Adrienne Batra (born November 9, 1973) is a Canadian journalist and publicist. She has been

editor-in-chief An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The editor-in-chief heads all departments of the organization and is held accoun ...

of the ''

Toronto Sun The ''Toronto Sun'' is an English-language tabloid format, tabloid newspaper published daily in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The newspaper is one of several ''Sun'' tabloids published by Postmedia Network. The newspaper's offices are located at Pos ...

'' since May 2015.

Biography

Batra was born in

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada. It is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and to the south by the ...

, the youngest daughter of Harbir and Deepi Batra. Her parents were teachers who had immigrated to Canada from

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

in 1967, by way of

Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...

. After graduating from high school in 1991, Batra joined the

Primary Reserve The Primary Reserve of the Canadian Armed Forces () is the first and largest of the four sub-components of the Canadian Armed Forces reserves, followed by the Supplementary Reserve, the Cadet Organizations Administration and Training Service (f ...

s of the

Canadian Armed Forces The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF; , FAC) are the unified Military, military forces of Canada, including sea, land, and air commands referred to as the Royal Canadian Navy, Canadian Army and the Royal Canadian Air Force. Under the ''National Defenc ...

where she obtained the officer rank of Lieutenant. After obtaining university degrees in political science and public administration she joined the Regina office of the

Canadian Taxpayers Federation The Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF; ) is a federally incorporated, non-profit organization in Canada. It describes itself as a taxpayers advocacy group, and the organization advocates lower taxes, less waste, and an increase in government ...

as a researcher, eventually becoming its

Manitoba Manitoba is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population ...

director. She and her husband moved to

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

in 2008 and, during the 2010 mayoral election Batra worked as communications director on

Rob Ford Robert Bruce Ford (May 28, 1969 – March 22, 2016) was a Canadian politician and businessman who served as the 64th mayor of Toronto from 2010 to 2014. Before and after his term as mayor, Ford was a city councillor representing Ward 2 Etobi ...

's successful campaign for mayor. She subsequently joined the mayor's office, serving as Ford's

press secretary A press secretary or press officer is a senior advisor who provides advice on how to deal with the news media and, using news management techniques, helps their employer to maintain a positive public image and avoid negative media coverage. Dutie ...

for a year until she resigned in December 2011 to become the ''Toronto Suns Comment Editor. She also became

CFRB CFRB (1010 AM) is a commercial radio station in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is owned by Bell Media and carries a News/Talk radio format. Its studios and offices are in the Entertainment District at 250 Richmond Street West. One of the oldes ...

Newstalk 1010's municipal affairs correspondent and wrote a column in the ''Sun'' on municipal affairs. In November 2013, she joined the

Sun News Network Sun News Network (commonly shortened to Sun News) was a Canadian English language Category C news channel owned by Québecor Média through a partnership between two of its subsidiaries, TVA Group (which maintained 51% majority ownership of th ...

as host of ''Straight Talk'', an afternoon news and comment program, and took a leave of absence from her position as a ''Sun'' comment editor, though continuing as a columnist, in order to work for the network full-time until the channel went off the air in February 2015. She was the fill-in host on CFRB radio as its weekday afternoon "Live Drive" host. Batra rejoined the ''Toronto Sun'' staff in May 2015 to become the paper's editor-in-chief. In her role as editor-in-chief of the ''Toronto Sun'', Adrienne Batra faced controversy in December 2023 when the newspaper published a cartoon depicting Ukrainian President

Volodymyr Zelenskyy Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Zelenskyy (born 25 January 1978) is a Ukrainian politician and former entertainer who has served as the sixth and current president of Ukraine since 2019. He took office five years after the start of the Russo-Ukraini ...

picking the pocket of U.S. President

Joe Biden Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice p ...

. The cartoon was criticized for being

antisemitic Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...

and Ukrainophobic, leading to denunciations from Canadian Prime Minister

Justin Trudeau Justin Pierre James Trudeau (born December 25, 1971) is a Canadian politician who served as the 23rd prime minister of Canada from 2015 to 2025. He led the Liberal Party from 2013 until his resignation in 2025 and was the member of Parliament ...

, the Ukrainian Canadian Congress, and the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs. In response, the ''Toronto Sun'' issued an apology on behalf of Adrienne Batra, acknowledging that the cartoon did not meet their editorial standards. Batra describes herself as a

libertarian Libertarianism (from ; or from ) is a political philosophy that holds freedom, personal sovereignty, and liberty as primary values. Many libertarians believe that the concept of freedom is in accord with the Non-Aggression Principle, according ...

and is a fan of

Ayn Rand Alice O'Connor (born Alisa Zinovyevna Rosenbaum; , 1905March 6, 1982), better known by her pen name Ayn Rand (), was a Russian-born American writer and philosopher. She is known for her fiction and for developing a philosophical system which s ...

and

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013), was a British stateswoman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of th ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Batra, Adrienne 1974 births Living people Canadian columnists Canadian libertarians Canadian talk radio hosts Canadian television news anchors Canadian newspaper editors Toronto Sun editors Canadian people of Indian descent Journalists from Saskatchewan Journalists from Toronto Canadian political journalists Canadian women newspaper editors Canadian women television journalists Canadian women radio hosts Canadian women columnists 21st-century Canadian women writers 21st-century Canadian women journalists 21st-century Canadian journalists