Name/Title
2025 - Corporal Caroline Van Vlaardingen - Canadian National News Anchor and CGG Veteran (1982-1985)Scope and Content
2025 - Corporal Caroline Van Vlaardingen - Canadian National News Anchor and CGG Veteran (1982-1985)
Excerpt from an interview with Lt. Michael A. Hayes-Rivet (ret.) and the CGG Museum in 2025
CAROLINE VAN VLAARDINGEN - A distinguished Canadian journalist and news anchor, who is also a notable Canadian Producer, Professor of Journalism at Concordia University, and host of host of "On-Line Montreal," also served with The Canadian Grenadier Guards.
Caroline Van Vlaardingen is an international award winning and highly accomplished Canadian and Montreal journalist who is celebrated for her impactful reporting on major events such as the Oka Crisis, the Polytechnique murders, 9/11, and the inauguration of Barack Obama. Beyond her journalism career, Caroline has influenced many future Canadian media and news professionals in her role as a professor of journalism at Concordia University. She has been recognized for her contributions by The Radio Television Digital News Association (RTDNA) and is a recipient of the Concordia University Benoît Pelland Distinguished Service Award.
Before her rise in journalism, Caroline served as a groundbreaking member of The Canadian Grenadier Guards (CGG). In1982, she was among the first CGG women recruits to join the Ceremonial Guard program shortly after the Canadian Armed Forces approved the recruiting of women for public duties. She served with CGG for three years where she was promoted to the rank of Corporal in NCO leadership roles including CG Division Command 2IC, and with CGG Home Station in the Finance department.
THE SUMMER OF 1982 – AN IMPORTANT TIME FOR CGG
Canada’s Charter of Rights was enacted in 1982, requiring the Armed Forces to consider the equality of women in the services and to permit them into all military roles. Although it took 7 more years, until 1989, for all combat roles to finally be opened to women, The Canadian Grenadier Guards (CGG) along with the Governor General Foot Guards (GGFG) began recruiting women almost immediately for Ceremonial Guard with the important task of conducting public duties in the National Capital Region during the summer.
During that period, while attending a recruiting event at Dawson College, Ms. Van Vlaardingen came across CGG recruiters offering summer employment for students. After successfully passing all physical and administrative requirements, Caroline and a friend became part of just “eleven women to be selected as some of the first to join CGG’s Ceremonial Guard contingent”.
Caroline reflected on her memorable training experiences at Camp Petawawa, where she “participated in various activities such as patrols, acting as the enemy in training scenarios, and honing essential skills like leopard crawling and small arms training.” She noted that these exercises were “strikingly realistic, effectively simulating the challenges soldiers might encounter in combat situations”. Recalling her first year with the CGG, Caroline described it as a “marked experience that was both challenging and rewarding.” The summer stood out as an intense yet satisfying period focused on mastering the fundamental skills of a Canadian soldier. It was also a time when she formed “lasting friendships and built strong bonds that remain to this day.”
FOLLOWING A LOVE FOR JOURNALISM
Caroline served a combined total of three years with The Canadian Grenadier Guards, completing her trade qualification and working in Finance during the school year, while returning to Ceremonial Guard each summer. It is no surprise that she was offered the chance to obtain a commission with CGG, but upon competing her studies at Concordia University, she followed her love for journalism and retired from the military and flourished as part of CFCF-TV (now CTV Montreal) and its flagship newscast Pulse News to become one of Montreal’s and Canada’s most recognized Journalists, Producers, and News Anchor celebrating over 30 years on the job at CTV News Montreal.
Source:https://www.concordia.ca/content/shared/en/profiles/offices/advancement/notableconcordians/caroline-van-vlaardingen.html
CGG’s LONG STANDING CONNECTION WITH CANADA’s JOURNALISM PROFESSION
Above Mrs. Caroline Van Vlaardingen, The Canadian Grenadier Guards have had the honour of including among its ranks no less than 11 additional prominent figures in Canadian journalism. Many were early members of the Press who gained recognition or helped pioneer reporting and capturing the news of the day through platforms ranging from the House of Commons Press Gallery to leading printed and televised media in Toronto, Ottawa, and Montreal. Notable among them are:
Major Olivar Asselin, was a “Writer and journalist in Quebec. He was a prominent nationalist, pamphleteer and polemist whose legacy is immortalized by Quebec’s most prestigious annual journalism award bearing his name.” He served with the 87th Battalion (Canadian Grenadier Guards) CEF in 1918. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olivar_Asselin
Major General Edward Morrisson was an officer with the 1st Regiment, Grenadier Guards of Canada in 1914 and a former Editor-in-Chief of the Ottawa Citizen. He and Major John Lewis, an Editor at the *Montreal Star*, who also served as a Company Commander with the 87th Battalion (CGG) and was tragically killed during the First World War. https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/former-citizen-editor-saw-a-life-of-ink-and-blood
Michael Armstrong (CGG 88’), A Canadian journalist who currently serves at Global News as a national correspondent. “After the Global National gained its first hit the airwaves in September 2001, Mike has been working as a correspondent since that time and he has been doing remarkable work at the network. Moreover, he is also among the original members of the cast characters since Global opened its station in Quebec in September 1997.” https://globalnews.ca/author/mike-armstrong/
Buzz Bourdon, A CGG soldier and Officer who served in the 1970’s he went on to become a frequent Ottawa Citizen and Toronto Globe and Mail contributing columnist.
Captain David O’Keefe, PhD, a great friend of The Regiment, and a Canadian “historian, television presenter, and writer known for presenting ‘War Junk”. He has appeared on television and radio networks including CBC Radio, Global Television, CTV Television Network, UKTV Network and the History TV channel.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_O%27Keefe_(historian)
Captain Joseph Ernest Eugene Cinq-Mars, Kings Printer for the Province of Quebec and a pre-WWI Member of the House of Commons Press Gallery. https://canadiangreatwarproject.com/person.php?pid=109895
Lieutenant William Collier, a Quebec City Journalist prior to attesting with the Canadian Expeditionary Force during WWI.
Lieutenant Frederick George Diver, Canadian Pioneering Electrical and Radio Engineer who was the manager and VP of The Canadian Press Agency, (The Canadian Press PC - La Presse canadienne, PC) a national news agency headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. Established in 1917 it was a vehicle for Canadian newspapers to exchange news and information. He was killed in action serving with the 87th Battalion CGG in France in 1916.
Major John Lewis, a US born Montreal Journalist who became Editor of The Montreal Star prior to joining The Canadian Grenadier Guards and being killed in action on November 18, 1916)
Major Lewis "Lou" Edwin Marsh – A famous Canadian Athlete and Sports Editor with the Toronto Star for 43 years. He helped pioneer sport journalism in Canada. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lou_Marsh
Dr. (Corporal) John Vernon Mackenzie, a newspaper journalist with the Toronto Star prior to WWI, he enlisted with the Canadian Expeditionary Force and fought with CGG. After WWI, he went on to become an accomplished Journalism Professor at the University of Washington in Seattle and went on to serve as a Harvard University Professor and a Dean of the School of Journalism teaching notable students such as John F. Kennedy and acclaimed writer William S. Burroughs.Created By
Lieutenant Michael Hayes-Rivet, retired.Create Date
May 20, 2025Updated By
Lieutenant Michael Hayes-Rivet, retired.Update Date
September 3, 2026
