François Labbé (born September 23, 1928 in
Thetford Mines
Thetford Mines ( Canada 2021 Census population 26,072) is a city in south-central Quebec, Canada. It is the seat of Les Appalaches Regional County Municipality.
The city is located in the Appalachian Mountains, 141 miles northeast of Montreal an ...
,
Quebec
Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...
)
[ is a ]Canadian
Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
mass media owner who started the first commercial French language
French ( or ) is a Romance language of the Indo-European family. It descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire, as did all Romance languages. French evolved from Gallo-Romance, the Latin spoken in Gaul, and more specifically in Nor ...
radio network
There are two types of radio network currently in use around the world: the one-to-many (simplex communication) broadcast network commonly used for public information and mass-media entertainment, and the two-way radio ( duplex communication) type ...
in Canada, the Réseau des Appalaches Réseau des Appalaches (Appalachian Network) is a radio broadcasting company in the Canada, Canadian province of Quebec, consisting of three stations based in southeastern Quebec. The company was founded by François Labbé in 1972, and was the firs ...
, in 1972.
Born in Thetford Mines in 1928, the son of former Member of Parliament
A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...
and Thetford Mines mayor Tancrède Labbé
Joseph-Tancrède Labbé (June 18, 1887 – December 13, 1956) was a prominent Quebec politician and businessman. He was the father of media mogul François Labbé.
Background
He was born on June 18, 1887 in East Broughton to parents who o ...
, Labbé studied Commerce
Commerce is the large-scale organized system of activities, functions, procedures and institutions directly and indirectly related to the exchange (buying and selling) of goods and services among two or more parties within local, regional, nation ...
at Laval University
Laval means ''The Valley'' in old French and is the name of:
People
* House of Laval, a French noble family originating from the town of Laval, Mayenne
* Laval (surname)
Places Belgium
* Laval, a village in the municipality of Sainte-Ode, Luxemb ...
.[ He acquired CKLD in Thetford Mines in 1959.]Victoriaville
Victoriaville is a town in central Quebec, Canada, on the Nicolet River. Victoriaville is the seat of Arthabaska Regional County Municipality and a part of the Centre-du-Québec (Bois-Francs) region. It is formed by the 1993 merger of Arthabask ...
.[
In 1972, he founded CKTL in Plessisville and ]CJAN CJAN is an acronym standing for Comprehensive Java Archive Network. CJAN as a concept is an extension of CPAN, the Comprehensive Perl Archive Network. In 2004 the CJAN project has ceased development.
Apache CJAN
Apache CJAN was an attempt at a simp ...
in Asbestos
Asbestos () is a naturally occurring fibrous silicate mineral. There are six types, all of which are composed of long and thin fibrous crystals, each fibre being composed of many microscopic "fibrils" that can be released into the atmosphere b ...
.[ The radio stations became the Réseau des Appalaches. In 1977, Labbé founded CJLP in ]Disraeli
Benjamin Disraeli, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield, (21 December 1804 – 19 April 1881) was a British statesman and Conservative Party (UK), Conservative politician who twice served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. He played a centr ...
, which became the sixth station in the Réseau des Appalaches.
Labbé was also the owner of Publications Appalaches, which owned two newspapers, '' La Feuille d'Érable'' in Plessisville and '' La Mine d'Information'' in Thetford Mines. He was also a director of the insurance company La Solidarité and a governor of the Université Laval
Université Laval is a public research university in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. The university was founded by royal charter issued by Queen Victoria in 1852, with roots in the founding of the Séminaire de Québec in 1663 by François de Montmo ...
Foundation.[
In 1989, he founded ]CFJO-FM
CFJO-FM (branded as ''O97,3'') is a French language Canadian radio station in Thetford Mines, Quebec, which broadcasts on 97.3 FM with an effective radiated power of 100,000 watts. Its motto is "Le Meilleur de la musique", which means "The Best ...
which broadcast to Thetford Mines and Victoriaville with his daughter Annie.[ In 1990, Labbé sold CKFL, CJAN and CKTL but retains ownership of other stations.
In 1998, Labbé was named to the ]Canadian Association of Broadcasters
The Canadian Association of Broadcasters (CAB) is a trade association representing the interests of commercial radio and television broadcasters in Canada. It is co-located with the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council in Ottawa.
It was first e ...
Broadcast Hall of Fame.
References
1928 births
Canadian radio company founders
Living people
People from Thetford Mines
Canadian radio executives
Businesspeople from Quebec
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