Contact Us - CBC Toronto
Charlsie Agro is a videojournalist with CBC Toronto's weekend team. She was born and raised in Burlington, Ontario. Her academic and athletic pursuits eventually took her to Philadelphia and St. Joseph's University to play NCAA division one field hockey.
Off the turf, Charlsie pursued her passion for storytelling, interning with both ESPN and NBC. After graduating with a degree in English, History and Performing Arts, Charlsie got her start in local news at CHCH in Hamilton. Soon after she completed her graduate certificate in Journalism and New Media from Sheridan College. Charlsie then headed west to Victoria BC and then to Edmonton, AB where she worked as a videographer for CityTV.
When CBC Windsor came calling Charlsie jumped at the chance to head back to Ontario. While in Windsor Charlsie covered some of southwestern Ontario's biggest stories locally and for the network. She is looking forward to doing the same back home in the GTA.
Jean Carter is the Senior Assignment Producer for CBC Toronto. Her areas of interest involve bringing to air the voices of the real individuals and communities who are affected by policies of all levels of government.
Jean covers a wide variety of issues ranging from housing to immigration to urban poverty.
She has reported from Ottawa, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Nunavut.
Jean has won several awards and she is listed in Who's Who in Black Canada.
Mike Crawley is the provincial affairs reporter for CBC News tv and radio, based at Queen's Park. He can be reached via Twitter: @CBCQueensPark.
Mike's been a journalist since 1991. He worked for newspapers, TV and a wire service before joining CBC Radio. He spent six years covering Africa. He was a correspondent for The Christian Science Monitor newspaper and the German News Agency dpa, and reported from 17 countries stretching from Senegal to Somalia.
Mike has lived in five Canadian provinces and also lived in Kenya, Ghana, France and the UK. He has a science degree from McGill University and a journalism degree from the University of Western Ontario.
Steven D'Souza graduated from Ryerson University in 2000, joined CBC News, and soon picked up a camera to become a video journalist. He's had a chance to meet people like Wayne Gretzky, Afghan President Hamid Karzai, and filmmaker Michael Moore. He's covered national and local stories that have taken him from the lawn of the White House during the 2004 State of the Union Address to inside the Confederation Bridge in PEI to the 2006 Stanley Cup Final in Edmonton.
Steven grew up in Richmond Hill and loves being back home in Toronto. "I always try to find a way to make the viewer understand what is happening and why it is important. There is so much going on in your everyday life, you need to know how things will affect you and your family. If I can inform and maybe even entertain a bit then I've done my job."
Kimberly Gale is the news anchor on CBC Radio One 99.1 FM on Saturday and Sunday afternoons. She has been reporting and anchoring for CBC Toronto since 2009. She's lived and worked on two other continents - teaching English in Fukushima, Japan and reporting and anchoring for radio in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
Kimberly got her start in journalism in private radio in Toronto at Newstalk 1010. She's also worked as a writer with Global News Toronto and as a media training aid with the Canadian Armed Forces. Kimberly graduated from Ryerson University's broadcast journalism program. She also earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Anthropology from the University of Toronto, where she conducted a year-long independent study on punk rock culture.
Natalie Kalata is a videojournalist for CBC Toronto. She shoots, writes and presents news for television, radio and online.
Born and raised in Toronto, Natalie started her career in Saskatchewan before being hired by CBC Newfoundland and Labrador in 2008. First in Labrador City and then St. John's, Natalie has covered it all, from hurricanes to hostage takings, to health care. Her work has been featured on CBC News Network, and the National.
In just three years, Natalie's stories have earned her and her newsroom, a Gemini Award, multiple Edward. R. Murrow awards and Atlantic Journalism Awards. In 2010 she was named new journalist of the year in Atlantic Canada. She has a degree in Communications from the University of Ottawa. In her free time you will find Natalie out running, playing soccer, or occasionally out acting in the theatre.
John Lancaster is CBC's Network reporter for Toronto.
While he is assigned to cover a variety of stories, from breaking news to politics and sports, he is best known for his enterprise and investigative work. John has travelled across Canada, the US and abroad to bring Canadians his unique brand of story telling.
John has been awarded several RTNDA awards for his enterprise stories. He is a 2010 winner of a CAJ award for excellence in investigative journalism. He was also nominated in 2011 for a Gemini award for breaking news coverage. John's stories appear on The National, CBC Toronto and on CBC radio.
Philip Lee-Shanok is an award-winning journalist who has worked in newsrooms in Toronto and Edmonton as a both a print and on-air television reporter.
