Rita Silvan, Elle Canada’s editor-in-chief, steps down

Rumours swirled on Twitter yesterday about Rita Silvan, editor-in-chief of Elle Canada, stepping down from her position, but no one at the magazine’s parent company would confirm or deny it. The gossip screeched to a halt a half-hour ago, when the e-mail below was sent out to Transcontinental staffers by the senior VP of consumer magazines, Francine Tremblay:

I regret to inform you of the departure of Rita Silvan, Editor in Chief, Elle Canada.  I wish to thank Rita for her contributions to the Elle brand over the past years and wish her luck in her future endeavors.

In light of this, the economy and the maturity of the product, I have taken this opportunity to rethink our structure. As part of this, it is with pleasure that I announce that Noreen Flanagan will be promoted to Editor in Chief, Elle Canada. Noreen has been part of the Elle Canada group since 2001, acting most recently as Executive Editor. In her capacity of Executive Editor, Noreen has been involved in all aspects of the magazine, including beauty, fashion, arts and entertainment.

I look forward to working with Noreen in her new role.

It’s unclear if Silvan, one of the founding members of Elle Canada in 2001 and a judge on Project Runway Canada, quit on her own terms. But the use of “economy” and “rethink our structure” seems to imply that she was given a guiding foot.