Journalist immersed himself in Quebec life and culture

Broadcaster Dennis Trudeau was brought up a unilingual English-speaker in Ottawa, despite his French name, but as an adult he became an ardent francophile, immersing himself in Quebec life and culture. Mr. Trudeau, who died on Oct. 6 at the age of 77, was a long-time CBC journalist, working on local and national radio and finishing his career as host of CBC Newswatch, the broadcaster’s nightly television newscast in Montreal.

Dennis Joseph Trudeau was born in Ottawa on Jan. 22, 1948. His mother, the former Margaret Dennis, was a teacher in the English Catholic school system, and a staunch Catholic. Her son was named Dennis after her family name. His father, Basil, was a conductor on the Canadian Pacific Railway. Though Dennis Trudeau wasn’t a practicing Catholic, he loved visiting churches on his many foreign trips. And perhaps because of his father’s job at the CPR, he was a lifelong train aficionado.