François Labbé is a pioneering Canadian

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 mass media owner who started the first commercial French language

French language

French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...

 radio network

Radio network

There are two types of radio networks currently in use around the world: the one-to-many broadcast type commonly used for public information and mass media entertainment; and the two-way type used more commonly for public safety and public services such as police, fire, taxicabs, and delivery...

 in Canada, the Réseau des Appalaches

Réseau des Appalaches

Réseau des Appalaches is a radio broadcasting company in the Canadian province of Quebec, consisting of three stations based in southeastern Quebec...

, in 1972.

Born in Thetford Mines in 1928, the son of former Member of Parliament

Member of Parliament

A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

 and Thetford Mines mayor Tancrède Labbé

Tancrède Labbé

Joseph-Tancrède Labbé was a prominent Quebec politician and businessman. He was the father of media mogul François Labbé.-Background:...

, Labbé studied Commerce

Commerce

While business refers to the value-creating activities of an organization for profit, commerce means the whole system of an economy that constitutes an environment for business. The system includes legal, economic, political, social, cultural, and technological systems that are in operation in any...

 at the University of Laval. He acquired CKLD

CKLD-FM

CKLD-FM is a Canadian radio station, broadcasting a soft adult contemporary format at 105.5 FM in Thetford Mines, Quebec. It shares the programming of Réseau des Appalaches's Passion-Rock network with sister station CFDA-FM in Victoriaville....

 in Thetford Mines in 1959. In 1968, he founded CKFL, an AM radio station in Lac-Mégantic

Lac-Mégantic, Quebec

Lac-Mégantic is a town in Estrie on Lac Mégantic, a freshwater lake for which the town was named. Situated in the former Frontenac County in the historic Eastern Townships, Lac-Mégantic is the seat of Le Granit Regional County Municipality and of the judicial district of...

, and in 1970 he bought CFDA

CFDA-FM

CFDA-FM is a Canadian radio station, broadcasting a soft adult contemporary format at 101.9 FM in Victoriaville, Quebec. It shares the programming of Réseau des Appalaches's Passion-Rock network with sister station CKLD-FM in Thetford Mines....

 in Victoriaville.

In 1972, he founded CKTL

CKYQ-FM

CKYQ-FM is a Canadian radio station, broadcasting at 95.7 FM in Plessisville, Quebec. Owned by 176100 Canada Inc., the station airs a hot adult contemporary format branded as KYQ FM.-History:...

 in Plessisville

Plessisville, Quebec

Plessisville, Quebec is a county seat of L'Érable Regional County Municipality, Quebec, Canada. Routes 116 and 165 go through it. The city is 185 km from Montreal and 95 km from Quebec City...

 and CJAN

CJAN-FM

CJAN-FM is a Canadian radio station, which airs at 99.3 FM in Asbestos, Quebec. The station, branded as FM 99.3, broadcasts a community radio format with local talk and variety music programming....

 in Asbestos

Asbestos, Quebec

-Communities:*Asbestos*Trois-Lacs-External links:***...

. The radio stations became the Réseau des Appalaches. In 1977, Labbé founded CJLP in Disraeli

Disraeli, Quebec (city)

The city of Disraeli is located in the Municipalité régionale de comté des Appalaches in Quebec, Canada. It is part of the Chaudière-Appalaches region and the population is 2,570 as of 2009...

, which became the sixth station in the Réseau des Appalaches.

Labbé was also the owner of Publications Appalaches, which owned two newspapers, La Feuille d'Érable in Plessisville and La Mine d'Information in Thetford Mines. He was also a director of the insurance company La Solidarité and a governor of the Université Laval

Université Laval

Laval University is the oldest centre of education in Canada and was the first institution in North America to offer higher education in French...

 Foundation.

In 1989, he founded CFJO-FM

CFJO-FM

CFJO-FM is a French language Canadian radio station in Thetford Mines, Quebec, which broadcasts on 97.3 MHz with an effective radiated power of 100,000 watts...

 which broadcast to Thetford Mines and Victoriaville with his daughter Annie. In 1990, Labbé sold CKFL, CJAN and CKTL but retains ownership of other stations.

In 1998, Labbé was named to the Canadian Association of Broadcasters

Canadian Association of Broadcasters

The Canadian Association of Broadcasters was the national voice of Canada's private broadcasters, representing the vast majority of Canadian programming services, including private radio and television stations, specialty, pay and pay-per-view services....

Broadcast Hall of Fame.