Mr. Speaker, on Tuesday, British Columbia broadcasting legend Jack Webster passed away. Friends have said that Jack probably would have wanted his obituary to state that he died on Tuesday, March 2, at 10.18 a.m. precisely.
Jack Webster was born in Glasgow, Scotland in 1918 and immigrated to Canada in 1947. He spent his life in reporting and broadcast journalism. Canada remembers his face on CBC Front Page Challenge .
Jack was a pioneer of open line radio on New Westminster's CKNW. He was notorious for finding a molehill at 9 a.m. and building it into a mountain by noon.
One story that separated Webster from the others was the 1963 riot at the B.C. Penitentiary. The prisoners demanded to speak to either Prime Minister Lester Pearson or Webster. What followed was an all-night negotiation session between Webster and the inmates, a story that changed the country.
Jack Webster was never one to avoid a challenge or succumb to political correctness. There is now a journalism award in his honour. Canada will miss him. His irascible voice of courage defined him as a great Canadian.