Aaron Rand's ID card from 30 years ago, unearthed by Rob Braide in May. (I've blurred out his social insurance number so you don't identity-theft him)

When your goal is to get a job as a radio host at a commercial English-language radio station in Montreal, your choices are rather limited.

Aaron Rand left CFQR (the Q) in May after more than 20 years when it became clear management wasn't eager to renew their contract with him. At the time he wasn't sure where he would go, but he knew he wanted to stay in Montreal, he wanted to stay in radio, he didn't want to work at a station like K103 and he wanted to have some editorial freedom wherever he ended up. With the Cogeco door slammed pretty tight behind him, the only game left in town was Astral, and he was hoping for something at either CHOM or CJAD (the latter being the better choice because it would mean more talk time and less of being a DJ).

Now it seems Rand has gotten his wish. He won't be reunited with his former partner Paul (Tasso) Zakaib, but he will have a show on a popular radio station. Rand announced on Facebook and The Gazette published an article about the same time, both saying he is taking the weekday afternoon slot at CJAD, 3 to 7 p.m., starting Sept. 6 (the day after Labour Day). Note that this puts him directly opposite Mitch Melnick on Team 990.

The CJAD timeslot Rand is taking over is currently held by Ric Peterson, and there's a bit of musical chairs as people are shuffled into new slots. The details, according to The Gazette and other sources:

• Ric Peterson moves to 12-3pm, the latter two hours of which will be with Rand's former cohost Suzanne Desautels. This replaces Kim Fraser's show and the first hour of Dan Laxer.
• Kim Fraser moves to weekends, 1-4pm, which replaces Anne Lagacé Dowson on Saturdays and a few shows on Sundays.
• Dan Laxer loses his weekday afternoons gig but keeps his Sunday trivia show from 9am-12pm. He writes on Facebook that "I won't lie, I am disappointed, and I will miss weekday afternoons. Having my own radio show on CJAD has changed my life in so many ways, and opened so many doors. I'm hoping to nudge them open just a little bit wider and see where they lead." But he says he isn't leaving CJAD.
• Barry Morgan gets a new show 7-10pm weekdays, bumping Dan Delmar. He'll also contribute sports news to Rand's show.
• Dan Delmar writes on his blog that he'll stay at CJAD as a daytime programming producer, and says the change is bittersweet, because he loses a show he's worked very hard on, but at the same time he's not "a radio guy" and will enjoy having more free time. He also writes that he'll be hosting two weekly shows, details to come later.
• Anne Lagacé Dowson, the former CBC radio host and one-time NDP candidate, loses her weekly gig. She still has a column in the new Hour magazine, and will be on the Tommy Schnurmacher show's Gang of Four, plus other stuff, she tells The Gazette's Bill Brownstein.
• Legal Lounge with Christopher Dimakos, Ann Shatilla's Hollywood Trend Report and the Dr. Schwarcz Show, which are on Sunday afternoons and being displaced by Kim Fraser, will find new homes on the schedule. "All those shows will remain part of our line-up", says Brand Director Chris Bury. A final schedule is expected within a few days.

Rand's Facebook fans are thrilled, and the positive reaction to his return to the airwaves easily drowns out those who are disappointed by Laxer, Delmar and Dowson losing their shows. (On the Radio in Montreal discussion group, moderator Sheldon Harvey is a bit skeptical, suggesting that people might not be sufficiently prepared for a switch from music to news/talk programming)

It's disappointing that young talent has to suffer to bring back a star, but as many people in the industry have told me: That's the business of radio.

UPDATE: Video of Rand's interview with CJAD's Andrew Carter is online.

Meanwhile, at Rand's old home at 92.5, changes are afoot for the same day. Cat Spencer takes his job as Rand's morning-show replacement, and the station is rebranding itself "The Beat", less than two and a half years after rebranding itself from "Q92" to "92.5 the Q". It's unclear what kind of format change will come along with the rebranding, but there's speculation that the station will try to be more like CJFM (Virgin Radio 96) in order to steal some of the No. 1 station's audience and give Montrealers even less choice in music selection on the radio.

John Bartlett to be voice of Habs for Team 990

It's probably a coincidence, but competing AM station Team 990 also has a Thursday announcement that was leaked to The Gazette. John Bartlett, formerly the announcer for the Toronto Marlies (the Leafs' farm team) will join CKGM as play-by-play man for the Canadiens. The station won the rights to Canadiens games away from CJAD this summer.

Bell Media says colour analysts (they used the plural) will be announced in the coming weeks. The Gazette's Hockeyinsideout.com has an interview with Bartlett, which appears in Thursday's paper.

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• Cat Spencer to replace Aaron Rand at CFQR
• Radio ratings: A good fall for Cogeco and CKGM
• The Beat is on – but is 92.5FM* any different?
• CJAD loses Habs broadcasts to Team 990
• Aaron Rand moves on

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(UPDATE Aug. 19: Mr. Larivée has joined the club, so I've updated the list as of today)

Anne Lagacé-Dowson (NDP)

• Fan page: YES
• Supporters: 511
• Personal page: NO

Marc Garneau (Liberal)

• Fan page: YES
• Supporters: 370
• Personal page: YES
• Embarrassing personal information on personal page: NO

Claude William Genest (Green)

• Fan page: YES
• Supporters: 178
• Personal page: YES (Though his profile pic is of a chimp hugging a bird)
• Embarrassing personal information on personal page: Open wall, "flirt" box on his profile page, and photos of him dressed as a pimp. Does that count?

