New owner found for the Eganville Leader, 123-year-old newspaper will continue to publish

The Eganville Leader will continue to publish weekly under new ownership.

The 123-year-old Renfrew County newspaper was set to close at the end of February after publisher Gerald Tracey made the decision to cease publication.

However, Tracey announced in this week’s edition that the Eganville Leader has been sold.

“The Eganville Leader has been sold and will continue to publish under new ownership,” said the lead line of the article, with the headline “The Leader is sold!”

Tracey has signed an agreement to sell the Leader to London Publishing Inc. of London, Ont. selling the paper to company president Ray Stanton and John Hueston, publisher of the Aylmer Express.

“The plan is to continue running the Leader with minimal changes,” Tracey said in a quote in the Eganville Leader. “Their philosophy is simple: if it’s not broken, don’t fix it.”

The paper has faced the possibility of closure before. In 2022, the Leader’s printing press in Bracebridge, Ont. said it would be shutting down due to the COVID-19 pandemic. During the 2024 Canada Post workers’ strike, the Leader temporarily paused its printing due to being unable to deliver newspapers.

The Leader was founded in 1902 by Patrick McHugh and covers news in the Ottawa Valley. The Tracey family bought the paper in 1944.

With files from CTV News Ottawa’s Ted Raymond

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