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Frank McKenna appointed interim chairman of CanWest Board

10/17/2003

WINNIPEG - CanWest Global Communications Corp. today announced the appointment of The Honourable Frank McKenna, to the position of interim chairman of the board of the company. McKenna succeeds Israel H. (Izzy) Asper, who died October 7.

"I am honoured that Frank McKenna will take on the position of chairman of the company on an interim basis, and grateful to Mr. McKenna that he has agreed to add the heavy responsibilities of chairman to his already considerable contributions to the company," said Leonard Asper, CanWest's president and CEO in a press release. "As a director since July 1999, Mr. McKenna is completely familiar with the company and was a key participant in all of the decisions that led to the company's dynamic growth in recent years."

McKenna has had a distinguished career as a lawyer, member of the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick, leader of the Liberal Party of New Brunswick, and Premier of New Brunswick for the decade from 1987 to 1997.

After retiring from provincial politics in 1997, he resumed his career as a lawyer, becoming counsel at McInnes Cooper, the largest law partnership in Atlantic Canada. McKenna is a board member of a number of major Canadian public corporations in addition to CanWest.

As interim chairman, he will preside over meetings of the CanWest board of directors, as well as meetings of the company's shareholders. He will also have ex-officio membership on all board committees. It is anticipated that McKenna will remain interim chairman until such time as the board takes a decision on the appointment of a permanent chair.

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