Canadian businessman and politician
Paul Victor Godfrey
,
CM
,
[2]
OOnt
[3]
(born January 1939) is a businessman and former Canadian politician.
[4]
During his career, Godfrey was a
North York
alderman, Chairman of Metro Toronto, President of the
Toronto Sun
and head of the
Toronto Blue Jays
. He was instrumental in bringing the Toronto Blue Jays to
Toronto
and has campaigned to bring the
National Football League
to Toronto.
[5]
[6]
He is the former president and CEO of
Postmedia Network
.
[7]
Background
[
edit
]
Born in
Toronto
, Ontario, Godfrey grew up in a working class Jewish family near the
Kensington Market
neighbourhood of Toronto, the son of Bess (Greenbaum) and Philip Godfrey.
[8]
[
unreliable source?
]
[9]
[10]
He later moved to the
Bathurst
and
Lawrence
area of
North York
.
After graduating from
C.W. Jefferys Collegiate Institute
, he attended the
University of Toronto
and graduated with a
Bachelor of Applied Science
in
chemical engineering
.
[11]
In 1999, he was made a Member of the
Order of Canada
.
[2]
In 2010, he was appointed to the
Order of Ontario
.
[3]
His underbite jaw was surgically corrected in August 1981, a trait for which he had been satirized for years.
[12]
Politics
[
edit
]
He entered politics as an
alderman
in
North York
in 1964, serving until 1973.
[8]
In 1970, he was appointed to North York's
Board of Control
to fill a vacancy caused by the death of Controller John Booth.
[13]
He also joined
Metropolitan Toronto Council
for the first time, by virtue of being a Controller. He was re-elected to the Board of Control in 1969. In 1973, he was appointed
Chairman
of
Metropolitan Toronto
following the death of Metro chairman
Albert Campbell
, and served until 1984.
Godfrey was attributed with backing a campaign led by pro-development Conservatives and Liberals united behind the candidacy of
Art Eggleton
, to unseat the left-wing Toronto mayor
John Sewell
.
[14]
In 1985, it was reported Godfrey had joined the new Ontario Premier
Frank Miller
's informal "kitchen cabinet", a group which met on Thursday mornings at the
Sutton Place Hotel
to discuss issues of the day during breakfast. This was similar to a "breakfast club" set up by the previous premier,
Bill Davis
, but with a more right-wing bent.
[15]
Godfrey was chair of the
Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation
from 2009 until he was fired on May 16, 2013, by Premier
Kathleen Wynne
.
[16]
During the Ontario PC Party of Ontario's 2015 leadership race, Godfrey endorsed Barrie MP
Patrick Brown
for leader.
[17]
Media
[
edit
]
In 1984, after he left politics he joined the
Toronto Sun
as publisher and CEO. In 1991 he succeeded founder
Douglas Creighton
as president and chief operating officer of Toronto Sun Publishing. In 1992 he became CEO of Toronto Sun Publishing replacing founder Doug Creighton. Creighton was forced to resign by the board of directors and the parent company,
Maclean Hunter
.
[18]
In 1996, Godfrey led a successful attempt by Sun management to buy back control, allowing it to become an independent entity once again. Two years later, Godfrey organized a deal with
Conrad Black
to swap the
Financial Post
with four daily newspapers in southwestern Ontario. These included the
Hamilton Spectator
,
Kitchener-Waterloo Record
,
Guelph Mercury
, and
Cambridge Reporter
.
[19]
In October 1998, Sun Media was approached by
Torstar Corporation
in an unsolicited takeover bid for $748 million. Godfrey said he was surprised by the move.
[20]
Two months later
Quebecor Media Inc.
made a higher and eventually more successful bid for a reported $983 million. Godfrey was a key figure in seeking out Quebecor as an alternative buyer.
[21]
After the sale, Quebecor, initially heralded as a "white knight" buyer, forced Godfrey to cut 180 jobs from his newspaper.