He joined CBC Radio in 2004 and covers a wide range of stories from crime and justice to technology and the environment.
He has done extensive coverage of aboriginal issues including the standoffs at Caledonia and near Deseronto, Ontario. He graduated from Trinity College, University of Toronto and has a post-graduate degree from Ryerson University's School of Journalism.
Debbie Lightle-Quan was a high school and Queen's University athlete pursuing a career as a police officer when she was brought in as a ringer for CBC's The National baseball team. "The second I stepped into the newsroom, I knew CBC was the place I wanted to work."
Today, she puts her athletic skills to work as a video journalist on CBC News Toronto. She loves to play and cover sports. "I try to capture the essence of a person with my camera then tell the story of what motivates them whether they are a professional hockey player or a female kick boxer."
Debbie has two Gemini nominations for her work. She enjoys working and playing in Toronto with her husband and two children. She has three hobbies: "sports, sports and more sports".
Lucy grew up in the suburbs of the GTA, so the opportunity to be the 905 Reporter for CBC News Toronto 905 is like coming home. Establishing the 905 News Room in this fast growing region is just the type of challenge Lucy enjoys. Over the last eight years, she's worked in news markets across northern and eastern Ontario, and has done everything from reporting and anchoring to shooting, editing, and producing.
With a range of experience - everything from anchoring on 9/11 to reporting on the newest video game craze - Lucy enjoys connecting viewers to the story and the people behind the story.
"The best part about being a reporter is the people you meet every day. Each one has a unique, sometimes extraordinary story to tell. I feel very fortunate to hear their stories and to share them with our viewers."
Stephanie Matteis started as a newspaper reporter almost two decades ago, earned a Masters in Journalism and has worked in television and radio ever since. She's been on-air and behind-the-scenes, as a national and local reporter, producer, director and writer.
Some highlights of Stephanie's career include an award-winning documentary about medicine for the Discovery Channel; a Gemini-nominated series for CBC; and a Gemini-award winning documentary for The National. She joined CBC News Toronto in Toronto in 2007.
She loves living in the world's most multi-cultural city and getting people to share their stories. At the end of the day, Stephanie says she simply feels lucky to be a storyteller and have an amazing outlet for that irrepressible impulse.
Aarti Pole is a reporter with CBC News Toronto and The National. She joins the Toronto team from Vancouver where she worked at CBC as an anchor and reporter, launching Vancouver's weekend TV newscast in 2011, and then CBC Radio's weekend newscasts in 2012.
In B.C,, Aarti was part of CBC's award winning coverage of the Stanley Cup Riots in June 2011. She also brought Canadian viewers coverage from forest fires and reported live from BC ridings during the federal election.
Prior to working in Vancouver, Aarti was a reporter and backup anchor for CBC News Winnipeg. She also worked as a video journalist, shooting and editing her stories for The National. In Manitoba, Aarti covered a variety of stories from disasters to politics including the flooding of 2009 and the NDP leadership convention.
Aarti started her career in Terrace, B.C. as a video journalist, anchor and radio reporter, after graduating from Ryerson University's Journalism program. She also has a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and International Relations from the University of British Columbia. Aarti was the recipient of CBC's Diversity Scholarship in 2007.
Lorenda Reddekopp loves meeting people, hearing their stories and then being able to tell them on radio and tv.
Lorenda has worked for the CBC in cities across the country - Saskatoon, Whitehorse, Regina and Toronto.
She also worked as a freelance journalist in Guatemala for three years. Lorenda filed news stories and radio documentaries to various public broadcasters around the world, including the CBC. There, she toughened up for any conditions she might experience as a reporter in Canada's largest city. On her way to one story, for example, she trudged through mud for more than an hour. That was to cover the aftermath of a hurricane in Guatemala. Her experience in Central America also made her more creative, as she sought out quiet places to voice her radio stories in a country where walls are thin and the street dogs never stop barking.
Lorenda speaks Spanish. She has an Arts degree with a major in English from the University of Saskatchewan and a journalism degree from the University of Regina.
Priya Sankaran is a news reporter based in Toronto. Since 2003 Priya has worked in newsrooms in Windsor and Ottawa. But truth be told, she's proud to call herself a Torontonian today. Her journey to the city tells the story of so many residents of the GTA.
Priya was born in Hamburg, Germany to Indian parents. She grew up in Ottawa where she got her first taste of reporting, filing a segment to CBC Television's Streetcents about a potato powering a digital clock. Priya came to call Toronto home after attending Ryerson University's Radio and Television arts program. She's taken a keen interest in telling the stories of the GTA's diverse communities.
