Royal Orr

Royal Orr is a Canadian former radio host, best known as the host of CBC Radio's Cross Country Checkup from 1992 to 1994.[1]

Originally a reporter for the network's bureau in Quebec City[2] and an activist with the anglophone Quebecer lobby group Alliance Quebec, he became the organization's president in 1987.[3] In 1988, he sued Le Journal de Montréal and Télé-Métropole for libel, when both organizations falsely reported that he was the "prime suspect" after the organization's offices were destroyed by arson.[4] The lawsuit was eventually settled out of court.[5]

He left leading Alliance Quebec in 1989 to become a host for Montreal commercial radio station CJAD,[6] remaining with that station until joining public broadcaster CBC's Cross Country Checkup in 1992.[2] He transitioned from Checkup in 1994 to become host of Daybreak, the local morning program on the network's Montreal station CBM.[7] He left the show in 1996,[8] attributing his decision to the fact that as a resident of Hatley, the job required him to either get up at 2:30 a.m. or stay in Montreal away from his family for most of the week.[9]

He then became host of Spirit Connection, a documentary series about faith and spirituality produced by the United Church of Canada for VisionTV.[10] At WorldFest-Houston in 2004, he won awards for two Spirit Connection documentaries, "All My Friends Just Fade" and "God's People, Among All God's People".[11] The work at Vision TV lasted ten years. “It was the most fun of any job I have had,” he reminisced.[12]

He received the Sheila and Victor Goldbloom Distinguished Community Service Award in 2015.[13]