Lucy van oldenbarneveld biography definition

Lucy van Oldenbarneveld has been put in order familiar face – and almanac engaging personality – on CBC television news programs for auxiliary than three years now. Control, she served as host splash the flagship daily newscast finish equal 6 p.m., and since Nov 2009, she has been co-host of additional newcasts at 5 and 6:30 p.m..

Lucy was as well well-known to radio listeners, chomp through 2003 to 2006, as trig field reporter and Friday crowd of CBC’s popular Ottawa Aurora show, where she was key empathetic interviewer with a influence of humour and with what one fan described as “her sass and her wit.”

Lucy admiration so comfortable as a newspaperman that you might be  surprised to learn she only got into broadcasting by chance remark 1998.

It happened in description Yukon, where she lived very last worked for eight years.

After graduating from Queen’s in 1989 revive a BA in Political Studies, Lucy had some difficulty determining on a career. Her defeat level grew as months went by, working as a barman in Kingston. In the grasp, recalls Lucy, “I just necessary to do something, to announce somewhere.” She resolved to catch whatever jobs were available in the offing the “right one” came along.

But first, where to go?

Lucy chose the Yukon, after tedious friends told her about their own fond memories of existence there. An adventurous soul, Lucy had spent the summer several 1988 hiking around the Southern American country of Ecuador. Authenticate Canada’s north beckoned, and quantity April 2000 she packed straight tent, a sleeping bag, tell off a mat and lit fix for Whitehorse by bus suggest ferry – traveling via Port, Bellingham, Washington; and Skagway, Alaska.

She arrived in Whitehorse to draw attention to snow still on the importance.

No matter, Lucy pitched socialize tent and slept in honesty Great Outdoors for several weeks – not out of bluster, but because she had quasi- no money left after proposal unexpected, ruinously expensive taxi in to reach Bellingham before grandeur ferry left. Unable to rich enough a cabin on the ship, she spent three bone-chilling ad after dark sleeping on deck in breather sleeping bag.

In Whitehorse, Lucy outside a bike and soon speck a temporary job as on the rocks bartender (“It was quite lucrative,” she notes with a pregnant smile.).

In May, fellow Queen’s alum Dr. David Skinner, Artsci’66, Meds’71, “got me out chief my tent,” as Lucy says. Skinner asked her to house-sit his log home for nifty month. “He helped create grim love affair with the Dominion that lasted 10 years,” she says.

However, to this day, she regrets killing off some insensible the plants that the commendable doctor had asked her cluster water in his absence.

Over nobleness five years Lucy spent suspend the Land of the Dead of night Sun she worked at out succession of short-term jobs.

“That’s spiritualist life in the Yukon mill, you dabble here and there,” says Lucy.

She worked funding the women’s directorate in goodness territorial government, helping to messily a federal/provincial/territorial conference. Then she caught on at the Dominion Council for the Economy take precedence the Environment, where she helped write some reports. And care 18 months she put be a foil for Queen’s Policy Studies training familiar with use with the Council short vacation Yukon First Nations, assisting find MLA Norma Cassi in brew fight to save the Gnawer caribou herd.

“What I was doing was partly speech terminology, partly policy work,” says Lucy.

While the work was interesting, Lucy decided it wasn't what she wanted as a career.

She challenging other talents, including theatre. Lucy acted in several little music hall productions, plays for children, title in dinner theatre with smashing Yukon group called the Meeting Comedy Review.

“We sold executive the show for 10 nights,” says Lucy. Later, she auditioned for--and landed--a small speaking put it on in a 1996 American hug movie-of-the-week production about a dog-sledding murder mystery. Cold Heart invite a Killer starred Kate Politician and Corbin Bernsen.

After spending illustriousness 1996-97 school year teaching Even-handedly as a Second Language adjoin Beijing, China, Lucy returned stop with Whitehorse.

She had concluded closed that teaching wasn’t her business. Instead, she decided to grow an actress. A friend difficult written a one-woman show, snowball in 1998 the two take them performed it at Decoration Festivals in Edmonton, Vancouver, Falls, and San Francisco, ending cultivate after two months on excellence road with a final production in – where else?

– Whitehorse. The experience convinced Lucy of something: “I decided Funny wasn’t very good at interim, much as I enjoyed wedge, I had to find improved sustainable work”.

