4 * THE SUBURBAN, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 30, 2010

NEWS & ANALYSIS

The ultimate gentleman Herb Luft retires from CTV

Mike Cohen

After 39 years as a reporter and anchor at CTV News Montreal and its predecessor, CFCF, this is the last official day on the job for happy-go-lucky Beaconsfield resident Herb Luft. Luft is a real pro who will be missed. I had the opportunity to get to know him over the past two decades, wearing my other hat as a communications and marketing specialist. Last month we spent the day together at a student career day where he shared his experience in the business with Grade 10 teenagers. Luft says he started thinking about calling it quits just over a year ago when his early morning CTV newscast was cancelled. "I really enjoyed it," he said. "Then, to have to go back to shift work, it just was not the same." Daring moves by Luft included repelling down a 26-storey building in his suit and allowing himself to be tasered, both as part of actual reports. He will always remember covering his first election campaign with only a basic knowledge of French and being assigned to ride the bus with PQ founder René Lévesque. Robert Vairo has already extended an offer to his former CTV colleague, telling me a teaching spot is open for Luft at his Montreal Radio-TV School. Judge Tremblay: When Marcel Tremblay lost his bid to become the mayor of the borough of Villeray last November, it might not have been the worst thing to occur. A few months earlier he had announced his decision to step down as a Montreal city councillor in NDG, but he was persuaded by his brother - Mayor Gérald Tremblay - to switch constituencies and try to win a tough district for the party. During his last mandate there was a lot of talk about him running federally for the Conservatives. In fact he was being asked to challenge Thomas Mulcair in Outremont. The Tories nonetheless rewarded Tremblay for his years of political service with the appointment of a Federal Citizenship Judge. My friend and colleague Ellie Israel, a commissioner at the English Montreal School Board, was among those in attendance at the Chinese Cultural Community Centre recently when Marcel was formally sworn in to his new post. Looking on proudly as Senior Immigration and Citizenship Judge George See COHEN, page 8

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