Canadian Press editor-in-chief to leave news service April 26, cites personal reasons

TORONTO – Stephen Meurice, editor-in-chief of The Canadian Press, has announced that he is leaving the national news service for personal reasons, effective April 26.

Company president Malcolm Kirk said in a statement to staff that Meurice’s departure after 4 1/2 years was unexpected, and sad news.

“It has been an absolute pleasure to work with Steve,” Kirk said. “We will miss him.”

He said managing editor Andrea Baillie will be acting editor-in-chief after Meurice departs.

Meurice said in his email to staff that he had “very mixed emotions” about the decision to leave the news service.

“Without your work, this would be a much more poorly informed country, one without a real ability to see and understand what our fellow citizens are living through. You should all be very proud of that.”

Meurice also gave special thanks to Baillie for “teaching me the mysterious ways of CP” and described her as a master at managing coverage of breaking news stories.

Kirk noted in his memo that the process to find the next editor-in-chief will begin shortly and, in the meantime, Baillie will report to him directly.

The Canadian Press supplies a variety of content — text, audio, picture and graphics — to newspapers, broadcasters and online portals across the country.