Carol Off

Carol Off
Brown-haired woman wearing glasses at podium with microphone
Off at the Eden Mills Writers' Festival in 2017
Born1954 or 1955 (age 71–72)
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
EducationUniversity of Western Ontario
Spouse(s)Fred Harrison (m. c. 1975-1981)
Linden MacIntyre (m. 2000)
Children1
Presenting career
ShowAs It Happens
NetworkCBC Radio One

Carol Off (born 1954/1955) is a Canadian journalist, commentator, and author formerly associated with CBC Television and CBC Radio.

Early life

Off was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, in 1954 or 1955. She moved to Ottawa at ten years old and later moved to London, Ontario.[citation needed] She dropped out of high school to go traveling and hitchhiked around Canada for 2 years. After returning, she finished high school and married Fred Harrison.

She attended the University of Western Ontario and studied English, which began her career.

Career

Off got her start in journalism as a staff writer for The Gazette, the student newspaper at the University of Western Ontario. She graduated with a B.A. degree from Western in 1981.

Off was a host of CBC Radio One's As It Happens from 2006 to 2022. Previously a documentary reporter for The National, where she covered international affairs, Off also hosted the political debate series CounterSpin on CBC Newsworld.

She is co-president of the Canadian Journalists for Free Expression.

Off has been honoured for her journalism with a Gemini Award (2002), the John Drainie Award (2008), and a Gabriel Award (2016).

Off has also written books on the Canadian Armed Forces, including The Lion, the Fox & the Eagle: A Story of Generals and Justice in Rwanda and Yugoslavia (2000) and The Ghosts of Medak Pocket: the Story of Canada's Secret War (2005).

In 2006, she released Bitter Chocolate, a book about the corruption and human rights abuses associated with the cocoa industry. She wrote that French-Canadian journalist Guy-André Kieffer, who was kidnapped in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire, in 2004, had been murdered for exposing Ivorian government corruption in connection with cocoa.

Her book All We Leave Behind: A Reporter's Journey into the Lives of Others (2017) won the 2018 British Columbia's National Award for Canadian Non-Fiction and the 2018 Ontario Historical Society Huguenot Society of Canada Award.

Off has received honourary degrees from both the University of Western Ontario and the Royal Military College of Canada.

On January 18, 2022, Off announced her retirement from As It Happens on-air, effective February 25.

In 2024, Off wrote a book, At a Loss for Words: Conversation in an Age of Rage, about contemporary political rhetoric and how certain political terms such as "democracy," "freedom", and "truth" have become distorted in political conversation.

In 2026, she released True Patriot Love: Reporting from the Frontlines of Canadian Sovereignty.

Personal life

Off married painter Fred Harrison after she graduated from high school, and her only child, a son named Joel Harrison, was born in 1976. She divorced Harrison and left their son with him when she moved to Toronto after graduating from the University of Western Ontario. Later, Off married fellow CBC broadcaster Linden MacIntyre in 2000.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Shimo, Alexandra (September 4, 2006). "Intrepid journalist comes home". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved May 23, 2021.
  2. ↑ "Off to reflect on journalists' responsibilities". Prince Edward County Public Library. Picton, Ontario. November 15, 2018. Archived from the original on June 24, 2020.
  3. ↑ Winders, Jason (October 1, 2009). "Alumni Awards of Merit - 2009". Western News. Retrieved October 18, 2026.
  4. ↑ "CBC journalist Carol Off to host 'As It Happens'". CBC Arts. May 18, 2006.
  5. ↑ Off, Carol (October 16, 2009). "Doing the Right Thing in an Age of Cynicism". Journal of Military and Strategic Studies. 6 (3). ISSN 1488-559X.
  6. ↑ Goodyear, Sheena (January 18, 2022). "Carol Off stepping down as host of CBC Radio's As It Happens". CBC Radio.
  7. ↑ "Board of Directors". CJFE. Retrieved October 18, 2026.
  8. ↑ Tillson, Tamsen (November 4, 2002). "CBC prizes the news". Variety. Retrieved October 18, 2026.
  9. ↑ "Off wins Drainie Award". Playback. August 1, 2008. Retrieved October 18, 2026.
  10. ↑ "As It Happens wins 2016 Gabriel 'Certificate of Merit' Award for Romero Martyrdom interview". CBC Radio. April 29, 2016.
  11. ↑ Kerr, R. (2001). "REVIEW ARTICLE - Operational Justice: The Reality of War Crimes Prosecutions in the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia". The International Journal of Human Rights. 5 (4): 110–122. doi:10.1080/714003736. ISSN 1364-2987.
  12. ↑ Clark, Michael (November 1, 2004). "The Ghosts of Medak Pocket: The Story of Canada's Secret War". Quill and Quire. Retrieved October 18, 2026.
  13. ↑ Cohen, Leah Hager (November 11, 2006). "Pain au chocolate". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved October 18, 2026.
  14. ↑ "CBC's Carol Off wins $40K BC National Award for Canadian Non-Fiction". CBC News. February 2, 2018.
  15. ↑ "Awards Past Recipients". The Ontario Historical Society. Retrieved October 18, 2026.
  16. ↑ Mayne, Paul (March 9, 2017). "Western names honorary degree recipients". Western News.
  17. ↑ "Newest graduates celebrated at Royal Military College of Canada". Government of Canada. May 20, 2016. Retrieved October 18, 2026.
  18. ↑ "Carol Off to sign off from CBC's 'As It Happens'". Mississauga.com. January 18, 2022.
  19. ↑ "At a Loss for Words Conversation in the Age of Rage". Penguin Random House. Retrieved September 4, 2024.
  20. ↑ Apa, Christina (October 14, 2026). "More Unbearable Lightness | A review of 'True Patriot Love' by Carol Off". Literary Review of Canada. Retrieved October 18, 2026.
  21. ↑ Woodend, Dorothy (October 23, 2026). "Are You There, Canada? It's Me, Canada". The Tyee.
  22. ↑ Smith, Gena (March 17, 2007). "In From the Cold". Ryerson Review of Journalism. Archived from the original on May 24, 2021. Retrieved May 24, 2021.