"I first
met Chuck (Charlie) Angus on his first tour of Western Canada.
If I hadn't experienced Chuck Angus I would have had to invent
him just for my own peace of mind because, in a world full of
prima donnas and poseurs, he stands out as the real thing."
Les Siemieniuk - National CBC radio, 1999
Charlie Angus is well-known
across Canada as a passionate spokesman for Northern Ontario.
As a writer, broadcaster and musician he has championed the
resource-dependent communities of the north. The late Peter
Gzowski referred to Charlie Angus as the "bard of Northern
Ontario."
Angus was born in Timmins,
Ontario in November, 1962. His family moved to Toronto at the
beginning of his teen years. During the 1980s, Charlie and his
wife Brit Griffin ran a house for homeless people in downtown
Toronto. In 1990 they moved to Cobalt, Ontario to raise their
children.
Angus has been active in
a number of musical projects -including the nationally-recognized
Grievous Angels. The group has garnered a number of Juno nominations
and other awards.
In 1999 he was honoured by
Sudbury's Festival Boreal with a special award for his "Outstanding
Contribution to Northern Culture."
He has been a regular contributor
to CBC, TVO and national newspapers. He has published three
books on the mining culture of the north and has just finished
his fourth work: The Flying Father:
The life and times of Father
Les Costello. The book will be published in the coming year
by Novalis Publishing.
Angus has worked for the
last three years with northern First Nations in neighbouring
Quebec on issues of community development and economic opportunities.
Charlie Angus was a major
organizer in the fight to stop the Adams Mine dump. He is committed
to preserving the vitality of northern resource-based communities.
Angus says his decision to enter Federal politics stems from
his desire to stop the continual erosion of Northern Ontario's
voice on the national scene.
Charlie Angus has been married
for 18 years to his wife Brit Griffin. They have three daughters:
Mariah 16, Siobhan 14 and Lola 6.
