Mr. Alec Castonguay

15 September 2008 

The Conference of Defence Associations (CDA), in concert with the Canadian Defence & Foreign Affairs Institute (CDFAI), is pleased to announce that Alec Castonguay, journalist for the newspaper Le Devoir and magazine L'actualité, has been selected as the recipient of the 2008 Ross Munro Media Award. The selection committee was unanimous in its decision.

With an authority based on thorough research and intellectual integrity, Alec Castonguay offers commentary on a broad spectrum of national security and defence issues. He not only describes people, events and ideas at face-value, he explores their background and potential linkages and, in so doing, offers his readers valuable insight to some of the nation's most daunting challenges.

The Ross Munro Media Award was initiated in 2002 to recognize Canadian journalists who have made a significant and extraordinary contribution to increasing public understanding of Canadian defence and security issues. Recipients of the award have produced outstanding work regarding the efforts of the Canadian Forces in preserving Canadian democratic values. The award consists of a replica of the Ross Munro statue and a cheque for $2,500. Previous recipients of the award are Stephen Thorne, Garth Pritchard, Sharon Hobson, Bruce Campion-Smith, Christie Blatchford, and Matthew Fisher.

Alec Castonguay was born in Laval in 1979. He received a B.A. in Journalism from Université du Québec à Montréal and has worked as a journalist since 2001. As a journalist for the daily Le Devoir for five years, he was first assigned to the Economy desk. In 2004 he became the youngest parliamentary correspondent in Ottawa, for any media organization, at 24 years of age. Since then, he has followed the various activities of the House of Commons as a team member for Le Devoir. Alec has followed the activities of the Department of National Defence and the conflict in Afghanistan for over two years. He traveled to Afghanistan in April 2007. Alec has also been a contributor to L'actualité for two years, covering the federal scene for Quebec's top information magazine.

The selection committee was chaired by Lieutenant-General (Ret'd) Richard J. Evraire, Chairman CDA. Members of the Selection Committee were Dr. J.L. Granatstein, Canadian Military Historian; Mr. Peter Kent, VP-Corporate Communications Hill and Knowlton; Mr. Stuart Robertson, of O'Donnell, Robertson & Sanfilippo; and Colonel (Ret'd) Charles Keple, Vice-Chairman CDA (Public Affairs).

The Award will be presented at the CDA Institute's Vimy Dinner, which will be attended by the Right Honourable Beverley McLachlin, Chief Justice of Canada, on Friday, November 14, in the LeBreton Gallery of the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa, Ontario.

Inquiries may be directed to Captain (ret'd) Peter Forsberg, Public Affairs Officer or Mr. Arnav Manchanda, CDA Institute Project Officer at:

TEL: (613) 236-9903 ~ FAX: (613) 236-8191
E-MAIL: pao@cda-cdai-ca ~ URL: http://www.cda-cdai.ca