David Bednar

David Bednar (born 1952) is an American-born former theatre manager in Canada. He served as the general manager of the Canadian National Exhibition Association, which runs an annual fair called the Canadian National Exhibition (CNE). He retired in May 2015. Born in Dallas, Texas, Bednar was educated in theatre and business at Bishop's University in Quebec, initially working with summer theatre programs, such as Festival Lennoxville, the Canadian Mime Theatre and, later, Shaw Festival. He Joined the theatre production company Livent in 1989, before it was spun off into its own operation. He managed the Toronto venues, Pantages Theatre and North York Performing Arts Centre, before managing the Ford Center for the Performing Arts in New York City. Bednar was chairman of the Yonge Street Business and Residents Association during the initial planning of Yonge-Dundas Square, a significant redevelopment to Toronto's downtown. Bednar was hired by the Canadian National Exhibition Association following a decade of financial difficulty for the fair. He made a variety of operational and programming changes over the years. Notably, he repositioned the fair's focuses as technology supplanted earlier attractions. He became a Canadian citizen in 2000, at a ceremony in the Automotive Building, during the company's fair. Early life and career Born in 1952, Bednar was raised in Dallas, Texas. His father was a petroleum engineer. Bednar attended the State Fair of Texas while growing up. He moved to Quebec in 1970, to major in theatre and minor in business at Bishop's University. He remained in Canada, married, and became a landed immigrant. He worked at the Quebec City Summer Stock Theatre and Festival Lennoxville, and repaired telephones for Bell Canada. He became general manager of Canadian Mime Theatre in Niagara-on-the-Lake. Later Bednar became director of operations for the Shaw Festival. With four young children to support, he passed on investing in the board game Trivial Pursuit (1982).