Hilary Bird named new host of CBC NWT's Trailbreaker
CBC Radio listeners in the N.W.T. will soon be waking up to a new morning show host — veteran reporter Hilary Bird has been named the new host of The Trailbreaker.
"It's a big responsibility but it's super exciting," said Bird.
The Trailbreaker airs across the N.W.T., weekday mornings from 6 a.m. to 8 a.m. Bird — who has filled in as host in the past — will take over the role permanently next month.
Bird is originally from Ontario and has been in the North for 12 years, first as a youth worker at Meander River, Alta. That's where she says she decided she wanted to settle in the North.
"My only dream was to get here. It didn't matter what the job was," she said.
"When I was trying to decide what career I wanted to do, ultimately I knew that I just wanted to work with people and I wanted to have a job where I was able to talk to people every day. And so it was between journalism and nursing."
She opted for journalism and landed a job at CKLB in Yellowknife before moving to the CBC. Over the years, she figures she's visited almost every community in the territory, and she's won several national and international awards along the way.
She aims to bring those journalism chops to her new role on The Trailbreaker.
"Ultimately, I am a reporter," she said. "I have asked a lot of hard questions in my career. I feel comfortable holding people accountable. I'm very news-focused."
Bird also wants the program to be a "place where people feel safe and they feel comfortable sharing their stories, speaking their truth."
"It's quite an honour to know that people will let me into their homes in the morning, and I hope I can honour that and and respect their stories," she said.
