Sue-Ann Levy (born September 23, 1956) is a Canadian writer and former political

columnist A columnist is a person who writes for publication in a series, creating an article that usually offers commentary and opinions. Column (periodical), Columns appear in newspapers, magazines and other publications, including blogs. They take the ...

for 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 ...

'' and

Postmedia Postmedia Network Canada Corp. (also known as Postmedia Network, Postmedia News or Postmedia) is an American-owned Canadian-based media conglomerate consisting of the publishing properties of the former Canwest, with primary operations in Engl ...

, who focused on municipal and social issues in Ontario. She has been described as 'unapologetically conservative', and has written ''Underdog: Confessions of a Right-Wing Gay Jewish Muckraker''. Levy placed second in the 2009 Ontario by-election as Progressive Conservative candidate for Toronto, St. Paul's. She currently writes for True North Media.

Early life and education

Levy grew up in

Hamilton, Ontario Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario. Hamilton has a 2021 Canadian census, population of 569,353 (2021), and its Census Metropolitan Area, census metropolitan area, which encompasses ...

, the daughter of an accountant. Levy is the niece of the late

Jeffrey S. Lyons Jeffrey S. Lyons (1939 or 1940 – July 26, 2015) was a Toronto lawyer, lobbyist, and community activist. Background Lyons was born in Hamilton, Ontario, where his father owned the city's first chain of grocery stores, Lyons Food Mart. Lyon ...

, a Toronto lawyer and prominent municipal lobbyist who is best known for having been implicated in the MFP scandal at City Hall. She earned a journalism degree from

Carleton University Carleton University is an English-language public university, public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1942 as Carleton College, the institution originally operated as a private, non-denominational evening college to se ...

in 1978. After graduating from Carleton, Levy worked as an aide to Ontario Progressive Conservative cabinet minister Frank Drea before returning to school to earn an

MBA A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular a ...

from the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...

in 1985. She then worked in

public relations Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. Pu ...

but left in order to enter journalism as a reporter for the ''Bracebridge Examiner'', before being hired by the ''Toronto Sun'' in 1989, whose publisher at the time,

Paul Godfrey Paul Victor Godfrey, CM, OOnt (born January 12, 1939) is a businessman and former Canadian politician. During his career, Godfrey was a North York alderman, Chairman of Metro Toronto, President of the ''Toronto Sun'' and head of the Toronto B ...

, described Lyons as "a close pal of mine".

At the ''Sun''

Levy became the ''Sun''s City Hall columnist in 1998 and covered the mayoralties of

Mel Lastman Melvin Douglas Lastman (March 9, 1933 – December 11, 2021) was a Canadian businessman and politician who served as the third mayor of North York from 1973 to 1997 and the 62nd mayor of Toronto from 1998 to 2003. He was the first person to s ...

, David Miller, and

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 ...

before moving to Queen's Park to cover the Ontario legislature. She later returned to covering city politics under Mayor

John Tory John Howard Tory (born May 28, 1954) is a Canadian lawyer, broadcaster, businessman, and former politician who served as the 65th mayor of Toronto from 2014 to 2023. He served as leader of the Official Opposition in Ontario from 2005 to 2007 ...

. In 2004, the ''Ryerson Review of Journalism'' surveyed city councillors and found that Levy was "rated lowest among the 18 city hall reporters for accuracy, fairness and knowledge". Levy made a reputation as the press gallery's "most unapologetically conservative chronicler of local politics." She created enemies among some city councillors, whom she goaded with derogatory nicknames. Levy was criticized by the National NewsMedia Council for a "serious breach of journalistic standards" for an October 2018 column which quoted a false allegation that immigrants and refugee claimants temporarily residing at the Radisson Hotel Toronto East were slaughtering goats in one of the hotel's public bathrooms. This assertion was based on on-line reviews of the hotel posted to

TripAdvisor Tripadvisor is an American company that operates online travel agency, travel agencies, comparison shopping websites, and mobile apps with user-generated content. Its namesake brand, Tripadvisor.com, operates in 40 countries and 20 languages, and ...

and

Expedia Expedia Inc. is an online travel agency owned by Expedia Group, based in Seattle. The website and mobile app can be used to book airline tickets, hotel reservations, car rentals, cruise ships, and vacation packages. Expedia.com was launched on ...

, and interviews with clients who posted their reviews on Trip Advisor, but were not fact-checked: the council's report noted that Levy did not make "any attempt to visit the hotel, verify the claim, or offer any caution about the failed efforts to do so." Levy's columns were widely circulated online by

alt-right The alt-right (abbreviated from alternative right) is a Far-right politics, far-right, White nationalism, white nationalist movement. A largely Internet activism, online phenomenon, the alt-right originated in the United States during the late ...

commenters on

4chan 4chan is an anonymous English-language imageboard website. Launched by Christopher "moot" Poole in October 2003, the site hosts boards dedicated to a wide variety of topics, from video games and television to literature, cooking, weapons, mu ...

and

Reddit Reddit ( ) is an American Proprietary software, proprietary social news news aggregator, aggregation and Internet forum, forum Social media, social media platform. Registered users (commonly referred to as "redditors") submit content to the ...

, as well as sites such as '' Infowars''. Two days after the column ran, an unknown person engaged in an act of arson at the hotel. Levy is the author of the book ''Underdog: Confessions of a Right-Wing Gay Jewish Muckraker'' (2016) and also appeared as a regular guest on ''The John Oakley Show'' on Talk 640 until 2018. She was previously a panellist on

CBC Radio One CBC Radio One is the English-language news and information radio network of the publicly owned Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. It is commercial-free and offers local and national programming. It is available on AM and FM to 98 percent o ...

's local Toronto afternoon drive show '' Here and Now'', as well as an occasional commentator or panellist over various cable news channels. Levy announced her retirement from the ''Toronto Sun'' on June 26, 2021. She subsequently joined the True North Centre for Public Policy, a far-right online publication, as a contributor.

Politics

In 2009, Levy was the

Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario The Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario (PC; ), often shortened to the Ontario PC Party, or simply the PCs, colloquially known as the Tories, is a Centre-right politics, centre-right political party in Ontario, Canada. During its uninterr ...

's by-election candidate in the Toronto riding of St. Paul's, placing second with 28.33% of the vote behind the Liberal victor,

Eric Hoskins Eric William Hoskins (born November 29, 1960) is a Canadian physician and former politician who served as an Ontario cabinet minister from 2010 to 2018. A member of the Ontario Liberal Party, he represented Toronto—St. Paul's in the Legisla ...

Personal life

Levy is

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

and an openly gay conservative. She

came out Coming out of the closet, often shortened to coming out, is a metaphor used to describe LGBTQ people's self-disclosure of their sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity. This is often framed and debated as a privacy issue, ...

publicly in 2007 and married her wife Denise Alexander in 2009.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Levy, Sue-Ann Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario candidates in Ontario provincial elections Canadian columnists Toronto Sun people 1956 births Living people Canadian lesbian writers LGBTQ conservatism 20th-century Canadian women writers 21st-century Canadian women writers University of Toronto alumni Carleton University alumni Canadian women journalists Journalists from Ontario Writers from Hamilton, Ontario Lesbian Jews Canadian LGBTQ journalists Canadian women non-fiction writers Canadian women columnists Jewish Canadian journalists 21st-century Canadian LGBTQ people 20th-century Canadian LGBTQ people