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Mike is a former Visiting Fellow at Duke University; an ACTRA award-winner for live TV reporting; he was twice nominated for the "Best in the Business" award by the Washington Journalism Review; and in 1994 was named to the Canadian Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame. He has received honorary degrees from his alma mater, the University of PEI; and from Niagara University in Niagara Falls NY; in addition to numerous other awards and citations. Mike Duffy was born in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, May 27th 1946. He attended Charlottetown schools, and St. Dunstan's - now the University of Prince Edward Island. In 1962 & 1963, Duff reported high school news for "Club '62" on CFCY TV. In high school he also wrote a weekly column on popular music for the Charlottetown Patriot, and served as a "stringer" for The Canadian Press, reporting on college football games. In 1964 he left St. Dunstan's to work as a reporter for the Charlottetown Guardian. In his first stint as a "foreign correspondent", Mike was assigned to the paper's Summerside bureau, 40 miles from Charlottetown! Later he worked as a journalist at private radio stations, CJCH Halifax, CKDH, Amherst; and CHNS Halifax N.S. During his tenure at CHNS, he covered the Nova Scotia legislature, and Robert Stanfield's successful run for the Progressive Conservative party's leadership. Mike credits that 1967 Toronto convention with whetting his appetite for national politics. In 1969 Duffy moved from CHNS to CFCF TV, the CTV affiliate in Montreal, where as assignment editor, he directed coverage of the Montreal Police strike, and the October crisis of 1970. Determined to get off the desk and back to reporting politics, in 1971 he took a 33% cut in pay and moved to CHUM station CFRA in Ottawa. Ten months later, his dream came true - he was assigned to cover Parliament Hill for the CHUM Group of Radio stations. He joined CBC Radio News in 1974, switching to The National on CBC TV in 1977. In 1988 Baton Broadcasting Inc. (now CTV Inc.) selected Mike to be the first host of the new network Sunday news program - SUNDAY EDITION. During his career Duffy has broken countless stories, won many awards and even managed to find time to cover a half dozen wars - including two tours in Vietnam. In 1975 he was cited in the House of Commons for his efforts to help Vietnamese refugees trying to flee Saigon; was a visiting fellow at Duke University, Durham NC in 1985, and in recognition of his fund-raising efforts on behalf of the university, Mike was honored by U.P.E.I. with an honorary doctorate in 1990. He was named to the Canadian Association of Broadcaster's Hall of Fame in 1994. In 1996, Mike's tireless work on behalf of Canadian unity was recognized by Niagara University in Niagara Falls New York, when they awarded him an honorary doctorate. Mike credits the women's movement with helping him "make it" on the air. Early in his career, Mike was fired after brief periods of employment by CJCH Halifax, and by CKOY Ottawa. He was rejected after applying for countless other radio jobs. The reason? He was told his voice wasn't resonant enough. In letting Mike go at Christmas 1965, Hal Anthony, then of CKOY Ottawa, advised: "You don't have a deep voice. You'll never make it in this business. Go sell ties at Eaton's." As women won their rightful places "on the air", the sound of Canadian radio changed, and Mike moved from brief on-air appearances to regular hosting duties. He suffered a heart attack on June 10th, 1992 while covering a federal-provincial constitutional meeting. Three days later, while still a patient in the University of Ottawa Heart Institute, he married the former Heather Collins of Pembroke, Ontario. Heather is an ER nurse at Ottawa's Civic Hospital. He is the father of two children, Miranda, an actress in Victoria, B.C. and Gavin, a student at Algonquin College in Ottawa. For more information about this speaker and/or to book this speaker
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