Jim Munson (born July 14, 1946) is a former

Canadian Senator The Senate of Canada (french: region=CA, Sénat du Canada) is the upper house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Crown and the House of Commons, they comprise the bicameral legislature of Canada. The Senate is modelled after the Bri ...

and retired

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

Early life and education

Jim Munson was born in

Woodstock Woodstock Music and Art Fair, commonly referred to as Woodstock, was a music festival held during August 15–18, 1969, on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, United States, southwest of the town of Woodstock, New York, Woodstock. ...

New Brunswick New Brunswick (french: Nouveau-Brunswick, , locally ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. It is the only province with both English and ...

, although spent most of his childhood in Campbellton. His father was a minister in the

United Church of Canada The United Church of Canada (french: link=no, Église unie du Canada) is a mainline Protestant denomination that is the largest Protestant Christian denomination in Canada and the second largest Canadian Christian denomination after the Catholi ...

. In 1960, his father transferred to St. Lambert United Church in

Saint-Lambert, Quebec Saint-Lambert () is a city (french: ville) in southwestern Quebec, Canada, located on the south shore of the St. Lawrence River, opposite Montreal. It is part of the Urban agglomeration of Longueuil of the Montérégie administrative region. It ...

. As a result, the family relocated to Saint-Lambert where Jim Munson attended Chambly County High School, graduating in 1963.

Journalism career

Munson began his career in 1965 as a disc jockey with CJLS-FM in

Yarmouth, Nova Scotia Yarmouth is a town in southwestern Nova Scotia, Canada. A port town, industries include fishing, and tourism. It is the terminus of a ferry service to Bar Harbor, Maine, run by Bay Ferries. History Originally inhabited by the Mi'kmaq, the regi ...

. He spent most of his journalism career with CTV, which he joined in 1979 after working for Broadcast News for several years. He served as the network's correspondent in

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

and then

London, England London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major s ...

. From 1987 to 1992 he was CTV's bureau chief in

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

and consequently covered the

Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 The Tiananmen Square protests, known in Chinese as the June Fourth Incident (), were student-led demonstrations held in Tiananmen Square, Beijing during 1989. In what is known as the Tiananmen Square Massacre, or in Chinese the June Fourth ...

. He also covered the

Iran–Iraq War The Iran–Iraq War was an armed conflict between Iran and Iraq that lasted from September 1980 to August 1988. It began with the Iraqi invasion of Iran and lasted for almost eight years, until the acceptance of United Nations Security Council ...

and the

Gulf War The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Iraq were carried out in two key phases: ...

in the course of his career. Munson was let go by CTV in 2001.

Political career

A year later, in August 2002, he took employment with the Prime Minister's Office as

Jean Chrétien Joseph Jacques Jean Chrétien (; born January 11, 1934) is a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 20th prime minister of Canada from 1993 to 2003. Born and raised in Shawinigan Falls, Quebec, Chrétien is a law graduate from Uni ...

's director of communications, often acting as the Prime Minister's spokesman. On December 10, 2003, two days before retiring from office, Chrétien appointed Munson to the

Senate of Canada The Senate of Canada (french: region=CA, Sénat du Canada) is the upper house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Crown and the House of Commons, they comprise the bicameral legislature of Canada. The Senate is modelled after the B ...

where he served as the Whip of the Senate Liberal Caucus from 2008 to 2016. Munson represents the province of Ontario in the Senate with his official designation including the region known as Ottawa-Rideau Canal. Munson has not claimed a Senate housing allowance since it started in 2010 to post its expenses on the Internet. His primary residence is in the

National Capital Region A capital region, also called a capital district or capital territory, is a region or district surrounding a capital city. It is not always the official term for the region, but may sometimes be used as an informal synonym. Capital regions can exis ...

. On January 29, 2014, Liberal Party leader

Justin Trudeau Justin Pierre James Trudeau ( , ; born December 25, 1971) is a Canadian politician who is the 23rd and current prime minister of Canada. He has served as the prime minister of Canada since 2015 and as the leader of the Liberal Party since 2 ...

announced all Liberal Senators, including Munson, were removed from the Liberal caucus, and would continue sitting as Independents. The Senators refer to themselves as the

Senate Liberal Caucus The Senate Liberal Caucus (french: Caucus libéral du Sénat), also known as the Senate Liberals (french: libéraux au Sénat), was, from 2014 to 2019, a parliamentary grouping in the Senate of Canada made up of independent senators who were indi ...

even though they are no longer members of the parliamentary Liberal caucus. With the

facing losing official

parliamentary caucus A parliamentary group, parliamentary party, or parliamentary caucus is a group consisting of some members of the same political party or electoral fusion of parties in a legislative assembly such as a parliament or a city council. Parliamenta ...

status in 2020 with a third of its caucus facing mandatory retirements on their turning age 75, Senator Joseph Day announced that the

had been dissolved and a new

Progressive Senate Group The Progressive Senate Group (french: Groupe progressiste du sénat) is a parliamentary group in the Senate of Canada. It was formed on November 14, 2019, out of the now-defunct Senate Liberal Caucus, which had been expected to lose official pa ...

formed in its wake, with the entire membership joining the new group, including this senator. Munson retired from the Senate on July 14, 2021, his 75th birthday.

References

External links

Official Site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Munson, Jim 1946 births Living people Canadian senators from Ontario Canadian television reporters and correspondents Liberal Party of Canada senators Senate Liberal Caucus Progressive Senate Group Members of the United Church of Canada People from Campbellton, New Brunswick People from Saint-Lambert, Quebec People from Woodstock, New Brunswick 21st-century Canadian politicians CTV Television Network people Communications directors of the Canadian Prime Minister's Office