Peter Mansbridge was born in July 6, 1948 in London, England. He is a retired Canadian news anchor that was famous for being the chief correspondent for CBC News and anchor of The National.
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Upbringing
Peter is the child of Stanley Harry Mansbridge and Brenda Louise (Harris-Jones) Mansbridge. His father was a decorated Royal Air Force wing commander who was based in Britain, Malaysia, and Canada. Peter had a brother named Paul and a sister named Wendy. Prior to joining the world of media, Peter was member of the Royal Canadian Navy for two years from 1966 to 1967. Later in 1968, he was employed as a ticket agent for Transair at the Churchill Airport office, Manitoba.
After the Second World War, Peter's father moved to Canada as a civil servant of the Crown. Peter’s family arrived in Alberta, Canada, where his father was assigned to a station. His father was awarded a D.F.C. for his service as a navigator on an Avro Lancaster bomber during the world war.
They then went on to move to Ottawa, Ontario. In Ottawa, Mansbridge went to high school at the Glebe Collegiate Institute, but he dropped out before he could graduate. He decided to enlist in the army instead of finishing school. He had the idea of following in his father’s footsteps and no longer wanted to be in school.
Broadcasting Career
While working as a ticket agent for Transair at the airport in Churchill, Manitoba, a young Mansbridge made a flight announcement that was heard by a local Canadian Broadcasting Corporation radio station manager. The manager who was impressed by Peter’s voice and decided to offer him a job at the CHFC radio station. Peter took the offer and started his career in broadcasting in 1968, hosting CHFC's late night music program. He then relocated to Winnipeg in 1971, and continued his career to report for CBW radio station for a year, before moving on and joining CBWT-TV.
He later left CBWT-TV to join CBC TV in 1975, becoming an anchor for The National. In 1976, he moved from Saskatchewan to Ottawa, where he continued working for the The National as a political correspondent. In 1988, Mansbridge was made a co-host of the program Knowlton Nash. In 1988, CBS employed him as the Morning Show host. In May 1988, Mansbridge became the sole anchor of The National and from 1992 to 1995 he co-hosted the CBC Prime Time News. During this time, he reported on Canada's political events as well as natural disaster news.
In a time period spanning a decade, between 1990 to 2000, he covered major national and international events such as the Gulf War, the war in Kosovo, the 9/11 attacks, the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the Olympic Games, the inauguration of President Obama, the funeral of Princess Diana, and that of Pope John Paul II.
In 1999, Mansbridge premiered a new talk show called Mansbridge One on One. It discussed major events and interviewed newsmakers. He is believed to be the longest-serving news anchor in Canada for all the three major news networks in the country.
Near the end of his career, Peter reduced his air time significantly. He still hosted The National throughout the week when he was close to retiring. On July 1, 2017, Mansbridge stepped down from his anchor post after 30 years as an anchor of The National, and almost 50 years as a CBC journalist. The lower atrium of the CBC Broadcast Centre was renamed Mansbridge Hall in honor of Peter and his amazing career.
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When asked by about CBC about the memorable political convention he covered, Peter replied, “Probably the one that was the most fun to watch unfold was the [1983 Conservative leadership convention]. [Joe] Clark's out in the lead and [Brian] Mulroney had to move up and there was a lot of movement on the floor and it went up to four ballots. The beauty of those is as much as you think you know what's going to happen, you don't know what's going to happen and surprises can happen. For a lot of reasons, it was probably the most fun for me — it was the first one that I anchored. I'd worked the floor on other ones. It went 13 hours and we didn't have commercials, so I never had a chance to get up for 13 hours. It was a really good program, we had terrific people on it and as a political moment it got a huge audience, it seemed that everyone watched it. It was an incredible day of learning about how politics works in this country, the good and the bad. I miss that stuff but I totally understand why they do things the way they do things now — delegate conventions are very much the elite of the party — but they were fun to watch.”
Awards and Recognitions
Peter had several achievements in the field of broadcast journalism covering some of the top stories in the world. He has won twelve Gemini Awards as a broadcast journalist. He has been recognized by leading universities in both Canada and the U.S. He also became a chancellor of Mt. Allison University in 2009.
Despite not graduating from Peter has been awarded honorary degrees from various universities. The universities that honored Peter are Mount Allison University (1999), the University of Manitoba (2001), Ryserson University (2005), University of Western Ontario (2008), University of Windsor (2010) and the Carleton University (2014).
Private Life
Peter has been married three times. His first wife was Parm Dhillon. They have two daughters but decided to get separated in 1975. After spending almost a decade alone, Mansbridge decided to tie the knot again with a CBC co-worker and a good friend, Wendy Mesley. This marriage ended after just two years, in 1992, with the divorce proceedings providing material for the local tabloid, Frank Magazine.
In November 1998, Peter got married for a third time to a woman named Cynthia Dale, who is a Canadian actress. They had a son named Will, born in 1999.
Mansbridge is a long standing fan of the Winnipeg Jets hockey team. He supports the team both financially and socially through his social media profiles. Peter been a voice actor in movies such as Zootopia, where he was featured as the.
He is currently living with his family in Stratford, Ontario and has a summer cottage in the Gatineau Hills. He is happy to live a peaceful retired life after such a long and decorated career.
Last Modified: Apr 8, 2020
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