David, Gail Asper quit CanWest board

David and Gail Asper, the son and daughter of CanWest Global Communications founder Izzy Asper, have resigned from the media conglomerate's board to pursue other interests and help shrink the board's size as the company restructures.

Their brother Leonard Asper will remain as chief executive and a director of CanWest, the owner of the Global TV network and a number of newspapers including the National Post, Montreal Gazette and Ottawa Citizen.

Winnipeg-based CanWest is currently restructuring under court protection from creditors after it was unable to meet debt repayment obligations for about $4-billion in debt.

Lisa Pankratz, who is the president of Mackenzie Cundill Investment Management Ltd., will also resign her position on the board.

The empty positions on CanWest's board will not be filled.