Broadcaster.
Born at Winnipeg on 30 September 1945, son of newspaper publisher and editor John Wilson Collison and stenographer Alison May Bruce, he grew up at Morden and Winnipeg, being educated at Churchill High School and Kelvin High School. He was a member of the Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders in his teens and sang with the musical group Ronnie and the Nomads. His first love was radio, and he worked on-air at stations in Altona, Thompson, Kenora [Ontario], Toronto [Ontario], Windsor [Ontario], Detroit [Michigan], and at CJOB, CFRW, and CKY in Winnipeg. At CKY television during the 1970s and 1980s, he was a police, crime, and consumer affairs reporter. He became the city’s first television ombudsman and nightly editorial commentator, and hosted the Sunday night current affairs talk show, “Forum.” After retiring from broadcasting, he started and ran a number of businesses. He died at his Winnipeg home on 13 April 2009.
Obituary, Winnipeg Free Press, 18 April 2009, page C14.
We thank Susan Bracken for providing additional information used here.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 3 June 2024
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