Slate of Candidates for the CMA Board of Directors Election
The CMA Board of Directors is the governing body of the association. The Board represents the broad diversity of our membership in terms of job responsibilities, communications formats, geography and roles within their organizations. We encourage you to get involved and vote for those who you feel will contribute to the organization’s continued success.
Beginning Aug. 13, 2024, a special election will be held for the following Board position:
- Canadian Region Representative
Earlier this year, the Board of Directors authorized the creation of a new geographic region for Canada. This decision acknowledges the unique needs and contributions of our Canadian members, providing them with dedicated representation and opportunities for engagement within the CMA structure.
The initiative for a Canadian region stems from a desire to recognize the distinct culture of Canada, differentiating it from other geographic regions (Western, Midwestern, Southern and Eastern). In the coming weeks, we will hold a special election for the new board of directors' position for the Canadian Regional Representative. The elected representative will begin a three-year term, marking a significant step in our journey toward greater representation.
Online voting will be available Aug. 13-28, 2024.
Learn more about the Board nomination process by visiting our frequently asked questions page.
Paul Schratz has worked more than 40 years in newspapers, both secular and Catholic, and also has a background in diocesan communications.
Paul has been a reporter, photographer, editorial page editor, and assignment editor at daily newspapers across Canada. Since 1997, he has served the Archdiocese of Vancouver, with roles as communications director and editor of The B.C. Catholic. He has advised on crisis planning, acted as media spokesperson, developed policy documents and communications statements, and coordinated media coverage and social media. As editor of The B.C. Catholic, he maintains the newspaper's award-winning tradition by directing its news coverage, developing opinion and feature content, and writing news and commentary.
He is also editorial and outreach manager for Canadian Catholic News, directing news and social media strategies, fundraising, promotion, and outreach initiatives. He teaches introductory journalism for CCN’s online Speaking Truth in Charity course.
Describe your vision for the future of Catholic media:
The shuttering of Catholic media in dioceses across Canada has forced Catholics to rely on the secular press for news about the Catholic Church.
Recognizing the decline in mainstream journalism standards, The B.C. Catholic in Vancouver and The Catholic Register in Toronto are spearheading efforts to revitalize Canadian Catholic News, the Catholic news cooperative that has served the country for 40 years.
In recent years, the Kamloops residential school "mass graves" story and the biased coverage of the Pope's visit to Canada have shown the need for news from a Catholic perspective and became the catalyst for CCN’s launching its own online journalism course.
With several Catholic partners, we offer introductory sessions in truth-based journalism blended with Catholic principles of social justice. Dozens of writers worldwide have taken part and several currently write for us. In August 2025, we will hold an in-person journalism summer intensive in Toronto.
We are also working on building a national website to consolidate Catholic news and sites across Canada and are seeking financial benefactors to fund the project.
With these efforts and God’s help, we look forward to a brighter future for Catholic media in Canada.
Peter Stockland has been the Publisher-Editor of The Catholic Register, Canada's largest Catholic newspaper, since January 2022. He assumed direction of the Register, where he had been a freelance columnist for 12 years, after more than 40 years in newspapers and magazines across Canada. He is a former Editor-in-Chief of the Montreal Gazette, was vice-president of English language magazines for Reader's Digest Canada, and co-founded Convivium magazine with Fr. Raymond de Souza in 2011. He has published books of fiction and photo essays.
Describe your vision for the future of Catholic media:
My vision of the future of Catholic journalism is a Venn diagram. On one side is journalism with its ethics, methods, and truth-driven best practices. On the other is Catholic identity: fidelity to Church authority, teaching and obligation. The central intersection is Christ and His commandment to love God and neighbour. I'm part of a small group that hosts an online course for training and developing Catholic journalists, which we call Speaking Truth in Charity. The goal is to foster what I think of as an apostolate of platform agnostic Catholic media workers not to just to write about Catholic things for the world, but to tell about the things of the world through a Catholic - that is, Christ's - vision.