RTNDA) where each year his legacy is recognized in the Gord Sinclair Award for Special Events Coverage.
The Sinclair traditional place in the Canadian broadcast news medium was assumed by Gord’s daughter Connie Sinclair on CFRB.
Gord Sinclair died in Montreal on July 12, 2002.
Gord Sinclair was posthumously inducted into the CAB Hall of Fame in November 2003.
Written by J. Lyman Potts – August, 2002