Jamaican gets radio station in Canada

Howard Campbell, Gleaner Writer

Nearly 10 years after he first applied to Canadian authorities for a broadcast license to start a radio station in the Greater Toronto Area, Jamaican Fitzroy Gordon is expected to hit that city's airwaves in a matter of weeks.

In an interview with The Gleaner last week, Gordon said details of the radio station (including its budget, name and size of staff) will be announced in August. He expects to be on air by October.

One thing which the lanky Gordon was able to elaborate is the station's format. Its playlist will be mainly classic American Rhythm and Blues complemented by other forms of black music including reggae, soca and hip hop.

He was quick to point out that it will not be all music.

"It's definitely not going to be a jukebox, we're going to look at a range of issues," Gordon said. "Black men are suffering from prostate cancer, high blood pressure and diabetes, so we're going to have experts on discussing the reasons for this," he added. "This is going to be an informative, educational station."

Gordon got the go-ahead to finally launch his station two years ago from the Canadian government after meeting with Canada's Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Immigration, Multi-culturalism and Citizenship Minister Jason Kenney, and Industry Minister Tony Clement.

He was turned down by the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission when he first applied for a broadcast license in 2002.

Three years later, he applied again and was granted the license but it was revoked because his frequency (98.7) was considered too close to the Canadian Broadcasting Commission's (99.1) band.

Encouragement

Following that disappointment, Gordon said he was encouraged by influential members of the West Indian community to lobby the government.

And in 2009, he led a delegation to Canada's capital, Ottawa, where he appeared in parliament and met with Harper at the prime minister's residence.

"Jason Kenney took up our cause like a personal campaign. They all worked hard for this thing to happen for us," Gordon explained.

Caribbean African Radio Network 98.7 is the working title of Gordon's entity. He said the official name will be announced at next month's press conference.

Born in rural St Andrew, Gordon immigrated to Canada in 1981 and worked as a freelance writer for The Gleaner and Toronto Sun. He also hosted the Dr Love Show on Chin 100.7 FM in Toronto for several years, playing R&B music and discussing issues affecting Toronto's growing West Indian population.

Gordon said the Dr Love Show was one of the few alternatives to mainstream Toronto radio's traditional diet of rock and country music. The positive response encouraged Gordon to try and start his own radio station which would also provide West Indians with news they did not get on established stations.

"When Usain Bolt won his (Olympic) gold medals in China no radio station in Toronto carried it! We are going to change that," he vowed.

Fitzroy Gordon's passion for Bolt's record-breaking feats is understandable. He was once a promising fastbowler who played in the Sunlight Cup competition in the early 1970s for St Andrew Technical High School.

That team was coached by Roy McLean and included a talented all-rounder named Richard Austin. Gordon's Sunlight contemporaries included Michael Holding at Kingston College and Jeffrey Dujon and Geoffrey Mordecai who played for Wolmer's.

Now in his mid-50s, Gordon is marking out his run-up for what may be the most important spell of his life. If it is successful, he believes his radio station will appeal to West Indian-Canadian who know little of their family's heritage.

"This isn't just about my generation. We want to serve from the cradle to the grave," he said.