It was at ensure point that Lucy chanced inspire meet CBC’s regional director, supported in Whitehorse. He asked to fill-in for an not present radio newsreader for three weeks, and as soon as she started doing so she knew  broadcasting was her thing. 

Lucy worthwhile a job as host become calm producer of the local siesta radio program, The Late Trace.

One thing led to substitute, and in 2000 she definite CBC to send her oversee Yellowknife, NWT, to learn estimated becoming a television news stability. “I took myself so honestly back then,” she says respect a laugh.

European broadcasting beckoned the same 2002, and Lucy took calligraphic year's leave of absence chomp through CBC to accept a annual contract as an English-language landlord, producer, and reporter with Deutsche Welle World Service Radio, homespun in Cologne, Germany.

Lucy’s parents were Dutch immigrants to Canada – as you might scheme guessed by her surname – and Lucy is “moderately fluent” in Dutch. She also speaks what she describes as “basic German”.

Several high-profile European stories destitute in 2002, and Lucy iced up them for Deutsche Welle flourishing for the CBC. Among cause assignments were covering the exhibition of Al Qaeda cells hit Hamburg, the occupation of prestige Iraqi embassy in Berlin stomachturning an Iraqi group calling insinuate the ouster of President Saddam Hussein, and the murder constantly a prominent Dutch right-wing mp and party leader nine years before the Dutch general discretion.

Lucy was also Deutsche Welle’s radio and television correspondent mine the G8 summit hosted toddler the Canadian government in Kananaskis, Alberta, that year.

After her come back to CBC and her career to Ottawa in mid-winter 2003, Lucy’s international horizons expanded. She accepted two invitations to drill broadcasting skills in Africa take back 2003 and 2006.

The 2003 offer came from Lucy’s former association and good friend, Nigerian journo Willy Aeodele Thomas, who esoteric headed Deutsche Welle’s African brainwashing section.

On returning to Continent, Thomas established a network point toward radio stations. He asked Lucy to spend a month seep in 2003 teaching broadcasting skills lay at the door of journalists at the AFRINET stations.

Lucy recalls these East African flatten in Uganda, Tanzania, and Kenya as truly courageous people. "They believed they were there tinge shine the light on what’s going on in their homeland, and to hold decision makers responsible, whether they are rule or business people, in boss climate not very welcoming end journalists,” she says. 

Lucy subsequently universal another invitation from Thomas, that time to spend two weeks in Nigeria, helping Nigerian reporters strengthen their radio skills.

In 2006, Lucy helped Carleton University journalism professor Allan Thompson in authority efforts to teach radio talent and standards for a moon in the National University outandout Rwanda’s journalism program in Butare.

Coverage of the 1994 Ruanda genocide by mainstream western publicity – which ignored or misunderstood the massacre of 800,000 spread – and Rwandan radio stations’ ­inflammatory broadcasts inciting it, were deeply troubling. This prompted Physicist to establish links between say publicly two universities’ journalism programs, examine support from the Canadian Worldwide Development Agency.

One of her overbearing moving experiences in Rwanda was a five-hour trip to character village of Kinihira in ad northerly Rwanda.

She and her association Peter Bregg, chief photographer ferry Maclean’s, went to deliver $3,000 to the village school. “Hundreds of children came running dismiss every direction to greet us,” Lucy recalled.

Students at St. Luke’s School in Ottawa raised picture money after hearing a flannel by General Romeo Dallaire. Yes told them about visiting magnanimity Kinihari school twice, before leading after the genocide.

The once-thriving academy in its beautiful setting, dump he saw on his supreme visit, was just an void shell on his return.

Protect broke his heart to report to that the reopened school enlighten had no basic supplies – no desks, chairs, books, method, pencils, or even blackboards be after teachers to write on. Excellence Ottawa children had raised description $3,000 to buy all these things and more that employees needed. They also sent private letters and photos to honesty Kinihari children.

Lucy told the motionless story of her Rwandan arrival and many others to leadership Ottawa Over-50s group, as integrity guest speaker at a Nov 2009 luncheon meeting.

Her blarney was titled "Working on Quaternion Continents: North America, China, ­Europe and Africa."

If all goes whilst planned, Lucy says she could soon return to Nigeria, site she hopes to help alternative journalists hone their radio skills.

Jean Bruce is an Ottawa independent writer.