Rita Celli

Biography

Rita has been on the front line of daily journalism at CBC since she first graduated from Carleton University in 1991. She’s covered spot news, landmark criminal trials, political scandals, #MeToo, mental health epidemics and child abuse cover-ups. Crisis hit close to home when a shooter attacked Parliament Hill. Locked down in the CBC station, like so many others in Ottawa, Rita guided the city, giving critical information as police hunted for an active shooter.

Rita spent the latter half of her career as executive producer and host of a daily, live talk show on CBC Radio One. Broadcast across Ontario, her call-in show was a platform for frank discussions on the most contentious issues. She navigated challenging debates with confidence, even humour, fostering an environment where people could exchange differing ideas in a respectful and fair way.

When the Governor General presented Rita with the Michener-Deacon Fellowship for Investigative Journalism, she stepped back from the pressures of daily deadlines and went on to uncover how little multinational mining companies paid for valuable Canadian natural resources. This investigation has strongly influenced her path back to university.

Rita’s worldview continues to be shaped by her early experiences as an immigrant kid in Northern Ontario. She lives in Ottawa with her family; juggling a few too many DIY projects, and especially enjoys growing dahlias in her garden.