The CBC's secret weapon: Claire Martin

I thought I was the only one who noticed the flirting going on between Peter Mansbridge and the weather lady Claire Martin until I read a very funny article in the Globe on the weekend by a woman from Saskatoon who had also noticed the on-screen smiles. I would post the article but it is only for online subscribers...too bad. Instead, here is some info on Claire.

Apparently she is in this Pink Floyd video - she is one of the kids chanting the line "We don't need no education"



From the Inside the CBC Blog:

She’s smart, meteorogically savvy, and — let’s face — more cute and perky than you and I will ever be. She’s Claire Martin, CBC Newsworld’s main weather anchor.
The London, England native was scooped up by CBC after being spotted by Ceeb execs on an Alberta Global station. And she has legit street cred. She’s well-respected within weather-industry circles, used to work for Environment Canada… hell, weather even runs in her blood: Martin is the niece of Barbara Edwards, who in 1974 became the BBC’s first female weather presenter in the UK.

I have never met Claire. I have never spoken to her on the phone. But I’ll bet you she ends up ten years from now doing much bigger things at the CBC. Or elsewhere (in which case.. shame on us).

The International Weather Festival awarded Martin the honour of “Best Weather Presenter in the World” in 2000, 2001 and 2003. The festival is produced annually by meteorologists and broadcast weather presenters from various nations and has been supported by the World Meteorological Organization.
And (this may come as a surprise to Ms. Martin herself) she has something of a cult following on the Internet (I haven't included this link...).
Martin arrived in Canada in 1989 and immediately started working at Environment Canada, She earned her Bachelors of Science from the University of Albert in 1995.
When asked several years ago: "How will the Earth's climate change over the next few centuries? Does it depend heavily on what humans decide to do?" Martin replied:

Tough question. Most scientists agree that the environment is in a state of great flux. But how much the long term effects are changed by man - well, I have no idea. Unfortunately being in TV has removed me from the academic world - and to some extent, from the latest discoveries in my field. I would have to say that generally, common census is that we have warmed our planet, and that we will continue to warm our planet, but that a definitive answer to your question is simply beyond my realm right now.

And, finally… you know you’ve hit it big when Air Farce uses you in a sketch. (Scroll to the bottom of the page. Warning: It’s not a particularly funny piece… and kind of made me wonder if they used a laugh track.)