Bill Rowe was born in Grand Bank and is the son of the late Liberal Senator Frederick William Bill Rowe and the late Edith Laura Butt.
15 Facts About Bill Rowe
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Bill Rowe attended Memorial University of Newfoundland where he earned a Bachelor of Arts.
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Bill Rowe entered politics and was elected to the Newfoundland and Labrador House of Assembly five times as a Liberal MHA, first at the age of twenty-four.
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Bill Rowe was appointed, at twenty-six, as a Cabinet Minister in the Government of Joey Smallwood and became responsible for several departments.
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Bill Rowe was later elected as Leader of the Opposition, holding that position from 1977 to 1979.
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Bill Rowe resigned his position prior to the 1979 general election, in favour of Don Jamieson, but kept his own seat.
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One of Bill Rowe's political aides while he was Opposition Leader was a young Brian Tobin.
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In 1982, Bill Rowe lost his seat in the Newfoundland general election, which saw the Progressive Conservatives under the leadership of Brian Peckford, win by a landslide, taking 44 seats.
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Bill Rowe has hosted a daily call-in show on VOCM and CFCB radio for nearly thirty years, which focuses on public issues and is carried throughout the province and around the world.
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Bill Rowe was instrumental in exposing the Mount Cashel Orphanage scandal when he was host of VOCM's Open Line radio show.
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Bill Rowe wrote weekly public affairs columns for St John's daily newspaper, The Telegram, the Corner Brook Western Star, and other newspapers.
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Bill Rowe is a member of the Writers' Union of Canada and has served on the executive of the Writers' Alliance of Newfoundland and Labrador.
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On June 22,2011, Bill Rowe announced on his radio show his intention to retire from VOCM after nearly thirty years to write full-time.
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Bill Rowe has agreed to fill in periodically for the regular talk show hosts.
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On March 8,2013, Bill Rowe took over the hosting duties at VOCM Open Line, a week after the resignation of Open Line host Randy Simms over controversial comments made on-air to Natuashish Innu Band Chief Simeon Tshakapesh.