[22]
In November 2000, Godfrey announced that he was stepping down as CEO of Sun Media. There was some speculation that he was uncomfortable while under the control of Quebecor. He remained on the board of Sun Media.
[11]
He had been named president and CEO of
The National Post
, starting in 2009.
[23]
He was the president and CEO of
Postmedia Network
, starting July 13, 2010. He took a $900,000 bonus during a time Postmedia laid off staff company-wide.
[24]
Godfrey then stepped down as president and CEO of Postmedia in 2019; he remains as executive chairman of the company.
SkyDome
[
edit
]
In 1984 he was appointed to the board of a new crown agency called the Stadium Corporation of Ontario along with
Larry Grossman
and Hugh Macaulay. Its mandate was to choose the location and design for a new domed stadium that would eventually become
SkyDome
.
[25]
Godfrey stayed on the board until February 1989 when he resigned. He had been accused of being in a conflict of interest because of his involvement with a group lobbying for an NFL franchise in Toronto. Godfrey denied that there was any conflict and also denied that this had anything to do with his resignation.
[26]
However, Godfrey remained on the board of directors of the Stadium Corporation, a separate entity, until 1998 when he resigned shortly before SkyDome filed for bankruptcy. He said his resignation would have no effect on the process. Godfrey said "... It didn't make much sense to me to have separate directors and shareholder meetings when the shareholders should be making all the decisions ... My resignation just streamlines the process."
[27]
Blue Jays
[
edit
]
On 1 September 2000, Godfrey became president and CEO of the
Toronto Blue Jays
baseball club when
Rogers Communications
bought the baseball club.
[28]
He stepped down as president on September 22, 2008, after eight years.
[4]
[28]
During his tenure, the team payroll increased from US $46 million to US $98 million. While the Blue Jays posted four out of eight seasons better than .500, they achieved no better than second place in the American League East division.
[29]
In 2004, the Blue Jays purchased SkyDome for $25 million, far below its original construction cost of $650 million. The purchase gave Godfrey more latitude in controlling the total game experience.
[30]
Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation
[
edit
]
Godfrey was announced as the chair of the
Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation
,
[31]
a role in which he served until being dismissed in 2013.
[16]
Other positions
[
edit
]
Godfrey served on the board of directors of the now defunct
CanWest Global Communications
,
[32]
[33]
and as a director of
RioCan Real Estate Investment Trust
, CargoJet Income Fund and
Astral
.
[23]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"Paul Godfrey"
. IMDb.
- ^
a
b
Order of Canada citation
- ^
a
b
"29 Appointees Named To Ontario's Highest Honour"
.
Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration
. January 25, 2010
. Retrieved
January 27,
2010
.
- ^
a
b
"Paul Godfrey hired to run National Post"
.
Toronto Star
. The Canadian Press. December 2, 2008
. Retrieved
February 27,
2009
.
- ^
"CANOE ? SLAM! Sports ? NFL ? NFL dangles a carrot"
. Archived from the original on July 17, 2012.
{{
cite web
}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (
link
)
- ^
NFL franchise for Toronto still just a dream
Archived
October 25, 2012, at the
Wayback Machine
- ^
"Paul Godfrey steps down as Postmedia CEO as company announces $1.4M loss"
.
- ^
a
b
Al Parker. Five Questions for Paul Godfrey. Toronto Sun. December 20, 2008.
- ^
Levine, Allan (2014).
Toronto: Biography of a City
. Douglas and McIntyre.
ISBN
978-1-77100-022-2
.
The product of hard-working Jewish parents, Godfrey grew up in the Kensington Market neighbourhood before the family migrated to North York
- ^
The Canadian Who's who
. 2000.
ISBN
9780802049391
.
- ^
a
b
"Godfrey resigns as Sun Media CEO. CBC News. November 10, 2000"
.
- ^
Heer, Jeet (October 28, 2014).
