Retired CBC editor Michael Finlay killed in random assault

A prominent retired broadcast journalist has died following a Toronto assault that marks a recent random deadly attack in Canada’s largest city.

73-year-old Michael Finley died of his injuries a week after being assaulted while walking down Danforth Avenue on Toronto’s eastern edge. A former CBC colleague said he was pushed from behind on the afternoon of Jan. 24 while he was grocery shopping.

Police have released images of an unidentified man caught on surveillance cameras as he left the scene.

“The suspect encountered and assaulted another man on Danforth Street.

“We are aware that the victim passed away tragically,” police spokeswoman Constable Caroline de Krett said on Wednesday. We are updating our call to citizens. still large.

Finlay retired from CBC in 2010 after 31 years with the national broadcaster. Active in radio programs such as Dispatch, The World at Six, Sunday Morning.

“Michael will be remembered as an extraordinary storyteller, documentary maker and editor,” reads a statement emailed to The Globe and Mail by CBC spokesman Chuck Thompson. .

Reporters recall Mr. Finley as the quintessential tough but fair editor.

“I literally think of him every time I write a script,” Senior Business Reporter Peter Armstrong said in an interview. “He knew everything. He knew the story you were working on better than you knew.”

Armstrong said the editorial process was often intimidating for reporters, but Finlay “had so much respect for the job that it inevitably made you sound smarter than you really were.” Told.

Last week, the Toronto Police Department announced it would step up patrols in and around the city’s downtown transportation hub after a series of random attacks turned deadly.

On December 9, Vanessa Kurpiewska, 31, was stabbed to death at High Park train station and a second woman was injured. A 52-year-old man has been charged with first-degree murder and attempted murder.

On January 20, an 89-year-old woman died around noon while walking near the King Street and Yonge Street subway stations. Police say she was pushed down by her 37-year-old man, who had no fixed address. manslaughter.

The past month has witnessed a series of non-fatal assaults, including one in which a 23-year-old foreign student was stabbed multiple times aboard a Spadina tram by an unknown assailant. 43 year old woman Indicted for attempted murder In the attack on January 24th.

In a statement last week, Toronto Mayor John Torrey said: National Summit on Mental Health Issues.

“When federal and provincial governments do not provide adequate and adequate funding for mental health care, the blame shifts to under-equipped local governments across Canada,” he said. “It’s being unloaded in our shelters, police services, transportation systems, and hospital emergency departments.”