Jeff Fillion (born Jean-François Fillion), is a radio host and businessman in Quebec, Canada. He is often associated with a political incorrect radio style that is often associated with right-wing radio hosts from the
Quebec City
Quebec City ( or ; french: Ville de Québec), officially Québec (), is the capital city of the Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the metropolitan area had a population of 839,311. It is t ...
area.
Media – radio career
Fillion began his career in his home town of
Chicoutimi
Chicoutimi () is the most populous borough (arrondissement) of the city of Saguenay in Quebec, Canada.
It is situated at the confluence of the Saguenay and Chicoutimi rivers. During the 20th century, it became the main administrative and com ...
in the late 1980s working for CFIX-FM. Most of his reputation comes from his stint, from 1997 to 2005, as morning man with radio station
CHOI-FM
CHOI-FM is a French-language FM radio station that broadcasts on the frequency 98.1 MHz out of Quebec City, Quebec, Canada, with a talk format. Locally, it is known as ''Radio X'' (a reference to "Generation X", as most of CHOI's listeners co ...
in Quebec City,
Quebec
Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...
, Canada. He developed over time a strong following, and at his peak, had more than twice as many listeners as his nearest competitor. However, his very controversial and
politically incorrect
''Political correctness'' (adjectivally: ''politically correct''; commonly abbreviated ''PC'') is a term used to describe language, policies, or measures that are intended to avoid offense or disadvantage to members of particular groups in socie ...
comments, combined with those of
André Arthur
André Arthur (December 21, 1943 – May 8, 2022) was a Canadian radio host and politician. He was the independent Member of Parliament for the riding of Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier from 2006 to 2011. He is known for his outspoken style and anti-s ...
, resulted in the
Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) refusing to renew the station's licence in July 2004. The station and license were bought by
RNC Media
RNC Media (formerly ''Radio-Nord Communications'') is a Canadian broadcasting group based in Westmount, Quebec, with offices in Gatineau and Rouyn-Noranda. The company operates five television stations and several radio stations, mostly in Que ...
in June 2007 without interruption to its broadcasting.
He was fired on March 17, 2005, in the fallout of the trial from Sophie Chiasson against him and his then-employer. The judgement was particularly severe, with the judge noting that the comments made by Jeff Fillion regarding Miss Chiasson were "sexist, mean, incited hatred, were without cause, wounding and injurious. These comments are a threat to the dignity and honour of human kind in general and particularly to Miss Chiasson
The participants in the radio show (Fillion and gang) referred to the plaintiff as "a consummate liar," "a cat in heat," as well as "a leech on (hockey player)
Alexandre Daigle
Alexandre Daigle (born February 7, 1975) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. A highly touted junior prospect, Daigle was drafted first overall in the 1993 NHL Entry Draft by the Ottawa Senators. After recording a modest career h ...
," "an airhead" and repeatedly suggested Chiasson used sex to get jobs
Miss Chiasson was awarded $340,000 CAD in punitive damages
After numerous rumours to the effect that he would be hired by other radio stations in the Quebec City market (which turned out to be unfounded) or by a
satellite radio group, he announced his intention of launching a subscription-only
Internet radio
Online radio (also web radio, net radio, streaming radio, e-radio, IP radio, Internet radio) is a digital audio service transmitted via the Internet. Broadcasting on the Internet is usually referred to as webcasting since it is not transmitted ...
service. RadioPirate.com was launched on March 17, 2006, exactly a year after he was fired by CHOI-FM. His radio show was also broadcast on XM Satellite Radio, channel 156 until his contract was nullified on August 11, 2011 by the newly merged
Sirius XM Canada. His internet station
still lives today and a free light version is also available. Fillion was hired by Bell Media and was back on the air beginning March 3, 2014 with his show:"Jeff Fillion" on NRJ 98.9, a Quebec city radio station.
On April 19, 2016, Fillion was suspended indefinitely by
Bell Media
Bell Media Inc. (French: ) is a Canadian company formed by the amalgamation of several companies.
