Tamara Taggart

Tamara Taggart
Taggart in 2017
Born (1968-05-02) May 2, 1968 (age 56)
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
NationalityCanadian
OccupationFormer news anchor
SpouseDave Genn

Tamara Taggart OBC (born May 2, 1968) is a former Canadian television presenter. She served as the weekday anchor of CTV News at Six alongside Mike Killeen on CIVT-TV ("CTV British Columbia") in Vancouver between 2010 and 2018.[1]

Biography

Taggart's career in broadcasting started while she was attending BCIT in Burnaby, British Columbia, where she was enrolled in the Broadcast Communications program. She graduated in 1991. Her class included Vancouver sports broadcaster John Shorthouse, NewCap Radio GM Steve Parsons, McVay Media writer and program director Paul Durante, swing-shift DJ John Woodlock and former long-time Cariboo broadcast personality Dalton Hooker. Her early work was in radio and concert promotion. However, in 1997, she landed a recurring role on community calendar spots on CIVT-DT (then known as "Vancouver Television"). From there, she moved on to co-host the breakfast show and then, later, the entertainment spot on the evening news.

In 2001, Taggart moved over to the weather desk where she stayed for nine years. During the station's 5 pm, 6pm and 11:30 pm newscasts she presented the forecast from CTV's studios as well as various (and numerous) locations around Vancouver, the Lower Mainland and on Vancouver Island. In January 2011, Taggart transferred to the CTV news desk.

Taggart also hosted a home renovation show, Love It or Lose It, for two seasons, on the Home and Garden TV channel (HGTV).

Taggart had minor roles in the films Antitrust, Josie and the Pussycats, Halloween: Resurrection and Along Came a Spider, and on several television series, including Robson Arms, Cold Squad, and Touching Evil.

The Georgia Straight Annual Reader's Poll named Taggart as Vancouver's "Best TV Weather Person" and "Best TV Personality" in 2002, 2003 and 2004.[citation needed] She was named "Woman of the Year" at the Consumer's Choice Awards in 2003[citation needed] and has appeared on the cover of TV Week Magazine seven times. In 2005, Taggart was nominated for a Leo Award for "Best Host, Lifestyles Series" for Love It or Lose It.[citation needed] Taggart has also been featured in Hello Canada in July 2009 and August 2009.

Taggart was married on February 4, 2006, to Juno award-winning guitarist and record producer Dave Genn with Senator Larry Campbell, former mayor of Vancouver, serving as the officiant at the marriage ceremony. Taggart and Genn (currently still an active member of the band 54-40) have a son and two daughters.

Taggart co-hosted Live! with Regis and Kelly for one day on Friday August 21, 2009.[2]

On December 8, 2010, it was announced that Taggart would co-anchor the CTV News at Six alongside Mike Killeen, effective January 3, 2011, following the stepping-down of longtime anchors Pamela Martin and Bill Good.[3] In 2018, Taggart and Killeen were fired from CTV due to restructuring.[1]

On December 11, 2018, Taggart announced that she was seeking the Liberal nomination for Vancouver Kingsway in the 2019 federal election.[4][5] She secured the nomination, but lost the election to the incumbent, Don Davies.[6][7]

Currently[when?], Tamara is the host for the Telus Talks with Tamara Taggart podcast series. She partnered with Telus in March 2020 to launch the weekly podcast, where she interviews doctors, healthcare professionals and prominent Canadians.[citation needed]

Electoral record

2019 Canadian federal election: Vancouver Kingsway
Party Candidate Votes % ±% Expenditures
New Democratic Don Davies 21,680 49.09 +3.35 $96,884.11
Liberal Tamara Taggart 10,194 23.08 −4.73 $96,618.31
Conservative Helen Quan 8,804 19.94 −1.08 none listed
Green Lawrence Taylor 2,675 6.06 +2.81 none listed
People's Ian Torn 427 0.97 – $3,869.88
Communist Kimball Cariou 292 0.66 −0.32 none listed
Marxist–Leninist Donna Peterson 91 0.21 +0.03 $0.00
Total valid votes/expense limit 44,163 99.00
Total rejected ballots 446 1.00 −0.03
Turnout 44,609 58.67 −4.65
Eligible voters 76,039
New Democratic hold Swing +4.04
Source: Elections Canada[8][9]

References

  1. ^ a b Brown, Scott (April 9, 2018). "CTV Vancouver fires news anchors Tamara Taggart, Mike Killeen". Vancouver Sun.
  2. ^ Tamara to co-host Live! With Regis and Kelly Archived August 3, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  3. ^ "Mike Killeen and Tamara Taggart to host CTV BC". CTV.ca. December 8, 2010. Archived from the original on April 30, 2012. Retrieved December 8, 2010.
  4. ^ @tamarataggart (December 11, 2018). "I have some BIG news. I'm seeking the @liberal_party nomination for Vancouver Kingsway..." (Tweet). Retrieved December 11, 2018 – via Twitter.
  5. ^ "Trudeau to attend event for former broadcaster seeking Vancouver Kingsway Liberal nomination". CBC News. March 23, 2019. Retrieved September 11, 2020.
  6. ^ Mangione, Kendra (October 18, 2019). "Ridings to watch: NDP stronghold of Vancouver Kingsway was Trudeau's first campaign stop". CTV News. Retrieved September 11, 2020.
  7. ^ "Tamara Taggart defeated by longtime NDP candidate Don Davies". Daily Hive. October 21, 2019. Retrieved September 11, 2020.
  8. ^ "List of confirmed candidates". Elections Canada. Retrieved October 4, 2019.
  9. ^ "Official Voting Results". Elections Canada. Retrieved July 23, 2021.