Barr & Llewellyn Share 2026 CWA Canada Award of Excellence

Congratulations to Mary-Ann Barr and Steve Llewellyn, co-winners of the 2026 CWA Canada Award of Excellence!

Barr is Secretary-Treasurer of the Media & Communications Workers of Alberta (CWA Canada Local 30400), and also serves as Secretary of the CWA Canada Executive Committee.

Llewellyn was a long-time leader of the New Brunswick Media Guild (CWA Canada Local 30664) and member of the CWA Canada Executive Committee.

---

MARY-ANN BARR

Mary-Ann Barr fell in love with journalism before she was even old enough to understand the power and politics she would spend a career covering.

As a bright and perceptive student of human nature, she knew working in the media was an important way to change the world and make it a better place where everyone could feel included.

From the day she was hired at the Red Deer Advocate, where she has worked in various roles including reporter, editor and columnist, Mary-Ann was fiercely committed to exposing problems and pressing for improvements.

So, it was no surprise to anyone when Advocate workers voted to unionize in 1991, that Mary-Ann would take a leadership role.

She would become the “go-to” voice on the floor and a respected leader. For three decades she would be a leading presence in her Local, as president or secretary-treasurer, the careful counsel on every committee while she mentored and promoted others coming up the chain.

Mary-Ann would become an expert at bargaining collective agreements, dealing with management, and advocating for her colleagues.

At its peak, the Media & Communications Workers of Alberta (CWA Canada Local 30400) had as many as 200 union members in Red Deer, Medicine Hat, Lethbridge, and Calgary. So, it was busy. Yet Mary-Ann managed to carve out a respected career as a journalist and still make time to promote the union and build a productive relationship with her employers.

Colleagues, and sometimes the odd manager, continue to call her for advice.

Since 2012, she has shared her experience with colleagues across the country, serving as Secretary on CWA Canada’s Executive Committee. 

She continues to bring her brand of progressive, practical advice to her media colleagues while advocating for the industry she loves. 

Mary-Ann is smart, funny, tough as nails when needed, and increasingly sentimental. And she always comes prepared.

Along with her wife, Michelle, she has raised a beautiful daughter, Aylla, who also believes in finding the good in everyone.

As Local President Joanne Van Buskirk put it: “Mary-Ann has shown unwavering dedication to protecting worker rights, enhancing workplace conditions, and fostering solidarity. She is honest, transparent and ethical, building trust with members and management. She exhibits the courage to challenge management decisions and doesn’t shy away from high-pressure negotiations.”

For all these reasons and more, Mary-Ann is co-recipient of this year’s CWA Canada Award of Excellence 2026.

---

STEVE LLEWELLYN

Steve Llewellyn is an award-winning journalist and union activist, admired for his tenacity, and respected for his ability make complex material readable.

Steve spent his career helping his community in Fredericton understand their corner of the world, and its place in the big picture.

In an industry filled with personalities, Steve stood out as the intellectual with the sharpie, the guy with the history degree who always read the fine print, the bylaws, financial reports, pension actuaries, legal reports – the complicated documents that take patience and insight to interpret. 

Those skills made him a stellar reporter, tenacious truth seeker, and a gifted union activist – the man everyone wanted on their union committees. 

Steve joined his union Local, the Fredericton Typographical Union (now the New Brunswick Media Guild, CWA Canada Local 30664), as vice-president representing the Fredericton newsroom in 1991, and became president – much to his surprise – in 1992 when the then-president was fired in a downsizing.

The Irving family owned the paper then, along with most newspapers in New Brunswick. Notoriously anti-union, the company went head-to-head with Steve over things we now take for granted, like sick leave (there was none), shift differentials, mandatory overtime, and control over what you write.

Over the next 30 years, journalists and news staff relied on Steve to fight their grievances, bargain better salaries, and inject dignity and respect into workplace decisions, and practices.

That included allowing journalists to withhold their bylines after questionable edits or additions.

Besides being able to manage a demanding career with copious amounts of union work, Steve was able to do it without burning bridges. He made it all look easy.

Steve has been married to his wife Heather for 40 years and, as an involved father of two children, he encouraged his employer to make many accommodations for workers with families, something that wasn’t seen as a priority in newsrooms for many years.

Now his children are proud of his reputation as one of the province’s most respected journalists, a committed activist, and an all-round nice guy.

As one colleague said: “The only thing he can’t do is brag. He is one of the hardest working, but most humble people around.”

From another: “A great guy, straight up, honest, trustworthy, his own man, proud to call him a friend.”

When pressed, Steve modestly describes himself as: “Resourceful and friendly with minimal ego, and a passion for achieving value for our community.”

For all these reasons and more, Stephen Llewellyn has been chosen as a co-recipient the CWA Canada Award of Excellence 2026.