Michael Valpy

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Michael Granville Valpy (born in Toronto, August 13, 1942) is an award-winning Canadian journalist and author. He writes for the Globe and Mail newspaper where he made his reputation on both political and human interest stories. Through a long career at the Globe, he has been a reporter, Ottawa-based national political columnist, member of the editorial board, deputy managing editor, Africa-based correspondent during the last years of apartheid, and religious affairs columnist. He also has been a national political columnist for the Vancouver Sun.

Valpy grew up in Vancouver, where his maternal family were early colonial settlers. His great-grandfather, W.W. Walkem, was Vancouver's first doctor and the brother of George Anthony Walkem, British Columbia's third premier.

In 1966-1967, Valpy was a staff member for the shortlived Company of Young Canadians.

In the 2000 federal election, Valpy ran as a New Democratic Party candidate in the Toronto riding of Trinity—Spadina, against Liberal Party of Canada incumbent Tony Ianno. Although he had one of the party's best results in the province, he was not elected.

Valpy has been divorced twice, most recently from constitutional lawyer Deborah Coyne. He is the father of three children, Leslie (a TV documentary producer}, Francis (a university undergraduate student in economics) and Matthew.

He has won three National Newspaper Awards (two for foreign reporting and one for an analysis of dysfunctional students in the public education system) and been nominated for a fourth (for a profile of Michael Ignatieff), co-authored three books (two on Canada's Constitution and the third on on the 21st-century generation of new Canadian adults), produced public affairs documentaries for CBC Radio, contributed chapters to several books on public policy issues and written for Maclean's, Time Canada, Policy Options, Shambhala Sun and Elm Street magazines. In 1997, he was awarded an honorary doctorate (D.Litt) from Trent University. He also received the Queen's Jubilee Medal in 2002. He is a senior fellow at Massey College at the University of Toronto. His home is a farm in Ontario's Grey County.