Established as the Bytown
Packet in 1845 by
William Harris, it was renamed the
Citizen in 1851. The newspaper's original motto, which has recently been returned to the editorial page, was
Fair Play and Day-Light. The paper has been through a number of owners. In 1846, Harris sold the paper to
John Gordon Bell and
Henry J. Friel.
Robert Bell bought the paper in 1849, and sold it to I.B. Taylor in 1861. In 1877,
Charles Herbert Mackintosh became the principal owner, and he later sold it to Robert and Lewis Shannon. In 1897, the
Citizen became one of several papers owned by the
Southam family. It remained under Southam until the chain was purchased by
Conrad Black's
Hollinger Inc. in 1996. The editorial view of the
Citizen has varied with its ownership, taking a
reform position under Friel, The
Citizen published its last Sunday edition on July 15, 2012. This move meant 20 fewer newsroom jobs, and was part of a series of changes made by
Postmedia. The
Citizen stopped producing a print edition on Mondays as of 17 October 2022, due to the costs of printing and delivery, but it continued to publish a digital Monday edition. The pre-2014 logo depicted the top of the
Peace Tower of Canada's
Parliament Buildings in Ottawa. In 2014, the newspaper adopted a new logo showing the paper's name over an outline of the Peace Tower roof on a green background. == Circulation ==