Quebec businessman Mitch Garber, right, speaks at a news conference in Montreal on April 20, 2015 while Cirque du Soleil founder Guy Laliberte listens. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz
MONTREAL – A prominent local businessman and lawyer says he’s offered to take a stake in the Montreal Gazette as the newspaper faces deep staff cuts.
Mitch Garber says he informed management at Postmedia, which owns the paper, that he would be interested in assembling a group of Montrealers to buy a minority or majority stake in the publication.
Garber, who was CEO of PartyGaming Plc, non-executive chairman of Cirque du Soleil and is a minority owner of the NHL’s Seattle Kraken, says he hasn’t heard back from the owners.
In an interview with The Canadian Press, Garber says his inbox is full of interested Quebec-based executives and investors who want to save the paper and make it locally owned and run.
He says having a group of local owners could help galvanize community support when it comes to attracting advertising and subscribers and ensure the survival of the city’s only English-language daily newspaper.
In January, Postmedia announced it would be cutting 11 per cent of its workforce of 650 employees, but sources at The Gazette have reported it will be hit particularly hard, with reports that 25 per cent of its remaining staff could lose their jobs.
A company spokesperson did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 16, 2023.
