Judi Ann T. McLeod (born 1944) is a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

journalist. Formerly a reporter for a series of newspapers in Ontario, she now operates the conservative website, ''Canada Free Press'' (CFP).

Early life and career

McLeod was born in

Prince Edward Island Prince Edward Island is an island Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. While it is the smallest province by land area and population, it is the most densely populated. The island has several nicknames: "Garden of the Gulf", ...

and raised in St. Joseph's Orphanage in Halifax,

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, located on its east coast. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and Population of Canada by province and territory, most populous province in Atlan ...

. Her first article was published in the ''

Halifax Chronicle-Herald ''The Chronicle Herald'' is a broadsheet newspaper published in Halifax, Nova Scotia, owned by Postmedia Network. History Early years Founded in 1874 as ''The Morning Herald'', the paper quickly became one of Halifax's main newspapers. The same ...

'' when she was 18.Johnson, William. "'Gutsy'" reporter McLeod gets the pink slip, ''The Globe and Mail'', March 23, 1983. p.

/ref>

Career

McLeod met her future husband, John, when she was a young reporter for the '' Oshawa#Media, Oshawa Times'' where he was the managing editor. He had spent ten years with the ''

Ottawa Journal The ''Ottawa Journal'' was a daily broadsheet newspaper published in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, from 1885 to 1980. It was founded in 1885 by A. Woodburn as the ''Ottawa Evening Journal''. Its first editor was John Wesley Dafoe who came from the ...

'', and when he was hired by the '' Brampton Times'', he suggested that the paper also hire his wife, who was then working for a Toronto public-relations firm. She became city hall reporter for the ''Brampton Times'' in 1981. When she was removed from her beat in 1983, she alleged that the Progressive Conservatives she had accused of meddling in local politics had put pressure on the newspaper. When her husband reinstated her to the position, the newspaper fired them both.Kashmeri, Zuhair. "Had criticized Brampton politics Reporter moved from The Beat: The Globe and Mail. January 27, 1983, p. 3 ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Newspapers in Canada, Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in Western Canada, western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of more than 6 million in 2024, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on week ...

'' reported that Canada's multiculturalism minister, Liberal MP James Fleming, was investigating McLeod's removal. Fleming believed the reassignment amounted to intimidation of a reporter doing her job.Kashmeri, Zuhair. ''Reporter's reassignment investigated by Fleming''. ''The Globe and Mail'', February 3, 1983. p. CL8 The

Ontario Federation of Labour Ontario is the southernmost province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it is home to 38.5% of the country's population, and is the second-largest province by ...

protested on McLeod's behalf against what they called political intervention. Days after being fired, McLeod won the Edward J. Hayes Memorial Ontario award for beat-reporting. Broadcast journalist and panelist

Peter Desbarats Peter Hullett Desbarats, Order of Canada, OC (July 2, 1933 – February 11, 2014) was a Canadian author, playwright and journalist. The McLeods subsequently filed a lawsuit against ''The Brampton Times'' for

wrongful dismissal In law, wrongful dismissal, also called wrongful termination or wrongful discharge, is a situation in which an employee's contract of employment has been terminated by the employer, where the termination breaches one or more terms of the contra ...

, but later withdrew it. Judi McLeod also filed a complaint with the

Ontario Human Rights Commission The Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC) was established in the Canadian province of Ontario on March 29, 1961, to administer the Ontario Human Rights Code. The OHRC is an arm's length agency of government accountable to the legislature throug ...

against the ''Brampton Times''.No Byline. "Reporter fights to get beat back" The Globe and Mail, February 10, 1983, p. 4 The work she created in her final year at the ''Times'' won the beat category, at the Western Ontario Newspaper Award. She and her husband founded '' The Bramptonian'', a short-lived local newspaper covering Brampton, in 1984 No byline. "Year after firing by paper Pair help to publish rival," ''The Globe and Mail'', April 3, 1984, p. M5 They were brought to 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 ...

