Seven of Canada's iconic trees featured in Canadian Geographic

Canadian Geographic magazine, in its December issue, features seven iconic Canadian trees. Writer Hans Tammemagi visits them all in different regions of Canada and tells their stories. 

The feature is illustrated by Mary Sanche. 

Great books can -- and often do -- grow from great magazine articles

Allan Casey (Canadian Press)

Many a great Canadian book gets its start, or its impetus, from being first published in a magazine.
Allan Casey of Saskatoon, took the non-fiction prize in the Governor General's Literary Awards for his first full-length book Lakeland: Journeys into the Soul of Canada (Greystone Books).

Two of the chapters originated as articles published by Canadian Geographic magazine in 2008 and 2006. (Casey has three times been a National Magazine Award finalist for work in Canadian Geographic and once in Western Living magazine.)

Casey continues his frequent contributions to the magazine, with a feature in the October issue on the threat to the South Saskatchewan river from climate change and water demand.

Interviewed by the CBC, Casey said that on his tour of lakes large and small, remote or otherwise he found that access to nature was rapidly becoming the preserve of the wealthy, with access tightly controlled.

"I take a strong position that what we're doing is excessive. Excessive materiality is out of place if our purpose is to enjoy the wilderness. Make no mistake, we need to do this. Human beings have a deep need to [be in nature]," he said.

Maureen Murphy leaving Canadian Geographic

In yet another high-level departure from Canadian Geographic magazine, Maureen Murphy, the Vice-President, Consumer Marketing and Operations, has resigned and will be leaving effective June 15, 2007. It was announced to the staff by André Préfontaine, the Publisher.

Murphy was responsible for all new media activities and had been in charge of the merchandising division, which was recently wound down. She joined Canadian Geographic Enterprises as circulation manager in 1993 and managed a number of important projects for the company, including the Canadian Atlas Online.

In April it was announced that 8 people were being laid off, most of them long-term staff and the total who have departed within the past year is now 16, with Murphy.

Canadian Geographic lays of 8 more staff; outsources customer service

More layoffs at Canadian Geographic. The word is that 8 people have been let go this week at the Ottawa-based magazine, six of them involved in the member services department which is now redundant with the announcement this week that fulfillment and member services will all be handled by Indas Limited. An earlier post detailed how Canadian Geographic's merchandise division had been shut down and that accounts for two more people. A still earlier post detailed a major exodus in September.

In all, some 15 people, many of them long-term staff, have been cut from CanGeo in the past 7 months. There is also a rumour that the Canadian Geographic Society building, which was mortgaged to buy out Key Publishers last year, may be up for sale.

A world of troubles at Canadian Geographic

People in the business have always looked up to Canadian Geographic, as a robust mid-sized title in a country with few of them, as an excellent and prize-winning magazine and as a real publishing success story.

Hence the dismay and puzzlement when, last Friday (September 1), seven people, including a couple of senior and longtime employees, were abruptly terminated Among them were Ian McKelvie, Senior Marketing Manager, Margaret Williamson, Photo Editor and Caroline Milano, Coordinator Society Programs. The others were: Jodi Di Menna,Assistant Editor; John Burridge, Production Artist; Tobi McIntyre, New Media Coordinator; and Celine Parisien, Art Director, Special Projects and Promotions.

The story of how, 12 years ago, Michael De Pencier and Key Publishers took a 50% stake in Canadian Geographic Enterprises (with the Royal Canadian Geographic Society) and helped turn the magazine around has taken on an almost mythic quality. It has been held up as a model for how certain specialty titles can thrive under a foundation structure. Can Geo has an audited circulation of 210,000 and a readership of almost 4 million and an apparently robust merchandising arm.

About four months ago a number of people, mostly contract employees, were let go, but assurances were given to staff, and outsiders, that this was a minor business adjustment.

Mere months after John Thomson announced he was leaving as Publisher to work on a new project with Key Publishers (who recently sold their 50% interest in CGE), the new publisher apparently felt that he had no choice but to cut staff drastically, including long-term employees.

Thomson, who is a past Chair of Magazines Canada, had been spending a good deal of his time away from Can Geo in the past year, working on several new CGE projects , including one called the BC Experience.

When Key announced that it wanted to sell its 50% interest, André Préfontaine, lately the President of Transcontinental Media, was hired as a consultant, helping CGE to find a sympathetic partner. When a partner acceptable to the Society board could not be found, the directors decided to buy the 50% back themselves and offered the publisher's job to Préfontaine. Once the purchase and sale of the 50% was formally closed, the seven staff were terminated.