Charles Larivée (Bloc Québécois)

• Fan page: YES (though it's actually a group, not a fan page)
• Supporters: 120
• Personal page: YES
• Embarrassing personal information on personal page: Nope, it's wiped clean

Judith Vienneau (Rhino)

• Fan page: YES (but no photo)
• Supporters: 8 (ouch)
• Personal page: YES
• Embarrassing personal information on personal page: Plenty of TMI boxes on the profile page. Also, apparently wanted to be leader of the Libertarian Party. Maybe Rhino was her second choice?

Guy Dufort (Conservative)

• Fan page: NO
• Personal page: YES (private)

Many politicians have fake "personal" profiles setup, which I think is largely irrelevant since Facebook invented the fan page. So I won't take any marks away from Lagacé Dowson for that. But Dufort and Larivée not having any Facebook exposure at all? That's just not right.

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From Shatnerian

Prime Minister Stephen Harper made it official Friday, announcing that three federal by-elections would be held on Sept. 8 in Westmount-Ville-Marie, St. Lambert and Guelph, Ontario.

Westmount-Ville-Marie features the big race for us Montrealers, as the Liberals and NDP both have star candidates. Perhaps coincidentally, they are the only ones with campaign posters or websites as of this writing.

The candidates are (essentially in order of the likelihood of them getting the seat):

• LIB: Marc Garneau, former astronaut, who failed in a bid for the Vaudreuil riding in the last election. His biggest advantage here is not so much his star quality, but the fact that Westmount used to be a Liberal stronghold.
• NDP: Anne Lagacé Dowson, CBC radio host. I'm not sure if Jack Layton has a CBC Radio fetish he wants to play out or something, as two of the NDP's three candidates come from the Mother Corp. (Tom King in Guelph is the other). She has some name recognition, but those who recognize her are people who listen religiously to the CBC and are likely to vote NDP anyway. And a lot of people who do listen to her don't seem to like her. She has a way of presenting herself that makes her seem a tad pretentious and patronizing. Her political credentials are also pretty weak. (Full disclosure: I worked with Anne for about two weeks at CBC Radio - not long enough to develop an opinion, but long enough for her to have paid me off, theoretically)
• CON: Guy Dufort, a lawyer with Heenan Blaikie specializing in labour law. No website. Website still hasn't been indexed by Google, so a search for "Guy Dufort" won't get you information about the candidate.
• BQ: Charles Larivée, a former (current?) president of the McGill Political Science Students Association. No website, and no hope. (Top Google hit for the name is my previous post about this race)
• GRN: Claude Genest, deputy Green Party leader and former cast member on TV's Sirens.

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The NDP has apparently chosen its candidate for its next most likely by-election pickup in Quebec: the downtown riding of Westmount-Ville-Marie. No, it's not the guy in the above video (though he sounds like he'd be awesome), it's CBC Radio Noon host Anne Lagacé Dowson:

(Note: May not be exactly as pictured)

I worked with Anne during my very brief stint at CBC Radio. Considering how incompetent I was, she seemed like a pretty nice person. The fact that she's running for office under the NDP banner is hardly surprising (though I doubt she and Jack Layton agree on every issue)

Now the NDP seems to think that after their stunning win in Outremont, getting a broadcast journalist on board is the magic ticket to a second win in Quebec.

Unfortunately, it's no guarantee. Just look at Peter Kent, former Global National anchor who lost for the Conservatives in Toronto (he's trying his luck again in a much more affluent York riding). And he was at least on TV. (Get Mutsumi Takahashi or Nancy Wood to run and we'll talk)

Even worse, her opponent is another star candidate (albeit another failed one), former astronaut Marc Garneau.

The riding, which mainly covers Westmount and western downtown (plus a bit of eastern NDG) could be hard to predict, with a mix of rich anglo Westmounters and poor hippie Concordia students. But the federal riding covering Westmount has been Liberal since 1962, and that's a lot of history to overcome for a party that hasn't done better than third with 15% of the vote.

Due to a conflict of interest, Lagacé Dowson has taken a leave of absence from CBC Radio, and the latter immediately scrubbed all mention of her from its website.

UPDATE (July 7): It's "confirmed" apparently (as if there was doubt). Lagacé Dowson is, as usual, humble:

"I am not falling on my sword in Westmount," she told a handful of supporters. "This liberal tradition isn't serving us very well, and we don't like what the Conservatives are doing to us. I am not running to make a good showing; I am running to win. If Barack Obama against all odds can capture the leadership of the Democratic party in the United States, who says a woman can't capture the hearts and minds of Westmount for the NDP?"

I'm not quite sure how this relates to Barack Obama, nor being a woman (especially since the riding's former MP, Lucienne Robillard, has two X chromosomes last time I checked), but don't let that interfere with the historicness.

Meanwhile, the other parties have filled out their candidates. Just to show how confident the Bloc Québécois is at winning a seat in Westmount, they've nominated Charles Larivée, who according to Google is the president of the McGill Political Science Students Association.

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