Priya broke the story of Doda, an opiate drug truck drivers in the GTA's Indo-Canadian community were struggling to quit. In 2009 she told the stories of the region's Tamil community protesting against the civil war in Sri Lanka. Priya speaks English, French, Tamil.
Jeff Semple is a videojournalist with CBC Toronto. His reporting has taken him across Ontario, internationally to Nicaragua, and to new heights at 356 metres above ground reporting from atop the CN Tower's EdgeWalk (a story that appeared on CBC, CNN, and the BBC, allowing the whole world to hear Jeff's screams).
Jeff is an award-winning graduate of Ryerson University's journalism program and a Joan Donaldson scholar. He first joined the CBC as a TV reporter in Ottawa in 2007, covering everything from Barack Obama's first presidential visit to the criminal trial of Ottawa Mayor Larry O'Brien. Jeff was part of the CBC Ottawa team that won a Gemini for 'best local newscast' in 2010.
He also received an award for excellence in health reporting from the Canadian Medical Association for his series on a small town's struggle with a string of teen suicides. Jeff joined the team at CBC Toronto in the spring of 2011, and is thrilled to be back in his favourite city. Jeff strives to bring compassion, fairness, and creativity to the stories that shape our city; and he is honoured to share the stories of the everyday people who make it great.
Jasmin Seputis grew up in Toronto, the child of immigrants from Lithuania and Austria. But she began her career working for the CBC in Newfoundland and Labrador. Jasmin has been reporting in Toronto since 1999.
She often reports on legal stories and social issues for CBC Toronto. The stories she's covered include the G20 protests and their aftermath.
Jasmin was recognized by the Canadian Association of Journalists for her investigative report into what happened outside a downtown hospital when security guards allegedly beat an Aboriginal couple.
Connie Sinclair is the news anchor on CBC Radio One 99.1 FM on Saturday and Sunday mornings. She started with CBC National radio news in March 2007 and joined CBC Toronto radio news in September 2009.
She has worked as a newscaster for Fresh Air, hosted World Report, World This Hour, World at Six, World This Weekend and As It Happens. She has also contributed to national radio news as the hourly afternoon newsreader and has filled in on all the major news shows since March 2007.
Connie is the granddaughter of Gordon Sinclair, who was a panelist of CBC Television's Front Page Challenge for many years.
Jamie Strashin is reporter with CBC Radio in Toronto. He's been a journalist for nearly ten years and, as a lifelong resident of the city, is happy to be home.
Jamie has been in the Toronto newsroom for five years and before that spent time in Brandon, Winnipeg and Calgary. During that time he has extensively covered virtually all of the city's big crime stories including the Jane Creba murder trials. He has also had a chance to cover some interesting sporting events like the Brier and Grey Cup. He current assignment has him at Toronto City Hall.
He graduated from the University of Western Ontario and has a Masters degree from Northwestern in Chicago.
Marivel Taruc is a reporter with CBC News Toronto at 5, 5:30 and 6 pm and is a familiar face to CBC viewers. Previously, she was the business anchor for CBC News: Morning. In her years as a financial and economics reporter, Taruc covered such stories as the economic aftermath of the World Trade Center attacks, the unprecedented collapse and bailout of GM and Chrysler and the 2008 global economic meltdown. She has interviewed top newsmakers of the day, including business leaders and federal cabinet ministers.
Taruc began her career as a news reporter in her hometown of Winnipeg. While working at CBC Manitoba, she covered major events, including 1997's "Flood of the Century" and various federal, provincial and municipal elections.
Taruc graduated from Ryerson University with a Bachelor's Degree in Journalism. She lives in Toronto with her husband and two daughters.
Genevieve Tomney joined CBC News as a reporter in 2007. She's had the opportunity to work on both the east and west coasts of Canada in Vancouver, Halifax, Fredericton and Saint John. In 2010, she jumped at the chance to move back to her hometown of Toronto and join the CBC News Toronto team.
Genevieve has covered major stories for CBC News from the Russell Williams sentencing hearings in Belleville to the Toronto leg of CBC's Gemini Award nominated coverage of the Queen's 2010 Royal Visit.
Genevieve is thrilled to live and work in downtown Toronto and get to explore every inch of the world's best city as a reporter. In her spare time, you'll catch Genevieve at the yoga studio, or a downtown dog-park.