General Manager
The Canadian Public Affairs Channel

Al MacKay is currently General Manager of CPAC, the Canadian Cable Public Affairs Channel, a national cable network which distributes proceedings of the Canadian Parliament and its own produced programming covering public policy issues. A 30-year veteran of the Canadian broadcast industry, Mr. MacKay was Vice-president and Station Manager of Ottawa's CJOH TV before establishing his own broadcast and communications consulting firm in 1995. Mr. MacKay was intimately involved in the development of the Canadian television program classification system and ratings icons, by the pan-industry "Action Group on Violence on Television" (AGVOT).

Mr. MacKay has been a member of the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council - the industry's self-regulatory mechanism enforcing broadcasting codes - since 1992. He Chaired the Ontario Regional Council from 1995-2000, and has been recently appointed to the newly-formed National Council.

Mr. MacKay has taught broadcast journalism at Carleton University and Algonquin College; is Vice-chair of the Media Awareness Network, an Internet-based media literacy organization; and is the Ottawa columnist for Electronic Times Report. He has been active in industry affairs, serving on the Boards of the Canadian Association of Broadcasters (CAB) the Ontario Association of Broadcasters(OAB), and the Radio-television News Director's Association (RTNDA). He was chosen Broadcaster of the Year by the OAB in 1995.

Mr. MacKay lives in Ottawa, Canada with his wife Ann and their three children.