As Bob Sharpe retires from CBC and heads out to photograph life on the Rock, and relax with his wife and two sons, the Canadian Media Guild (CMG) would like to salute one of our most compassionate volunteers.

For three decades, Bob has been the beating heart of the CMG on the east coast. He has held an elected union position continually for more than thirty years, lead his colleagues through a strike and two lockouts, supported and lead numerous campaigns such as the fight against cuts to Regional Supper Hour shows and the continuous threat to Regional CBC programming. Throughout all of this, he always upheld the right of each of us to fair treatment and equal opportunities.

In his years of working on union committees at the local and national levels, Bob excelled at bringing humanity to the boardroom and ensuring managers remembered it was real lives they were dealing with. Bob’s mantra was simple, ‘we all deserve a fair hearing, dignity and respect, and a second chance’. He never judged and he never gave up, and those qualities made him a wonderful friend, a loyal colleague and an unparalleled activist.

CMG wishes Bob Sharpe a wonderful, peaceful, and productive retirement. And we hope to see him pop back into our lives now and again.

You can say thank you and goodbye to Bob at: bsharpe.cmg@gmail.com until his staff rep role with CMG ends on December 31, 2020. A new Atlantic staff rep will be in the position before Bob leaves.

Carmel Smyth,
National President, Canadian Media Guild (CMG