Mir Lecture: Duncan McCue

An award-winning broadcaster, author, and professor, Duncan McCue is a masterful storyteller and celebrated leader in decolonizing journalism. Throughout his distinguished 25-year career with the CBC, he was best known as the host of CBC Radio’s Cross Country Checkup and as a longstanding correspondent with The National. Honest and insightful, McCue is a sought-after trainer and educator in helping to build respectful relationships with Indigenous communities to spark social change and reconciliation. 

From climate change to residential schools and violence against Indigenous women, McCue has tackled some of the most complex issues facing Canadians and Indigenous Peoples. Most recently, he was the driving force behind CBC’s award-winning investigative podcast series, Kuper Island. In 2023, the Canadian Association of Journalists presented McCue with its highest honour, the Charles Bury Award, for his “efforts to inspire change in how Canadian journalism covers Indigenous stories.”

McCue is now a guest host, trainer and Indigenous advisor for CBC and a Professor of Indigenous Journalism and (Story)telling at Carleton University. He has spent decades training journalists across Canada and the world on how to respectfully share Indigenous stories and perspectives. He developed the innovative online resource, Reporting in Indigenous Communities, which inspired his textbook, Decolonizing Journalism: A Guide to Reporting in Indigenous Communities. McCue is also the author of Shoe Boy: A Trapline Memoir.

Before becoming a journalist, McCue studied English at the University of King’s College and completed his law degree at the UBC. He was called to the bar in British Columbia in 1998. His educational journey also includes a Knight Fellowship at Stanford University and a Southam Fellowship at Massey College/University of Toronto. 

McCue is Anishinaabe and a member of the Chippewas of Georgina Island First Nation in southern Ontario. In recognition of his public service, he was presented with an Indspire Award and an honorary doctorate from the University of King’s College.