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Brian Lilley | |
|---|---|
| Alma mater | Mohawk College |
| Occupation(s) | Broadcaster, columnist, commentator |
| Movement | Conservatism,libertarianism |
Brian Lilley is a Canadian columnist, author, television show host. He is the provincial and national political columnist for theToronto Sun. He has worked in radio, television and print across Canada. He hosted a radio show on 580CFRA in Ottawa, and was the senior correspondent for the now defunctSun News Network inOttawa, covering Parliament Hill.
Lilley joined the staff of940 News inMontreal as a reporter in September 2000. While with 940 News, Lilley covered local, provincial and federal politics as well as international events such as the G20 conference in Montreal in November 2001 and theSummit of the Americas inQuebec City in April 2001.
During the three day conference, which was marked by violent protests, Lilley provided coverage for radio stations across Canada as well as live coverage for CNN Radio and Television.[1] In 2002 Lilley moved from 940 News in Montreal toNewstalk 580 CFRA inOttawa.
From 2002 until 2005, Lilley was abeat reporter for CFRA covering local, provincial and occasionally federal politics for the station. This included attending the funerals of several of the early casualties of Canada’s contribution to theWar in Afghanistan that were stationed atCFB Petawawa.
In March 2005, Lilley began a five-year run as the Ottawa Bureau Chief for what was thenStandard Radio. He covered the2006 election that sawStephen Harper and the Conservatives replacePaul Martin's Liberals.
Lilley joined theSun News Network as soon as the station was announced in June 2010 and hosted the television programByline with Brian Lilley from April 2011 until the station shut down in February 2015. The show was taped inOttawa,Ontario.
Byline usually included a 10-minute introduction followed by two or three interviews lasting 10 to 15 minutes, then a final 10-minute conclusion where Lilley reads emails from viewers, shows a funny or interesting video, or speaks about an upcoming event.
On February 13, 2015, Sun News Network was shut down.[2] A repeat episode of his show,Byline with Brian Lilley, was the last program to air before ceasing operations at 5 a.m. ET.[3]
While with Sun News he also wrote a weekly column that appeared in more than 30 newspapers owned byQuebecor Media at the time, including theToronto Sun,London Free Press,Calgary Sun, andFort McMurray Today.
After the shuttering of Sun News, Lilley co-foundedRebel Media with Sun News colleagueEzra Levant. He quit the organization in 2017 shortly afterFaith Goldy coveredUnite the Right rally inCharlottesville, Virginia.
On his Facebook page, he said the startup had a "lack of editorial and behavioural judgment" which he deemed "destructive."[4] He also said he had become uncomfortable with what he felt was "an increasingly harsh tone" towardsimmigration andIslam."[5]
In an interview with theCBC Radio program As It Happens, Lilley said he had left his duties as co-founder roughly one year before his departure and had been working as a freelancer, citing "a drift for a while and a difference in focus” at the outlet. Lilley said his final conversation with Levant had not ended well, but kept details of their conversation to himself.[6]
In March 2016, Lilley joined Bell Media in Ottawa at580 News CFRA and hosted a radio show until January 2019.Beyond the News with Brian Lilley featured Lilley's commentary on Canadian federal, Ontario provincial, and Ottawa municipal politics. Lilley's show was critical of Prime MinisterJustin Trudeau and Ontario PremierKathleen Wynne. Lilley styled himself as the "Unofficial Leader of the Opposition" on his show in promotional material for the radio station.
On January 11, 2019, the Toronto Sun announced that Brian Lilley would be joining the newspaper as a full-time political columnist.[7]
On March 26, 2021, the outletCanadaland reported that Lilley was in a relationship with Ivana Yelich, the director of media relations for PremierDoug Ford. This relationship had started sometime in 2019 but had not been disclosed to readers. Canadaland pointed out that Lilley had criticizedToronto Star columnist Robert Benzies in 2018 for being married to Rhonda McMichael, a non-partisan civil servant whom Lilley claimed was “a top communications staffer” for Wynne. When Benzies responded that his wife's job was non-partisan, Lilley said his point was still valid because it was “something most readers don’t know.”[8]
Lilley is a conservative who has written about and discussed topics such as the perceived shortcomings of elected governments,social conservatism, government spending and use of tax revenue, and the culture ofpolitical correctness. Lilley is also a regular critic of theCanadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC).
In 2012, Lilley published a book titledCBC Exposed.[9] In it, Lilley outlines what he sees as abuse of taxpayers' money by CBC executives and officials and a lack of transparency at the corporation.