"
"Smile and Move On": Paul Godfrey on Racism"
.
- ^
Godfrey captures vacant seat on North York Board of Control
The Globe and Mail (1936?Current); September 26, 1970; ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The Globe and Mail
pg. 5
- ^
Sewell, John (September 21, 2015).
How We Changed Toronto
. James Lorimer & Company.
ISBN
978-1-4594-0940-8
.
- ^
Rosemary Speirs. Godfrey joins Miller's Thursday 'kitchen cabinet'. Toronto Star. March 8, 1985. pg. A1, A16.
- ^
a
b
Benzie, Robert; Brennan, Richard J. (May 16, 2013).
"Paul Godfrey fired as head of OLG, board of directors resign"
.
Toronto Star
. Torstar.
Archived
from the original on August 21, 2023
. Retrieved
August 21,
2023
.
- ^
"Postmedia CEO wades into Ontario PC leadership race"
. Retrieved
June 27,
2018
.
- ^
Bob Papoe. Paul Godfrey new Sun chief as Creighton forced to retire. Toronto Star. November 6, 1992. pg A1, D1, D6.,
- ^
Rob Ferguson. Newspapers: Black swaps papers for Post. Toronto Star. July 21, 1998. pg A1.
- ^
Les Whittington. Torstar bids $748 million for Sun newspaper chain. Toronto Star. October 29, 1998. pg A1, A30.
- ^
Rob Ferguson, Jim Wilkes. Quebecor tops Torstar bid for Sun chain. Toronto Star. December 10, 1998. pg A1, A40.
- ^
Rob Ferguson. Sun group axes 180 jobs. Toronto Star. March 3, 1999. Pg. A1
- ^
a
b
Surridge, Grant (December 2, 2008).
"Godfrey brings winning record to National Post: President, CEO, Making paper profitable main task"
.
National Post
. Toronto: Canwest Global Communications Corp. p. A2
. Retrieved
August 21,
2023
– via Newspapers.com.
- ^
Bradshaw, James (November 23, 2016).
"Postmedia executives receive $2.3-million in retention bonuses"
.
The Globe and Mail
. Retrieved
June 27,
2018
.
- ^
David Miller. Battle is on for right to build our domed stadium. Toronto Star. October 7, 1984, pg A1, A13.
- ^
Dan Smith, Tim Harper. SkyDome director quits as critics tackle NFL bid. Toronto Star. pg A1, A2
- ^
Tony Van Alphen. Two high profile directors quit SkyDome. Toronto Star. November 24, 1998. Pg. A1, A24
- ^
a
b
"Godfrey steps down as Jays president"
. CBC News. September 29, 2008
. Retrieved
February 4,
2013
.
- ^
Jesse Campigotto (October 22, 2008).
"Q&A: Paul Godfrey ? The former Blue Jays president and CEO talks about the future of the club"
. CBC News
. Retrieved
February 4,
2013
.
- ^
"Blue Jays buying SkyDome for $25M"
. CBC News. November 29, 2004
. Retrieved
September 6,
2020
.
- ^
Benzie, Robert; Ferguson, Rob (November 28, 2009).
"Paul Godfrey appointed by Liberals to head troubled OLG"
.
Toronto Star
. Torstar. Archived from
the original
on December 1, 2009
. Retrieved
August 21,
2023
.
Alt URL
- ^
Gelfand, Phyllise (December 1, 2008).
"Paul Godfrey Named President and CEO,
National Post
"
(Press release). Toronto: CanWest. Archived from
the original
on May 19, 2010
. Retrieved
August 21,
2023
.
- ^
Robertson, Grant; Willis, Andrew (October 6, 2009).
"The Asper dream ends, the selloff begins"
.
The Globe and Mail
. Toronto: Bell Globemedia.
Archived
from the original on November 11, 2020
. Retrieved
June 27,
2018
.
External links
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