Phillips leaves Postmedia to pursue political career
Postmedia Network Canada Corp. announced a series of leadership changes on Thursday after chairman Rod Phillips stepped down to pursue a political career.
Phillips, chair of the board since February 2014, resigned to seek the nomination for the Ontario Progressive Conservative party in the riding of Ajax for the upcoming election.
He is replaced by Paul Godfrey, who becomes executive chairman in addition to his role as CEO of the holding company that owns Postmedia Network Inc. Postmedia owns more than 200 news publications, including the Financial Post and the Vancouver Sun.
Godfrey has been at the helm of Postmedia since its inception in 2010.
Peter Sharpe, one of Postmedia’s founding directors who has served as a committee chair for the past seven years, has been promoted to lead director.
“On behalf of the board of directors and senior management team at Postmedia, we thank Rod for his dedicated leadership and wish him tremendous success in his political career,” Godfrey said in a statement.
“On a personal note, I have known Rod for more than 20 years and I am confident that his strong integrity, insight and collaborative approach will serve the citizens of Ajax very well.”
Prior to his role at Postmedia, Phillips was president and CEO at Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation. He has also served as chair of the board for Telus’ Greater Toronto Community Board, CivicAction, a summit for industry leaders to tackle regional challenges, and Afiniti, an artificial intelligence technology company.
His departure comes as Postmedia shifts its focus to growing digital revenue in light of structural advertising declines across the print newspaper industry.