Canada's Walk of Fame Honours the 'Impact' of Allan Slaight

By FYI Staff

Canada’s Walk of Fame (CWOF) has partnered with CTV’s celebrity entertainment program etalk for a new one-hour event, Celebrating Greatness: A Canada’s Walk of Fame Special that has its debut on Dec. 18 at 8 p.m. ET on CTV.

Hosted by etalk co-anchor Tyrone Edwards, and through the lens of the Allan Slaight Music Impact honourees, the broadcast tells the story of exceptional Canadians and their rise to greatness. Following the broadcast, the show will be available on CTV.ca and the CTV app.

With the annual induction gala cancelled this year due to the pandemic, the special features new interviews and unearthed archival footage from all 10 of the Allan Slaight Music Impact honourees including Shawn Mendes, Melanie Fiona, Brett Kissel, Drake, The Weeknd, and Alessia Cara, as well as highlights from the annual’s past 20 years, featuring appearances by Inductees’ Rick Hansen, Russell Peters, and Buffy Sainte-Marie. The CWOF special also pays tribute to some of the inductees we lost this year, including Alex Trebek. Martin Luther King III, who inducted civil rights activist Viola Desmond in 2017, appears to pay tribute to Desmond once again.

“With the annual gala being shut down during this time of uncertainty, I am so proud we are able to adapt and deliver this star-studded special that honours and celebrates extraordinary Canadians, both past and present,” said Nanci MacLean, Vice-President, Bell Media Studios and President, Pinewood Toronto Studios. “It’s so important that we continue our commitment to supporting homegrown talent, every single year, no matter what.”

Canada’s Walk of Fame CEO Jeffrey Latimer added that “our exemplary Inductees and our incredible national programs are allowing us to share the personal journeys and stories of great Canadian achievers.”

Also announced, in celebration of the 10^th Anniversary of the Allan Slaight Music Impact honour, CWOF inducts Allan Slaight with a star on Canada’s Walk of Fame for his contributions in business and philanthropy.

“I congratulate my father Allan on receiving this special award from Canada’s Walk of Fame in recognition of his accomplishments in his business life, his support for Canadian music creators and the arts in Canada and more importantly, his leadership in philanthropy,” Slaight Communications CEO and President Gary Slaight stated with the announcement. “Our family is very proud of the path he set for so many to follow.”

Additionally, Canada’s Walk of Fame shines a light on its newest Community Hero, Aditi Sivakumar, a philanthropist, leader, and advocate for women’s rights. Sivakumar was selected as the Grand Prize winner of the 2020 Community Hero program, presented by MLSE and Scotiabank. Plus, the special looks ahead to Canada’s future talent with Canada’s Walk of Fame’s 2020 RBC Emerging Musician Program Grand Prize-winning duo, Allydice.

For those too young to remember, the legendary and storied Allan Slaight began his broadcasting career in Moose Jaw in 1948 at age 17 as an on-air news reporter, announcer and late-night jazz presenter. He went on to parlay a natural-born entrepreneurial flair and his knowledge of radio to create Canada’s largest privately owned multi-media company, Standard Broadcasting Corporation Limited which was sold in 2007 for $1.1B. He was also a key figure in bringing SiriusXM to Canada and in 1990 he played a central role in bringing one of the first NBA franchises to Canada with the creation of the Raptors and, briefly, owning what is now known as the Air Canada Centre. Today, Slaight is Executive Chairman of the Board of Directors of Slaight Communications and an active philanthropist serving as founder of the Slaight Family Foundation. He is also an amateur magician of note. The family charitable foundation has gifted nearly $100-million to hospitals, universities, festivals, as well as music, radio and magic-related organisations. A comprehensive history of the man can be found on his Wikipedia page.