Editing Cross Country Checkup (section)

==History==

The show was first broadcast on May 16, 1965,<ref>{{cite web|title = About the Show|url = http://www.cbc.ca/checkup/about/|publisher = [[CBC Radio]]}}</ref> when it was started to provide a nationwide forum to discuss the then-proposed [[Medicare (Canada)|national health insurance system now in place in Canada]]. The first host was CBC Montreal announcer Bob Cadman, and its first guest was [[Victor Goldbloom|Dr Victor Goldbloom]], then president of the [[Canadian Medical Association]]. When ''Checkup'' started broadcasting as a weekly series on November 24, 1965, Jim Schrumm was the first regular host.<ref>{{cite web|title = History: The Birth of Cross Country Checkup|url = http://www.cbc.ca/checkup/history/|author = Andrew Simon|publisher = [[CBC Radio]]}}</ref> Subsequent hosts have included [[Brad Crandall]], [[Moses Znaimer]], [[Percy Saltzman]], [[Betty Shapiro]], [[John Dafoe]], [[Pierre Pascau]], [[Harry Elton]], [[Elizabeth Gray (broadcaster)|Elizabeth Gray]], [[Wayne Grigsby]], Dennis Trudeau, [[Augusta La Paix]], [[Dale Goldhawk]], [[Peter Downie]], [[Royal Orr]] and [[Rex Murphy]], who maintained the position for 21 years.

In September 2015, Murphy announced that he would be retiring from the program as of September 20.<ref>[https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2015/09/13/rex-murphy-leaving-cbcs-cross-country-checkup.html "Rex Murphy leaving CBC’s Cross Country Checkup"]. ''[[Toronto Star]]'', September 13, 2015.</ref> The program was hosted by a series of guest hosts through the first half of 2016, until McCue's appointment as the new permanent host was announced in July.<ref>[http://www.broadcastermagazine.com/broadcasting/cbc-radio-announces-new-host-cross-country-checkup/1004123617/ "CBC Radio Announces New Host of ‘Cross Country Checkup’"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160727145256/http://www.broadcastermagazine.com/broadcasting/cbc-radio-announces-new-host-cross-country-checkup/1004123617/ |date=2016-07-27 }}. ''Broadcaster'', July 26, 2016.</ref>

On occasions in the past, the program has gone to air as ''Cross-Continent Checkup'' by involving a radio network in at least one other foreign country, such as [[National Public Radio]] in the United States, [[LBC|London Broadcasting Company]] (as it was then known) in Britain or the CBC's own [[Radio Canada International]], and taking calls from English-speaking callers in all involved countries. In each case, callers generally call a toll-free number in their own country. ''Checkup'', nevertheless, often receives calls from callers outside Canada.

For the 2016–2017 season, the show changed the signature music that opened the programme since at least the early 1970s.