'' in 1985, where she was the paper's education reporter and he worked for the business section. Her columns were highly critical of

New Democratic Party The New Democratic Party (NDP; , ) is a federal political party in Canada. Widely described as social democratic,The party is widely described as social democratic: * * * * * * * * * * * * * The Editors of ''Encyclopædia Britann ...

school trustee A board of education, school committee or school board is the board of directors or board of trustees of a school, local school district or an equivalent institution. The elected council determines the educational policy in a small regional area, ...

s who sat on the

Toronto Board of Education The Toronto Board of Education (TBE; commonly known as School District 15), officially known as the Board of Education for the City of Toronto, is the former secular school district serving the Old Toronto, pre-merged city of Toronto. The board o ...

at the time. McLeod also called ethnic parents who wanted heritage language instruction "as diabolical as any of the characters from the imaginative pen of Charles Dickens... a nasty lot indeed," warned people against "multiculturalism gone haywire", and opposed the board's decision to organize a conference for students on

apartheid Apartheid ( , especially South African English: , ; , ) was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. It was characterised by an ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. Described as a "journalistic pit bull" in her years at education reporter for the

, McLeod was described by ''

'' as having "influence among the bureaucrats who run Toronto schools from The Education Centre on College Street." After being fired from the ''Sun'', she moved to

Kingston, Ontario Kingston is a city in Ontario, Canada, on the northeastern end of Lake Ontario. It is at the beginning of the St. Lawrence River and at the mouth of the Cataraqui River, the south end of the Rideau Canal. Kingston is near the Thousand Islands, ...

for three years where she worked as a reporter and columnist for the ''

Kingston Whig-Standard ''The Kingston Whig-Standard'' is a newspaper in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. It is published four days a week, on Tuesday and Thursday to Saturday. It publishes a mix of community, national and international news and is currently owned by Postm ...

''.

''Our Toronto Free Press'' and ''Canada Free Press''

In 1991, she returned to Toronto and founded, with help from then-city councillor

Tony O'Donohue Anthony Edward O'Donohue (March 22, 1933 – February 20, 2022) was a former municipal politician in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Early life Born in The Burren, County Clare, Ireland, O'Donohue graduated as a civil engineer from University College ...

, ''Our Toronto'', a free monthly newspaper that printed and distributed 100,000 copies. ''Our Toronto Free Press'', which as a free-distribution monthly newspaper with a right-wing stance, and which originally focussed on municipal politics and local issues. It was funded by advertising and from McLeod's personal savings; it was published out of her "modest" apartment. Reporting on the

Ontario Coalition Against Poverty The Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP) was an anti-poverty group in Ontario, Canada, which promoted the interests of the poor and homeless. The group used publicity-generating direct action techniques such as squatting and demonstrations w ...

, in a 1999 article in ''Toronto Eye'' magazine entitled, ''Portrait of a Poverty Pimp,'' McLeod accused the leadership of the

of exploiting the homeless for the purpose of advancing a radical Marxist agenda, and was herself accused of "

Red-baiting Red-baiting, also known as ''reductio ad Stalinum'' () and red-tagging ( in the Philippines), is an intention to discredit the validity of a political opponent and the opponent's logical argument by accusing, denouncing, attacking, or persecuting ...

, misrepresentations, and badmouthing."Keil, Roger. "Third Way Urbanism: Opportunity or Dead End?" Alternatives: Global, Local, Political, vol. 25, no. 2, 2000, pp. 247–267. ww.jstor.org/stable/40644998 In the 2000s, ''Our Toronto Free Press'' evolved into the ''Canada Free Press'', which is now published online only. The ''Free Press'' has been described as "an online conservative tabloid."

Notes

External links

Canada Free Press

Link to the ''

Western Standard The ''Western Standard'' is a Canadian conservative social commentary media website operated by Western Standard New Media Corp. and its president Derek Fildebrandt. The Standard is based in Calgary, Alberta, where its main offices are located ...

'' article with information about Rachel Marsden, Judi McLeod's apology, and the

lawsuit.
''Betty Disero Sees Hidden Enemies''
from ''

Eye Weekly ''Eye Weekly'' was a free weekly newspaper published in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was owned by Torstar, the parent company of the ''Toronto Star'', and was published by their Star Media Group until its final issue on May 5, 2011. The followin ...

'' {{DEFAULTSORT:McLeod, Judi 1944 births Living people Canadian women journalists Journalists from Nova Scotia Journalists from Toronto Writers from Prince Edward Island Writers from Halifax, Nova Scotia Canadian people of Scottish descent Canadian women non-fiction writers Conservative media in Canada Toronto Sun people

Early life and career

Career

''Our Toronto Free Press'' and ''Canada Free Press''

See also

Notes

External links