Roger Smith has been a fixture of CTV’s Ottawa bureau for nearly two decades, but that will all comes to an end on March 15. Smith announced his retirement yesterday.

Roger Smith has been a fixture of CTV’s Ottawa bureau for nearly two decades, but that will all comes to an end on March 15. Smith announced his retirement yesterday.

“My father was my age, 61, when he retired from journalism, and I am again following in his footsteps,” Smith wrote in a farewell note to his colleagues. “After 36 years in the business, including 29 at CTV, I have decided to retire and rewire for the other pleasures and opportunities that life offers.”

Prior to CTV, Smith worked for the Canadian Press. According to his CTV profile, after he joined the network in 1984, Smith spent time at bureaus in Beijing and Europe, covering issues such as political and economic reform in China, and uprisings against Communism in Romania and former Czechoslovakia.

In Canada, Smith is best known for his coverage of federal politics. His retirement announcement yesterday prompted many journalists on Twitter to weigh in on the career of a man who was to some, a colleague, and to others, a respected competitor.