The Leader-Post Limited, 1931-1989

Pessoa coletiva

The Leader-Post Limited, 1931-1989

• The Leader-Post Ltd.

1931-1989

The first issue of The Regina Leader was published on March 1, 1883 in Regina, North West Territories. The first owner, editor and publisher of the weekly newspaper was Nicholas Flood Davin. In November, 1883, Davin expanded the publishing side of his business venture, and Prairie Printing and Publishing Company was incorporated as a joint stock company under the provisions of the Companies Act. Davin maintained ownership and editorial control of The Regina Leader, which began publishing daily in 1885. In 1886, Davin entered federal politics and turned control of the newspaper over to The Leader Printing Company. He was a shareholder in the Leader Company Limited in 1887.

Leader Company Limited was sold to Walter Scott in 1895; Scott also became The Regina Leader's editor. Scott also owned The Moose Jaw Times and in 1900 established The Leader-Times Company Limited. Scott turned over editorial control of The Regina Leader to William Franklin Kerr in 1902. Under Scott's ownership, The Morning Leader began daily publishing in 1903. Kerr purchased The Leader-Times Company Limited from Scott in 1905 and established The Leader Publishing Company. He held the positions of president and managing editor.

During the early years of The Regina Leader's development, various other newspapers were also being established in Regina. Many of these newspapers would eventually be purchased by the owners of The Leader. The West was established in 1899 and became The Daily Province in 1910. The Regina Standard was established in 1887 as a weekly newspaper and became a daily in 1904. It was purchased by The Province and became The Evening Province and Standard, publishing from 1913 to 1915. The Daily Province was discontinued in 1915, and the following year became The Regina Daily Post. The Leader Publishing Company took over The Regina Daily Post in 1920 and continued to publish The Regina Daily Post and The Morning Leader.

In 1920, T. Burford Hooke became president of The Leader Publishing Company. He was also named editor in 1921. As president, Hooke sold his holdings to The Armadale Company Limited in 1927. The Armadale Company Limited handled the business ventures of the Sifton family. With the acquisition of The Leader Publishing Company, the Sifton family gained The Regina Daily Post and The Morning Leader as well as the Daily Star and Daily Phoenix newspapers in Saskatoon. Upon approval of the Registrar of Joint Stock Companies, The Leader Publishing Company became The Leader-Post Publishing Company in July, 1929.

Under ownership of The Armadale Company Limited, The Regina Daily Post and The Morning Leader newspapers merged together to become The Leader-Post. The first publication under the new name occurred on April 7, 1930.

The Leader-Post Limited was registered with Corporations Branch, Department of Justice, Government of Saskatchewan on May 26, 1931. Victor Sifton held presidency of the company until 1953 when Clifford Sifton became sole proprietor of The Leader-Post. Clifford Sifton continued as president until 1959 when his son Michael C. Sifton assumed the position. The Leader-Post Limited was amalgamated into Armadale Communications Limited, which was registered with Corporations Branch on January 1, 1989. Michael C. Sifton continued as president until his death in January, 1995. His son, Michael G. Sifton held the position of president for the remainder of 1995.

Armadale Communications Limited sold The Leader-Post and its other Saskatchewan-based newspapers to Hollinger Inc. on December 31, 1995. Control of The Leader-Post rested with Sterling Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Hollinger Inc. At the time of acquisition, Michael G. Sifton became chairman of Sterling Newspapers Limited.

Hollinger Inc. held ownership of The Leader-Post until July 31, 2000 when all of Hollinger's Saskatchewan media assets were purchased by CanWest Global Communications Corporation. At the completion of the sale, The Leader-Post became a division of Southam Publications, a CanWest company. Currently, (2007) the Leader-Post is a division of CanWest MediaWorks Publications Inc., a subsidiary created in 2005 of CanWest MediaWorks Inc.. Its publisher is Greg McLean (since 2001) and its editor-in-chief is Janice Dockham (since 2000).

Since the early 1980s, The Leader-Post Limited and its successors have also published The Regina Sun (renamed The Regina Sun Community News in June, 2000.)

Former general managers and executive vice-presidents of The Leader-Post have included John F. Sweeney (1943-1945); Percy B. Keffer (1945-1962); William Thomson (1963-1972); Max Macdonald (1972-1983); James Struthers (1984-1988); Richard D. Thompson (1988-1989); Ed Schulz (1989-1994); Bob Hughes (1994-1996) and Greg McLean (1996-2001).

Past editors of the newspaper have included Nicholas Flood Davin (1883-1887); acting editor Thomas Smith (August, 1884 - April, 1885); J. Jackson Young (1887-1892); John A. Reid (1893-1895); Walter Scott (1895-1906); William Franklin Kerr (1906-1920); James Cruickshank and William Noakes (1919-1921); T. Burford Hooke (1921-1927); Arthur M. Raymond and Hamilton Butler (1922-1927); A.M. Raymond and Maxwell B. Cody (1927-1929); David Bruce MacRae (1929-1939); David Barss Rogers (1940-1964); Thomas Melville (1964-1973); Ivor Williams (1973-1988); John Swan (1988-1996) and Bob Hughes (1996-2000).

Over its history, The Leader and its successors' offices have been located at the 1900 block of Victoria Street (now Avenue) (1883-1891); 1765 Hamilton Street (1891-1905); 1800 Hamilton Street (1905-1913); 1853 Hamilton Street (1913-1964) and 1964 Park Street (1964-present).

Rules for Archival Description (RAD)

Final

Authority record created on 2008-06-10. Approved 2012-03-06. Last modified on 2017-11-29.

AMICUS Authorities - no entry found.
Contents of the fonds
SAB Pamphlets file - newspapers.
Saskatchewan Justice, Corporations Branch Corporate Registry