Peter Reilly (politician)

Peter Reilly
Member of Parliament
for Ottawa West
In office
30 October 1972 – 8 July 1974
Preceded byLloyd Francis
Succeeded byLloyd Francis
Personal details
Born(1933-11-26)26 November 1933
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Died15 March 1977(1977-03-15) (aged 43)
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Political partyProgressive Conservative
Professionbroadcaster, journalist

Peter Reilly (26 November 1933 – 15 March 1977) was a Progressive Conservative member of the House of Commons of Canada. He was a broadcaster and journalist by career and helped launch both W5 on the CTV Television Network and The Fifth Estate on CBC.

Career

Peter Reilly was Director of News and Public Affairs at CTV News and was the first executive producer and host of public affairs show W5 in 1966 until he called a press conference a few weeks into the show's first season announcing that he was resigning from the network due to interference from CTV board chair and principal shareholder John W. H. Bassett.[1] He then moved to CBC Television where he joined the current affairs show Sunday as co-host.

He entered politics and was elected at the Ottawa West riding in the 1972 general election and served his term in the 29th Canadian Parliament before being defeated in the 1974 election by Lloyd Francis of the Liberal party.

During his term as Member of Parliament, Reilly was in conflict with former Prime Minister and fellow party member John Diefenbaker whom he charged was undermining the leadership of Progressive Conservative leader Robert Stanfield.[2] This feud began in early 1973 when Stanfield, Reilly and other house members supported a federal bilingualism initiative, which Diefenbaker and several other members opposed.[3]

Following his departure from Parliament, Reilly returned to broadcasting with CBC Television as one of the founding reporters of The Fifth Estate. One of his reports was broadcast on 15 March 1977, the same day that he died at his Toronto residence from an apparent case of heart failure.[4][5]

References

  1. ^ Templeton, Charles (1983). Charles Templeton An Anecdotal Memoir. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart. pp. Chapter: Inside Television at CTV. ISBN 0771085451.
  2. ^ Belford, Terrence (27 June 1973). "Secret power grab led by Diefenbaker, backbencher charges". The Globe and Mail. p. 4. Indicated age 40 at that time.
  3. ^ The Canadian Press (10 July 1973). "PC apologizes for interrupting Diefenbaker". The Globe and Mail. p. 8.
  4. ^ "Peter Reilly / CBC co-host of Fifth Estate". The Globe and Mail. 16 March 1977. p. 5.. Indicated age 44 at death.
  5. ^ Allan, Blaine (31 May 1997). "CBC Television Series 1952 to 1982: the fifth estate". Queen's University. Archived from the original on 11 March 2010. Retrieved 7 August 2008.