{{short description|Canadian former radio host}} '''Royal Orr''' is a Canadian former radio host, best known as the host of CBC Radio's ''Cross Country Checkup'' from 1992 to 1994.<ref>"CBC hires host for Checkup". ''The Globe and Mail'', December 21, 1992.</ref>
Originally a reporter for the network's bureau in Quebec City<ref name=leavingcjad>"Orr leaving CJAD to be Checkup host". ''Montreal Gazette'', November 17, 1992.</ref> and an activist with the anglophone Quebecer lobby group Alliance Quebec, he became the organization's president in 1987.<ref>"Anglophones want accord postponed for public discussion". ''The Globe and Mail'', June 1, 1987.</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=805&dat=19890823&id=b4oNAAAAIBAJ&sjid=JEkDAAAAIBAJ&pg=1230,3792772 |title=Candidate faces tough job|work=Stanstead Journal|date=August 23, 1989 |accessdate=August 18, 2017|page=2}}</ref> The lawsuit was eventually settled out of court.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/communitybesiege0000stev |url-access=registration |author=Garth Stevenson|title=Community Besieged: The Anglophone Minority and the Politics of Quebec |via=Internet Archive|publisher=McGill-Queen's University Press|date=1999|accessdate=August 18, 2017|page=[https://archive.org/details/communitybesiege0000stev/page/203 203]|ISBN=9780773518391}}</ref>
He left Alliance Quebec in 1989 to become a host for Montreal commercial radio station CJAD,<ref>"Anglophone leader lands job in radio". ''Vancouver Sun'', February 10, 1989.</ref> remaining with that station until joining public broadcaster CBC's ''Cross Country Checkup'' in 1992.<ref name=leavingcjad/> He transitioned from ''Checkup'' in 1994 to become host of ''Daybreak'', the local morning program on the network's Montreal station CBM.<ref>"Royal Orr dons Daybreak crown; CBM morning man is lively, bright, enthusiastic on Day 1". ''Montreal Gazette'', February 1, 1994.</ref> He left the show in 1996,<ref>"Daybreak will be by committee; Orr begins last week with no replacement in sight". ''Montreal Gazette'', February 25, 1996.</ref> 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.<ref>"Maintaining a Connection: Royal Orr still finds inspiration as host of series on faith channel Vision TV". ''Montreal Gazette'', June 14, 2001.</ref>
He then became host of ''Spirit Connection'', a documentary series about faith and spirituality produced by the United Church of Canada for VisionTV.<ref>"Montrealers can't catch Orr's new gig: Local broadcaster is host of Vision TV show but that network got lost in cable shuffle". ''Montreal Gazette'', September 13, 1997.</ref> 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".<ref>"United Church's Real "Reality" Television Show Wins Major Awards at WorldFest-Houston". ''Canada NewsWire'', April 27, 2004.</ref>
He received the Sheila and Victor Goldbloom Distinguished Community Service Award from the Quebec Community Groups Network in 2015.<ref name=goldbloom>Irwin Block, [http://www.theseniortimes.com/activist-broadcaster-royal-orr-wins-goldbloom-award/ "Activist, broadcaster Royal Orr wins Goldbloom Award"]. ''The Senior Times'', November 12, 2015.</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
{{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Orr, Royal}} Category:Canadian radio journalists Category:Canadian talk radio hosts Category:CBC Radio hosts Category:Canadian television hosts Category:Canadian documentary film directors Category:Anglophone Quebec people Category:People from Estrie Category:Living people Category:20th-century Canadian journalists Category:21st-century Canadian journalists Category:Year of birth missing (living people) Category:20th-century Canadian male journalists Category:21st-century Canadian male journalists