Radio-Canada personalities say mandated apology for using French N-word is censorship

More than 50 personalities for CBC/ Radio-Canada’s French-language service are asking its senior management to “vigorously challenge” a CRTC decision in which the regulator ordered Société Radio-Canada (SRC) to apologize for using the French iteration of a racial slur over the air. The journalists, program hosts, and commentators addressed their management in an open letter published in the July 4th edition of La Presse. “This decision by the CRTC is of great concern to us. It calls into question, on the one hand, the principles of freedom and independence that our profession requires and, on the other hand, opens the door to the dangers of censorship and self-censorship,” the signatories wrote in the French-language letter, according to translation. In 2020, the radio program Le 15-18 on ICI Radio-Canada Première aired a segment in which commentator Simon Jodoin and host Annie Desrochers discussed a petition to fire a Concordia University professor who quoted the title of Pierre Vallières’s book Nègres blancs d’Amérique. The host and commentator said the N-word in French three times and once in English during the six minute segment. Last month the commission released a decision – with two dissenting opinions – in which it determined that Radio-Canada did not “implement all the necessary measures to mitigate the impact of the ‘N-word’ on its audience” given the current social context of the word and its status as a public broadcaster. “For these reasons, the broadcast of that program segment did not provide high-standard programming and did not contribute to the strengthening of the cultural and social fabric and the reflection of the multicultural and multiracial nature of Canada,” the CRTC wrote in its June 29 decision. The commission issued its decision after a Black Montrealer named Ricardo Lamour filed a complaint in Aug. 2020 with the CRTC and Société Radio-Canada’s French Services Ombudsman regarding the broadcast of the N-word. Lamour argued that the word should not have been used without a warning or an explanation and that “a person historically affected by the term should have been invited to the discussion to talk about the impact of the use of the word,” according to the CRTC’s documents. Stéphanie Gendron, the head of content for the program wrote back to the individual stating that the term was used to quote a piece of work and that “she did not consider the use of the term abusive or inconsiderate.” She added that the show would exercise greater caution in the future, according to the CRTC filings. The complainant escalated the issue to the French Services Ombudsman Guy Gendron, who determined that Radio-Canada did not contravene its journalistic standards and practices because the word should not be banned in all contexts if it is used appropriately and responsibly, according to the ombudsman’s Oct. 2020 decision. The CRTC intervened in Nov. 2020 when the individual requested that the regulator reconsider the ombudsman’s findings. The commission said it must consider whether the content broadcasted is consistent with the Broadcasting Act which states that programming should be of high standard and should contribute to strengthening the cultural and social fabric while reflecting the multicultural and multiracial nature of Canada. In making its decision, the CRTC wrote, it took into account the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement and the global protests following the death of George Floyd. “Consequently, following these events, the use of the term has evolved, in both French- and English-language contexts, and the commission must take this into account in its analysis of the complaint. In light of these social changes, the commission considers that the social responsibilities of broadcasters surrounding the use of the ‘N-word’ have increased.” The commission stated that the use of the word on Le 15-18's segment was not discriminatory. However, the CRTC added, broadcasters must be “very vigilant in dealing with potentially offensive language” and “are responsible for ensuring that all necessary measures are in place to mitigate the impact of a statement that may be perceived as offensive by its audience.” The CRTC also acknowledged that the use of a short-form of the French N-word is not very common in the French-language but by repeatedly mentioning the full word Radio-Canada “did not show sufficient respect and sensitivity to the communities affected by the term.” “The commission also recognizes that the ‘N-word’ may have evolved differently in different communities. However, it is clearly offensive to many groups of people. The commission also notes that the content broadcast by the SRC is made available to all Canadians through its web platform. Thus, this content can be accessed by people across Canada with different cultural sensitivities,” the CRTC stated in the decision. The signatories of the La Presse letter acknowledged that the N-word “is a loaded word” but argued that “when it is pronounced on the air, which happens very rarely, it is done in a factual context that is neither offensive, insulting or dehumanizing, which respects the journalistic standards and practices of Radio-Canada but also intelligence of our institution and its employees.” CRTC vice-chair of Broadcasting Caroline Simard, and commissioner Joanne Levy wrote dissenting opinions. Simard wrote that the word has evolved differently in French- and English-language, and among their respective communities. She said there was no consultation with Canadians, including “a critical mass of representatives of the Black French-speaking community who have publicly advocated for a respectful treatment of language and cultural specificities” for using the N-word in French. Simard argued that while the commission's decision is based on the public policy objectives laid out in the Broadcasting Act, the commission "ignored the applicable law": Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms. “In this case, neither the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms… nor the applicable broadcasting provisions protect the complainant’s right to not be offended. In my view, the applicable law supported dismissing the complaint. Therefore, I am of the view that the majority has erred on the legal issues central to the assessment of the complaint,” Simard wrote. Levy’s dissent echoed those concerns and arguments of Simard. Levy added that the CRTC’s manner of determining whether programming is of high quality “is a subjective test that defies transparency, fairness and predictability.” “The changing social context is an insufficient ground for ignoring context, tone and previous CRTC decisions. The decision will have unintended consequences leading to journalistic chill, silencing discussion and encouraging censorship,” Levy wrote. The commission mandated Radio-Canada to: provide a public written apology to the complainant; to report to the commission, by no later than Sept. 27, on the internal measures and programming best practices that it will put in place for the future, with the report made publicly available; and that Radio-Canada indicate, no later than July 29, how it intends to mitigate the impact of the N-word in its segment which is still available online. – Reporting by Jenna Cocullo at jcocullo@thewirereport.ca and editing by Michael Lee-Murphy at mleemurphy@thewirereport.ca.

Radio-Canada personalities say mandated apology for using French N-word is censorship

Broadcast | July 4, 2022

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Radio-Canada personalities say mandated apology for using French N-word is censorship

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