Establishment (2011–13)
On December 9, 2011, the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan announced the sale of its majority stake in Maple Leaf Sports ...
for a tweet that he posted about an interview that
Alexandre Taillefer had given to
Guy A. Lepage on the French Canadian show "
Tout le monde en parle (Quebec)
''Tout le monde en parle'' (; "Everyone's Talking About It") is a Quebec talk show hosted and co-produced by Guy A. Lepage, broadcast on Télévision de Radio-Canada / Ici Radio-Canada Télé since 2004, and simulcast on the radio on Ici Radio- ...
". The tweet linked to an article which summarized the interview. The only other content of the tweet was two identical emoji faces which Fillion included, seemingly because they resemble Taillefer. Fillion's tweet was interpreted by his opponents as trying to ridicule Taillefer who was blaming the company
Amazon.com
Amazon.com, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational technology company focusing on e-commerce, cloud computing, online advertising, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence. It has been referred to as "one of the most influential econo ...
for the suicide of his son. Although he rapidly deleted his tweet, Fillion was suspended by Bell Media after Taillefer, while being interviewed by
Paul Arcand
Paul may refer to:
*Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name)
* Paul (surname), a list of people
People
Christianity
*Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chri ...
, publicly questioned the fact that Bell Media was still employing him.
On April 20, 2016, Bell Media announced that Fillion was not an employee anymore.
Political and social views
His politics are a mix of conservatism and
libertarianism.
He rejects
separatism not for any real attachment to Canada but more because of his perception that sovereignty would only help to increase
socialism
Socialism is a left-wing Economic ideology, economic philosophy and Political movement, movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to Private prop ...
in Quebec. His father,
Gilbert Fillion, was a one-term Member of Parliament for the
Bloc Québécois, in the riding of Chicoutimi from 1993 to 1997.
He is an avid critic of the way media treat global warming. He recognizes the presence of global warming but suggests that human action has little to do with it.
Fillion is an amateur of popular economics, wishing to improve the basic level of economics knowledge of Quebecers.
He was an avid critic of the mayor
Andrée Boucher
Andrée Plamondon Boucher (January 31, 1937 – August 24, 2007) was a Canadian politician from the province of Quebec. She was the mayor of Quebec City from November 19, 2005 until her death. Previously, she had been the mayor of the city of Sa ...
who, he believes, kept the city in a state of dust. He believes that
NHL
The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...
hockey should come back to Quebec City, notably by an ownership effort from
Red Bull. He proposes that a new arena should be built in a
public-private partnership, a project similar to what led Winnipeg to build the new
MTS Centre
Canada Life Centre (formerly MTS Centre and Bell MTS Place) is an indoor arena in downtown Winnipeg, Manitoba. The arena is the home of the National Hockey League's Winnipeg Jets and their American Hockey League affiliate, the Manitoba Moose.
T ...
.
Jeff Fillion claims that a new breed of Quebec politicians should regroup, notably identifying leaders such as ex cabinet member
Joseph Facal, economist
Nathalie Elgrably, radiologist Gaetan Barrette and political reporter Michel Hébert.
2009 Mayoral bid
In October 2009, Fillion announced he would run against current Quebec City mayor, Regis Labaume. His program consists of getting new infrastructures for the city and better spending ethics. He placed second against incumbent mayor, Regis Labeaume, with 8.6% of the votes cast.
See also
*
Radio Parallèle
Radio Parallèle was XM Satellite Radio's French-language men's talk radio channel, located on XM channel 156. The channel was produced by XM Radio Canada, though the programming, as well as the near-totality of the shows aired, were done from ...
*
André Arthur
André Arthur (December 21, 1943 – May 8, 2022) was a Canadian radio host and politician. He was the independent Member of Parliament for the riding of Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier from 2006 to 2011. He is known for his outspoken style and anti-s ...
References
External links
* https://jefffillion.com
* http://www.radiopirate.com/
The CHOI-FM Case
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fillion, Jeff
Canadian radio hosts
Canadian libertarians
French Quebecers
Living people
People from Saguenay, Quebec
Shock jocks
Year of birth missing (living people)